View from the Pond

West Coast Alums Meet New Theatre Chair

This past February, west coast theatre and drama alumni gathered at the home of fellow alumnus Steve Zuckerman and his wife Darlene Kaplan for a first chance to meet new department chairwoman—since fall of 2010—Priscilla Lindsay. Many already knew Ms. Lindsay from a previous incarnation, a fellow classmate from their years together at Michigan. They came together to share dim sum and swap stories about those student years at the old Frieze Building with Doc and Claribel Halstead and the APA and to look to the future with renewed excitement. Current students were represented as well; senior Joey Richter’s parents Robert and Denise were among the guests.

 

“And that spells fun!” says Lindsay. “I was able to reconnect with U-M theatre friends from my days:  Alan Hergott, Kenny Marshall, Mary Joan Negro, John Slade, and Steve Zuckerman. And I got to see long-time theatre friend and donor Hal Cooper, plus other such luminaries as recent alumna Esther Chae and her handsome fiancé Paul Von Zielbauer, Joe Gold and his fiancée, Nick Guest (husband of alumna Pamela Guest, who was in India), David Paymer and his beautiful daughter, composer Michael Roth, and more.”

 

“Steve and Darlene opened up their gracious home and provided fabulous food and warm hospitality,” she said. “Many stories were told—some not fit for print—and promises were made to meet again next year and bring even more alums to the party.”

 

School Well Represented at 2011 Grammys

Michael Daugherty’s Metropolis Symphony CD came away from the 53rd annual Grammy Awards in February with a three coveted awards (see article, p. ). Musicology faculty member Amy Ku’uleialoha Stillman won her second Grammy for Best Hawaiian Music Album; her first was in 2009 for Best Hawaiian Music album for Ikena.

 

Other Grammy nominations included he Silk Road Ensemble, of which percussion faculty member Joe Gramley is a founding member, nominated in the category of Best Classical Crossover Album for Off the Map, a work of all premieres. Two alums—Gabriela Lena Frank (DMA '01, composition) and Mark Suter (BM '89, percussion)—were also represented on the CD. Evan Chambers’ new CD The Old Burying Ground was nominated for Producer of the Year, Classical, for David Frost’s work. Alumnus Nicholas Phan (BM '01, voice) was tenor on the album Stravinsky: Pulcinella: Symphony In Three Movements, nominated for Best Orchestra Performance, Pierre Boulez conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

 

Congratulations to all!

 

First Brehm Prize in Choral Composition Awarded

Joseph Kern, a master’s student in composition from Elizabethtown, PA, won the first annual Brehm Prize in Choral Composition for his Crucifixus for four soloists and a cappella choir. “I am greatly honored to be the inaugural winner of this award,” said Kern. “This has given me the confidence to know I am capable of composing affective music for an ensemble I truly love.”

 

Bill (BS ’50, MS ’52) and Delores (Dee) Brehm established the award to encourage the composition of choral works by SMTD students. Kern was one of 15 to submit to the competition. “All 15 were terrific,” said Jerry Blackstone, director of choirs and chair of the conducting department, as well as conductor of the U-M Chamber Choir that will perform the work during the 2011-2012 season.

 

SMTD Hosts Organ Symposium

The Pipe Organ in African-American Worship drew faculty, alumni, current students, and guests to Hill Auditorium on a snowy day in February. Sponsored by the organ department and directed by organ professor James Kibbie, the day included lectures and performances exploring the past, present, and future of the pipe organ in African-American worship traditions. The symposium was made possible by generous support from the Robert Glasgow Keyboard Faculty Support Fund, endowed by Susan and Eugene Goodson, and from Dr. Barbara Furin Sloat, with additional support from the Office of Vice-President for Research.

 

Aaron Dworkin Appointed to National Council on the Arts

Violinist, arts educator, and founder of Detroit-based Sphinx Organization Aaron Dworkin (BM ’97, MM ’98) has been nominated by President Barack Obama to the National Council on the Arts. Current council members include a museum director, country music singer, arts patron, author, jazz musician, film industry executive and visual artist, as well as music educator Karen L. Wolff, former dean of the School. The NCA is responsible for recommending grants, establishing funding guidelines, and offering leadership initiatives. The Council also advises the chair of the National Endowment for the Arts.

 

Shaping the Sound of Bronze

Last fall, a cross-college team of faculty came together for a first-of-its-kind class in the art of casting carillon bells. Steven Ball, University carilonneur, came up with the idea. “Right now, only a handful of people in the world can talk about this,” he said. “I thought, wouldn’t it be great if I could get other people to really hear what I hear?”

 

He recruited Lou Marino from the School of Art & Design, an expert in bronze pouring who had no idea how to apply that skill to making a resonant carillon bell. He recruited engineering faculty member Greg Wakefield, who could give you precise measurements about how to tune a bell, but had no experience in how they were made. Everyone, it seems, learned something new.

 

Over the course of the semester, students brought a carillon bell from a two-dimensional drawing through the process of molding it in plaster, modeling it in clay, and casting it in bronze. They applied mathematical models of resonant structures to design, cast, measure, and refine the tonal properties of bells. The course ended with a public concert on the bells the students made in class.