5 minute read
Dewberry School of Music Commissions Two New Works by Black Composers
ANDREW JORGENSEN
Published Works Staff Awards
J Carrier, Art
Published third book The Folly
Heather Green, Art
Published a book of poetry No Other Rome
Faith Zúñiga, Mason Community Arts Academy
Published original sonatinas collection Five Fun & Flashy Sonatinas for Ten Tiny Fingers: Easy Sonatinas for the First Years at Sonata Festival
Ryan Braaten, Associate
Director of Development, CVPA Outstanding Achievement Award, George Mason University
Andrew Jorgensen, Technical Coordinator,
Film and Video Studies Exceptional Support Award, George Mason University
SARA BARGER
REECE QUIÑONES
Notable Accomplishments
RYAN BRAATEN
Sara Barger, Film and Video Studies
Short film advanced to Student
Academy Awards finals
Jon Bisesi, Music
Launched a new non-profit organization, The Network for Diversity in Concert
Percussion, dedicated to serving youth concert percussionists from underrepresented and underserved communities
Chawky Frenn, Art
Featured in the Inside Out,
Upside Down exhibition at the Phillips Collection
Nikyatu Jusu,
Film and Video Studies
Feature film Nanny funded and produced by Stay Gold Features and Topic Studios
Khady Kamara, Arts Management
Appointed Executive Director at Second Stage Theater
John Kocur, Music
Awarded a Mason Core award for his teaching during Fall 2020
KJ Mohr, Film and Video Studies
Curated a program titled The Power of Love: Three Trans Stories for the National Gallery of Art
Reece Quiñones, Art
Received Fellow Award from AIGA DC Named one of 2021’s People to Watch by Graphic Design USA
Russell Santos, Film and Video Studies
Nominated for an MTV Video Music Award for “Best Editing” for editing Lizzo’s Good As Hell music video
Justin Sutters, Art
Awarded the 2021 Southeastern Region Higher Education Art Educator Award during the NAEA National Convention
Andy Yoder, Art
Exhibition Overboard was on view, hosted by Sandlot Southeast; the work was also featured in the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center in Vermont; and covered by The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, Observer, and Sports Illustrated
Current Student and Alumni Achievements
Laith Al-Nouri, Alumnus, Arts Management
Awarded the 2020 College of Visual and Performing Arts Thomas W. Iszard IV Distinguished Alumni Award
Andrea Benge, Current MFA Student, Art
Awarded the Best Experimental Film award at the Sydney World Film Festival for her short Desert Air
Juan Megna, Graduate Lecturer, Music
Awarded Graduate Group Outstanding Performance – Latin Group at the annual DownBeat Student Music Awards in May 2021
Vannesa Nates, Alumna, Music
Received a flute position at the training program of the National Alliance for Audition Support, which works with the New World Orchestra and the Sphinx Organization to offer Black and Latinx musicians professional support to advance their careers
Erblin Nushi, Alumnus, Film and Video Studies
Short film VLORA premiered at the DC Shorts International Film Festival in September 2020
Arianna Rodriguez, Alumna, Music
Awarded first place in her division at the National Student Auditions from the National Association of Teachers of Singing
Mohammed Saffouri, Current Student, Film and Video Studies
Awarded Best VA Short at the Loudoun Arts Film Festival in October 2020
Jada Salter, Alumna, Film and Video Studies
Awarded the Young Alumni Commissioning Award and $5,000 in commissioning support for Just the Two of Us, a documentary about multi-Grammy Award winning musician William “Bill” Salter
Jessica Smith Hebron, Current Student, Arts Management
Named Chief Program Officer of Young Audiences/Arts for Learning
Isaac W.K. Thweatt, Alumnus, School of Music
Awarded the 2021 College of Visual and Performing Arts
Thomas W. Iszard IV Distinguished Alumni Award
Brayden Wang, Current Mason Community Arts Academy Student
Placed third in the 2020 Metropolitan Music Festival, an annual international competition for young musicians
Nicole Daniell, Alumna, Dance
Nicholas Horner, Current MFA Student and Alumnus, Theater
Cristian Perez, Alumnus, Music Katherine Thompson, Alumna, Visual Arts
Recipients of the Young Alumni Creative Development Award, each will receive $2,500 in commissioning support
NICHOLAS HORNER CRISTIAN PEREZ NICOLE DANIELL KATHERINE THOMPSON JADA SALTER
The late Richard Weilenmann, at piano, during a rehearsal, c. 1960s
Students from Mason Community Arts Academy speaking with Demarre and Anthony McGill
Weilenmann Family Gifts Significant Personal Music Collection
Richard Weilenmann, a renowned conductor of symphony and orchestra, and a music instructor himself, collected more than 1,600 published pieces of music dating from the late 1800s to the present. His wife, Elisabeth, and their son, Peter, donated the entire collection to the Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music at George Mason University. The Richard and Elisabeth Weilenmann Performance Music Library will be a resource for music research as well as for live performances at Mason.
MCAA Offers Class with Musicians from Seattle Symphony and New York Philharmonic
During the summer of 2020, CVPA’s Mason Community Arts Academy hosted a virtual program for middle and high school students that included a session with Demarre McGill, Seattle Symphony’s principal flute, and his brother Anthony McGill, New York Philharmonic’s principal clarinetist. The prominent Black musicians discussed their career paths and the challenges they faced growing up with students attending the week-long program from all over the country.
Jazz4Justice Receives Jack Wood Award for Business/Non-Profits from Mason
Jazz4Justice was presented with the 2021 Jack Wood Award for Business/Non-Profits by the George Mason University Office of Government and Community Relations. Named in honor of the former mayor of Fairfax, this annual honor is awarded to those who demonstrate leadership in fostering mutually beneficial relationships between the university and the community during the past year. Conceived by Fairfax attorney Edward L. Weiner in partnership with Professor Jim Carroll, Founder of Jazz Studies at Mason, Jazz4Justice raises public awareness and funds through their concerts for Legal Aid and music scholarships by forming collaborative partnerships between Mason Jazz and the legal community. P h o to by Evan Cantwe ll, Creat ive Services, George Mason University
Photo by Shelby Burgess, Strategic Communications, George Mason Univers Photo by Shelby Burgess, Strategic Communications, George Mason University
*Performing arts units saw a decrease in their enrollments as a result of in-person class restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
