Faculty/Alumni/Student News

FACULTY ALUMNI STUDENT

NEWS

FACULTY NEWS

Justin Benavidez, Assistant Professor of

Tuba and Euphonium, recently served as editor for Flow Studies For Tuba, a method book through Mountain Peak Music. This book is designed to help develop air flow efficiency by playing musical phrases in a wide array of ranges, keys, and rhythms. The etudes offer musical ways to cultivate the important technical skill of breath control, focusing on phrasing and technique through a week-long regimen of exercises. Benavidez was the 2019 recipient of the University of Michigan Paul Boylan Alumni Award in recognition of outstanding accomplishments and significant contributions in the field of music.

Justin Benavidez (right)

Wanda Brister, Associate Professor of

Voice, won Album of the Year for the Song and Chamber Music categories from the Light Music Society of the United Kingdom for her album Cabaret Songs of Madeliene Dring. Brister is on the Board of Directors for the International Alliance for Women in Music and has recently published a comprehensive biography on British composer Madeleine Dring (University of Liverpool Press).

Michael Buchler, Professor of Music

Theory, was elected to be the next President of the Society for Music Theory, the world’s largest organization dedicated to music theory scholarship, and will take office in November 2021. He delivered the keynote addresses at the 2019 Music Theory Midwest Conference in Cincinnati and at the 2020 University of Arizona Graduate Student Music Conference in Tucson. He also published an article in Music Theory Spectrum and a book chapter in The Routledge Companion to Music Theory Pedagogy.

Jane Piper Clendinning, Professor of

Music Theory, presented “Physical Geography of Musical Instruments: Gesture, Embodiment, Musical Memory, and Music Theory” at Music and Spatiality: The 13th Biennial International Conference on Music Theory and Analysis, in Belgrade, Serbia, on October 5, 2019.

Geoffrey Deibel, Assistant Professor of

Saxophone, released his sixth studio recording, Soul Searching, with his saxophone quartet, h2. The recording features works by Georg Friedrich Haas, Kerrith Livengood, and h2’s own Jeffrey Loeffert. In addition to the recording, Diebel gave a recital with the h2 quartet at the 2019 Music For All National Conference in Indianapolis.

David Detweiler, Assistant Professor of

Jazz Saxophone, and bassist Fumi Tomita celebrated the 100th anniversary of jazz icon Charlie Parker with thoroughly Parker-ian flair and resourcefulness on Celebrating Bird: A Tribute to Charlie Parker, released in September 2020 on Next Level Records. On the album, Detweiler and Tomita present an inspired set of contrafacts—new melodies, composed upon familiar chord changes—of tunes in Parker’s repertoire.

Diana Dumlavwalla, Assistant Professor

of Piano Pedagogy, was elected to serve as President-Elect for the Florida State Music Teachers Association (FSMTA). As an affiliate of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), this state organization provides professional support for nearly 800 music teachers and their students. It is one of the largest state affiliates of MTNA in the nation. After her two-year term as President-Elect, Dumlavwalla will move on to serve as President of FSMTA for two years and then finally president of the FSMTA foundation to complete a six-year commitment.

Sarah Eyerly, Associate Professor

of Musicology, has been awarded the Lester J. Cappon Award by the Omohundro Institute for Early American History and Culture for her co-authored article and digital project, “Singing Box 331: Re-Sounding Eighteenth-Century Mohican Hymns from the Moravian Archives” (The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 76, No. 4 (October 2019). Eyerly has also recently published Moravian Soundscapes: A Sonic History of the Moravian Missions in Early America (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2020). The accompanying companion website for the book can be found at moraviansoundscapes.music.fsu.edu.

Lori Gooding, Assistant Professor of Music Therapy, has been awarded a Fulbright scholarship. She will partner with Universiti

Putra Malaysia (UPM) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to conduct a needs assessment and develop music therapy education and clinical programming. Since Malaysia does not currently have any university training programs in music therapy, Gooding’s goal is to lay the groundwork for the future development of a music therapy academic program while also continuing to grow clinical services in the community. The clinical work will be associated with a number of institutions, one of which is the top rehabilitation hospital in Southeast Asia. She will partner with FSU graduate Indra Selvarajah (Ph.D. ’13) for the project. Although Fulbrights are currently on hold, Gooding expects to begin work in January 2021.

Laura Gayle Green

Laura Gayle Green, Head of the Warren

D. Allen Music Library, was recently awarded The Fred L. Standley Award for her exceptional service. The award is given as recognition to library faculty and staff who demonstrate achievements in areas such as superior service to students and faculty, research and publications, and being a mentor to students, faculty, library staff, and professionals.

Michael Hanawalt, Associate Professor of Music and Director of Graduate Choral Studies,

published the book chapter “Veljo Tormis and the Regilaul Tradition” in Conducting Men’s Choirs. He also published the book chapter “The Wedge: Effective Rehearsal Planning to Help Your Choir Peak at the Right Time” in The Choral Conductor’s Companion.

Ian Hobson, Research Professor of

Piano, is the conductor of the Sinfonia Varsovia for the recently released CD Moritz Moszkowski: Orchestral Music, Volume One (May 2020) which features the first recording of Johanna d’Arc: Symphonic Poem in Four Movements, Op. 19. It is published on the Toccata Classics label and received the 2020 Diapason d’Or- Découverte award.

Alexander Jiménez, Professor of Con-

ducting, Director of Orchestral Activities, received a grant in the amount of $19,500 as part of the Arts and Humanities Program Enhancement Grant from the FSU Council for Creativity and Research. This award was granted to fund another recording with the Naxos Record label featuring the world-premiere recording of Elliot Carter’s Flute Concerto and a second-ever recording of the EllenTaaffe Zwilich (Marie Krafft

Distinguished Professor of Composition)

Oboe Concerto. The performances were to feature the University Symphony Orchestra with faculty soloists Eva Amsler, Professor of Flute, and Eric Ohlsson, Charles O. Delaney Professor of Oboe. Unfortunately, the recording sessions, which were scheduled for Fall 2020, were canceled due to COVID-19. Under the direction of Jiménez the USO has previously recorded two CDs on the Naxos label, including Millennium Fantasy by Zwilich and the Symphony No. 2 by Ernst von Dohnányi. Both CDs received international critical acclaim.

Kevin Jones, Assistant Professor of Jazz

Trombone, presented at the International Artistic Jazz Research Symposium in Vienna, Austria in October 2019. While in Vienna, Jones performed and gave lessons and masterclasses at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna. Jones and Bill Peterson, Professor of Jazz Piano and Music Theory, will release a duo album on Centaur Records in late 2020.

Iain Quinn, Associate Professor of Organ and Coordinator of Sacred Music,

released a CD of Haydn organ concertos recorded with the early music ensemble, Arcangelo, conducted by Jonathan Cohen, on the Chandos label in October 2019. In the Summer of 2020 he recorded a CD of major organ works of Vincent Persichetti for Naxos. He has recently signed a contract for his next book, Music, Religion, and Society in the writings of Ian McEwan - A Voice in Time to be published by Bloomsbury Academic. In February 2020 he performed on the Mayfair Organ Concerts Series at St George’s Church, Hanover Square, and gave a masterclass for the Royal College of Organists.

Gilad Rabinovitch, Assistant Professor

of Music Theory, published the article “Reimagining Historical Improvisation: An Analysis of Robert Levin’s Fantasy on Themes by W. A. Mozart, October 29, 2012” in the June 2020 issue of Music Theory Online, one of the flagship journals of the Society for Music Theory. The article analyzes a case study of a live fantasy by an expert performer who is involved in the revival of classical improvisation. “Though classical improvisation had lain dormant since before the beginning of the age of recordings, we should remember that musicians like Mozart and Beethoven were well-known improvisers, keyboardists, as well as composers. The musicianship of pianists like Levin and Gabriela Montero provides us opportunities to reimagine some of the possibilities of classical improvisation,” said Rabinovitch.

Nancy Rogers, Professor of Music Theory,

completed her term as Vice President of the Society for Music Theory. She contributed a chapter to The Routledge Companion to Music Theory Pedagogy (Routledge, 2020) and joined the editorial board of the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy. She also served as an Exam Leader for the Advanced Placement Exam in Music Theory.

D. Gregory Springer, Assistant Professor

of Music Education, continues to serve as Editor-in-Chief of Florida Music Director. During the 2019-2020 academic year, he also served as a member of several editorial boards (Journal of Music Therapy, Research Perspectives in Music Education, Contributions to Music Education, and Update: Applications of Research in Music Education), a chapter reviewer for the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Music Performance (Oxford University Press), and a member of the Scientific Review Committee for the International Society for Music Education. In 2020, he concludes a term as Chair of the NAfME Affective Response Special Research Interest Group. He had research articles published in the Journal of Research in Music Education, and his research was accepted for presentation at the International Society for Music Education World Conference (Helsinki, Finland), American Music Therapy Association National Conference (Minneapolis, MN), and the Symposium on Music Teacher Education (Greensboro, NC).

Shannon Thomas, Assistant Professor of

Violin, was awarded a 2019-2020 Undergraduate Teaching Award, an award received by only 16 faculty members university-wide last year.

Heidi Louise Williams, Associate Professor of Piano,

debuted a new album Beyond the Sound in October 2019. The album is comprised of piano sonatas by Charles T. Griffes, George Walker, Carlisle Floyd, and Samuel Barber. This is the first release of Floyd’s 1957 Piano Sonata on a commercial record label. Williams had the honor of coaching this work with Floyd in preparation for the recording. Beyond the Sound has been selected for inclusion in the 2020 Fanfare Critics’ Want Lists. Additionally, her album, Vocalisms, a collaboration with soprano Mary Mackenzie, was awarded Finalists and Honorable Mention in the 2018-219 Professional Division of the American Prize in Chamber Music Ensembles. Williams is also the recipient of two prestigious awards conferred in April 2020: the Florida State University Undergraduate Teaching Award and the Florida State University Outstanding Graduate Faculty Mentor Award. She is also artist-faculty for the MasterWorks Summer Music Festival and has taught at the Interharmony International Music Festival in Tuscany, Italy.

Chandler L. Wilson, Assistant Professor of Music Education and Assistant Professor of Athletic Bands,

had a composition performed at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in December 2019. The Hikarigaoka Girls’ High School Wind Orchestra performed three movements from Suite Forty-four.

ALUMNI NEWS

1970s

Russell D. McDonald (B.M.E. ’75) retired in 2011 after 35 years at Roy Allen Elementary School in Melbourne, FL, where he taught K through 6 grade general music, band, strings, and chorus. He worked closely with the physical education teacher in developing and implementing rhythms/ movement classes for grades K-6. He was Roy Allen Teacher of the Year 1980-81 and Melbourne Jaycees Outstanding Young Educator in 1985. However, his life’s proudest moment occurred in May of 2019 seeing his daughter, Emily, graduate from FSU in Athletic Training, making them fellow alumni.

Dave Jerome Moss (B.M.E. ’78) taught in the Dade and Broward Schools (Miami/ Ft. Lauderdale) for 19 years and taught 19 years in the Pomona Unified School District (California). He retired June 3, 2019 and was named APT/PUSD Teacher of the Year.

1980s

Virginia Carol Dale (M.M.

’88, D.M. ’95) was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Flute Association for the 2019-2022 term, proudly serving alongside FSU Professor of Flute Eva Amsler. She is currently organizing the NFA’s newly-online Pedagogical Guide to Flute Literature, a guide that is reevaluated and published every 10 years. Dale has served on the NFA’s Endowment Committee and its Finance Committee. She is currently the Music Coordinator at Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, KS, the fifth-largest Presbyterian church in the United States.

Alice Hammel

Alice Hammel (M.M.E. ’89) was recently elected president of the Virginia Music Educators Association.

Marian Wilson Kimber (M.M. ’89, Ph.D. ’93) is currently Professor of Musicology at the University of Iowa. In 2019 she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Visual and Performing Arts at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. In 2020 she was awarded the Sight and Sound Subvention from the Society for American

Music for “In a Woman’s Voice,” a video project of musical readings by American women composers, featuring Red Vespa. Red Vespa consists of Wilson Kimber reciting comic poetry with Natalie Landowski, pianist. The duo performs spoken-word compositions Wilson Kimber discovered in course of writing her book, The Elocutionists: Women, Music, and the Spoken Word (University of Illinois Press, 2017). They have appeared in Kansas City, Des Moines, Chicago, Columbus (Ohio), Boston, and Washington, DC.

Marian Wilson Kimber

1990s

Julio Agustin (B.M. ’90) was recently appointed Director of Music Theatre at Elon University. This past year he has given a paper at a conference in Athens, Greece, had an article published in the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society’s journal, and directed Sister Act at Post Playhouse in Nebraska.

Jay Jaski (B.M. ’97) just completed his second year as professor and head of musical theatre at the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD). This year Jaski led the creation and launch of a new MT curriculum for the BFA program, directed a hit production of the musical Little Women, and initiated a virtual musical theatre coaching series for SCAD students, for which fellow FSU alumni Christine Long-Hamilton (B.M. ’95) served as a guest artist.

Eric Holseth

Eric Holseth (B.A. ’95) is Director of Music at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Lakeland, FL and Voice Instructor/ Vocal Coach at the Lakeland School of Music.

Greg Mills (B.M. ’97) remains in the long-running Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.

Lemondra V. Hamilton (M.M.E. ’98) is Visiting Associate Professor of Music Education in the Department of Fine Arts at Mississippi Valley State University. He recently participated on a panel discussion at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola, MS after a screening of Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace. Jeffery Redding (M.M.E. ’97, Ph.D. ’11) is the winner of the 2019 Grammy Music Educator Award, which recognizes those who have made a lasting impact on students and music education. Redding was selected from more than 2,800 initial nominees from all over the U.S. Redding is the choral director at West Orange High School in Winter Garden, FL and was featured on CBS This Morning in an interview discussing his upbringing and educational philosophy, and included a performance with him and his Advanced Women’s Choir.

Keith Kaiser (Ph.D. ’98) is serving as interim dean of the Ithaca College School of Music effective July 1, 2020 while a search for the successor to Karl Paulnack is conducted in the fall semester. A distinguished teacher and scholar, Dana Professor Kaiser began his career at Ithaca College in 1998 after completing his Ph.D. at Florida State University. He has served as past chair of the Music Education Department (2003-2015) and past interim associate dean (2009-2012). He has taught undergraduate and graduate music education courses, supervised junior and senior level student teachers, and conducted various instrumental music ensembles. In addition, he is active throughout the country as a clinician, adjudicator and consultant, and a Presser Scholar.

Allen Lamp (B.M.E. ’99) has been band director at William T. Dwyer High School in Palm Beach Gardens, FL since 2007. He teaches band, marching band, concert band, and jazz band. In 2017 he was awarded a Tools for Teachers prize.

Jamie Wood Katz (B.M. ’99) is spending her time during the pandemic singing at fundraisers for area theatres that are suffering at the moment.

2000s

Jay Juchniewicz (B.M.E. ’01, M.M.E. ’05, Ph.D. ’08) is Professor, Music Education Coordinator of Graduate Studies at East Carolina University.

Robert Henry Clark (B.M.E. ’02, M.M.E. ’09, Ph.D. ’18) was appointed to a position in the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN. In 2019 he taught at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, GA.

Mekia Cox (B.M. ’03) is still based in LA, where she is currently a regular on The Rookie on ABC.

Mike Evariste (B.M. ’03) has been in and out of Book of Mormon on Broadway.

Cheldon Williams (B.M.E. ’04, M.M.E. ’14) has been named associate director of bands at West Virginia University. In addition to directing the marching band, Williams will also conduct the symphonic band and other athletic pep bands while teaching courses in the School of Music.

Cheldon Williams

Ashley Arcement (B.M. ’05) was on the Cirque Musica Holiday Show tour. She also had her third summer at Broadway Sacramento, with rave reviews for Gertie in Oklahoma.

Summer Broyhill (B.M. ’06) is finishing her MFA from USD/Old Globe. This past year at the Globe she played Amiens in As You Like It, singing and playing guitar. She understudied and performed as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet. She also played Feste in Twelfth Night, this time doing all the musical compositions and arrangements herself. This summer her class will be doing a Zoom production. Bridgette L. Yancy (M.M.E. ’05) graduated with a Doctor of Worship Studies Degree in Christian Music and Theology from Liberty University in May 2020. Her thesis, “Discipleship as Understood and Practiced by Worship Leaders, Pastors, and Congregations of Selected Southern Baptist Churches,” is published and available on Liberty Scholar’s Crossing and ProQuest.

Bridgette L. Yancy

Jonathan Jakob Hehn (B.M. ’06, D.M. ’13) is currently editing two forthcoming books: one a Festschrift in honor of the late liturgist and professor of worship Horace T. Allen, the other a bilingual (French-English) collection of hymns by Bl. Basil Moreau, the founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross. He was also honored to have recently been asked to co-chair the planning committee for the centennial conference of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada, to be held in Washington, DC. in July of 2022.

Paul Luongo

Paul Luongo (M.M. ’06, M.M. ’06, Ph.D. ’10) is Associate Professor of Music and Paul Garrett Fellow at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. Under his direction, the Whitman College Orchestra was invited to perform at the College Orchestra Directors Association’s National Conference in 2019.

Austin Owen (B.M. ’06) continues in Jersey Boys, Off-Broadway.

Thomas M. Cimarusti

Thomas M. Cimarusti (Ph.D. ’07) was recently promoted to Professor of Music History and Program Coordinator for the B.A. in Music at Florida Gulf Coast University. His accomplishments in musicology are diverse, ranging from the establishment of summer study abroad program in Italy and a world music program at Texas Tech University, as well as being the recipient of over $25,000 in research and teaching grants. Most recently, Cimarusti founded and

currently directs the Center for Public Musicology, an organization that provides music lectures, opera excursions, and performances throughout Southwest Florida. Through the Center for Public Musicology, Cimarusti has contracted with over 20 retirement communities, libraries, opera houses, museums, and other institutions in Florida, Michigan, and Arizona in providing not only engaging courses on music history, but also organizing opera excursions and opera cruises, world music performances, and a closed-circuit television music lecture series in select venues in Naples and Fort Myers, FL.

Nikka Wahl (B.M. ’07) has switched sides of the table and joined Royal Caribbean as their headline booker and specialist.

Patricia Losada (B.M.E. ’08) has worked for Sony/ATV Music Publishing in Miami Beach, FL, taught at Cristi/STEPSS Academy in Sunrise, FL – receiving Teacher of the Year in 2011-2012 – and is currently teaching at Doral Academy Charter Elementary School & Just Arts and Management Charter Middle School. She received Teacher of the Year in 2016-2017. She served as secretary of Dade County Music Educators Association (DCMEA) from 2016-2018 and was president-elect of DCMEA in 2018-2019, and president of DCMEA in 2019-2020. She was coordinator of the 2018 and 2019 DCMEA/MDCPS Superintendent’s Elementary Honors Chorus and has had elementary students participate in the Elementary All State Chorus since 2017.

Justin Bowen (B.M. ’09) was not on Broadway as a performer this year, but he didn’t go far, since he was on the TINA—The Tina Turner Musical hair team – 200 wigs and over 40 years of hairstyles.

Pierce Gradone (B.M. ’09) was appointed Assistant Professor of Music Composition at Knox College, where he oversees the composition program and electronic music studio. Described as “gorgeous, expansive” (I Care If You Listen) and “engaging” (Chicago Tribune), his music been performed by Eighth Blackbird, Ensemble Signal, Imani Winds, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, Pacifica Quartet, Quince Ensemble, and Switch Ensemble, among others. He has received commissions and awards from the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University, American Modern Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, Luna Nova, Line Upon Line Percussion, Ursa Ensemble, and many others.

Pierce Gradone

Brett Pikuritz (B.A. ’09) is the Teacher of the Year recipient at Orange Park High School (2019-2020), and Teacher of the Year Finalist (top 5) at Clay County District Schools in Florida.

2010s

joined the faculty of Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Fall 2019 as Director of Orchestral Studies and Assistant Professor of violin and viola. At IUP she conducts the Symphony Orchestra and opera productions. In recent seasons she has conducted performances with the Joffrey Ballet, Manitoba Underground Opera in Winnipeg, and Northwestern University Opera Theater.

Adam Lukebke (Ph.D. ’10) is music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, which is featured on the recent recording release by Naxos, The Passion of Yeshua by composer Richard Danielpour. This world premiere recording was made during performances in April 2019 of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, and UCLA Chamber Singers, conducted by JoAnn Falletta. As music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, Lukebke prepared the chorus for the performances and recording working closely with composer Richard Danielpour.

Angela Moretti (B.M.E. ’10) has been appointed Vice President of the newly formed National Museum of Civil Defense. This NMCD is a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring and telling stories of the Nation’s Civil Defense and Emergency Management personnel. She played bassoon in the 323rd Army Band in San Antonio, TX in 2019 and in the 8th Army Band in Pyeongtaek, South Korea in 2018.

Erin Wasmund (B.M. ’11) shot a comedic short PSA for Omaze featuring JJ Watt, as well as a short feature fan film called Halloween Night, in addition to an industrial, a few other small film projects, and some stand-in work for a Nike fashion show.

Stephen Kehner (B.M. ’12) is Assistant Principal Percussion with the Oregon Sym-

Brett Pikuritz

Alexandra Dee (B.M.E. ’10, M.M. ’13) phony Orchestra.

Lindsey Macchiarella (M.M. ’12, Ph.D. ’16) is currently Professor of Instruction at the University of Texas at El Paso, Vice President of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the University of Texas at El Paso, and Board Member for the Viola da Gamba Society of America. Forthcoming publications include: “Modern Performance Practice of Erik Satie’s Piano Works: A Paralysis of Expression” in Keyboard Perspectives and “Reich and Gursky: Parallel Minimalist and Post-Minimalist Narratives in Music and Photography” in Music and Art.

Lindsey Macchiarella

Luis Rivera (D.M. ’12) is Assistant Professor (visiting) at Oklahoma City University.

Adair Watkins (B.M. ’12) is at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in the Finding Nemo show.

Mark Anderson Belfast, Jr. (Ph.D. ’13) is an Associate Professor of Music Education at Southeastern University. He serves as Assistant Dean of the College of Arts & Media, coordinates the music education degree program, teaches music education courses, supervises student teachers and directs instrumental ensembles. Belfast continues to serve as an assistant director of the FSU Summer Music Camps. Belfast has presented research and educational clinics in regional, national, and international venues, including the NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education National Conference, NAfME Biennial Northwest Division Conference, Desert Skies Symposium on Research in Music Education, Florida Music Education Association Professional Development Conference, and the Special Music Education and Music Therapy Pre-Conference Seminar for the International Society for Music Education World Conference. In addition to his roles as a researcher and educator, Belfast serves as the National Association for Music Education Collegiate Advisor for the state of Florida and maintains an active agenda as a speaker, clinician and adjudicator.

Collean Gallagher (B.M. ’13) is teaching at a dance studio in Atlanta – now on Zoom – and was a backup singer for an Elton John cover band tour.

Ellyn Hamm (M.M. ’13) has been appointed to the Music Therapy faculty at the University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music. Hamm is a doctoral candidate in Music Education with an emphasis in Music Therapy at Florida State. Prior to returning to school, Hamm was a research coordinator in the Early Neurodevelopment and Neurorehabilitation Laboratory at the Research Institute of Nationwide Children’s Hospital as well as a music therapist in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Previously, Hamm worked as a research assistant and music therapist at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in the Division of Neonatology. She also served on the faculty at Belmont University as an adjunct professor of Music Therapy. Hamm is a Fellow of the National Institute of Infant and Child Medical Music Therapy specializing in the Pacifier Activated Lullaby (PAL). She also serves as the clinical specialist on the PAL for Powers Medical Devices, training therapists and other medical personnel in the uses of the device with premature infants.

Anna Laurenzo (M.M. ’13) stars in composer Matthew Peterson and librettist Jason Zencka’s true-crime courtroom opera Voir Dire. A recording, featuring the original cast of singers from the critically acclaimed 2017 world premiere production at Fort Worth Opera was released both physically and on digital streaming services in August 2020. Adapted from various court cases witnessed by the librettist during his time as a court reporter, the opera takes place in a courtroom and plays out in a series of colorful vignettes.

Anna Laurenzo

Melinda Leoce (M.M. ’13) is Assistant Professor at Adams State College (Colorado).

Dunwoody Mirvil

Dunwoody Mirvil (M.M. ’13, D.M. ’18) is in his second year as Assistant Low Brass Professor at Southeastern University in Lakeland, FL. A well-regarded clinician, adjudicator and performer, Mirvil shared his expertise with a variety of audiences in 2019 with a clinic and solo recital at Buffalo State University, a clinic at Palm Beach County’s Pre-School Workshop, and clinics for young trombonists at Park Vista and Freedom High Schools in central Florida. Upcoming engagements include an appearance at the Florida Music Educators Association Conference, where he will present a session entitled, “Dotting the I’s and Crossing the T’s: Developing the Effectual Habits of an Intentional Trombonist.” Mirvil presented this session in 2020 and will do so again in 2021. Additionally, Mirvil released the “DMirvil 5S,” his second, custom-designed line of trombone mouthpieces available from Giddings Mouthpieces in December 2019.

Christopher James Ray (M.M. ’13)

Resident Artist Conductor with Opera San José is involved with creating original operatic programming for safer-at-home viewing. Opera San José recently released a virtual performance of Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe featuring Ray as the pianist with renowned baritone Eugene Brancoveanu. The performance includes an interview with Brancoveanu and Ray in which they discuss their process, their relationship to the work, and what it is like to create opera in this time of COVID. View the official trailer on YouTube.

Felicia Kailey Youngblood

Felicia Kailey Youngblood (M.M. ’13, Ph.D. ’19) accepted a position at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA as Assistant Professor of Musicology/Ethnomusicology in fall 2019. In her first year on faculty she expanded the department’s curriculum by providing a more diverse array of course offerings. She presented her research on three separate occasions in fall 2019 at the Society for Ethnomusicology and American Anthropological Association’s annual meetings. In summer 2021, Youngblood will return to Italy with a research grant from WWU to continue the work that she began during her doctorate on reclaiming women’s voices and cultural heritage in the Southern Italian tarantism ritual.

Frank Zimmerer (M.M. ’13) currently serves as Director of Bands at Antioch High School in Nashville, TN. He continues to be an advocate for Title I music programs in underserved schools and communities. Most recently, he was named a CMA Teacher of Excellence in 2019, after winning the award in 2016.

Cody Martin (M.M. ’14) joined Pensacola Opera in 2017 from professional engagements with Des Moines Metro Opera, Arizona Opera, Hubbard Hall Opera, Florida State Opera, Asheville Lyric Opera, Virginia Opera, Janiec Opera Company, and the Brevard Music Center. An active pianist, coach, and conductor, Cody directly oversees the administration of Pensacola Opera’s programs dedicated to in-school arts education and training of the members of the Artists in Residence Program.

Leryn Turlington (B.M. ’14) has been having great success in Chicago; she played Sally Brown in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, her seventh show at Drury Lane, followed by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre on Navy Pier, had her third year in A Christmas Carol, back at Drury Lane, which she left a day early to start rehearsals as Sandy in Grease at the Marriott Theatre. They almost finished the run before being shut down by COVID-19 -just three days earlier than planned. In addition, Turlington started Treble on the L, a jazz duo that played gigs throughout the city at various venues, including bars and the Riverwalk downtown.

Danny Burgos (B.M. ’15) has been with the first national tour of The Band’s Visit as the offstage swing for all the men.

Roderick Beecher Gorby (D.M. ’15, M.M. ’17) has been commissioned to compose a work for organ and chamber orchestra for the fall 2020 season of Chamber Orchestra of the Springs in Colorado Springs.

Elizabeth McManus (B.M.E. ’15) is Band Director at Wakulla High School in Crawfordville, FL. Bands under her direction have consistently received Excellent and Superior ratings at district Music Performance Assessments, Superiors at Marching MPAs, Superiors at Jazz MPAs, Superiors at Auxiliary MPAs, and qualified for State Concert, Jazz, and Auxiliary MPAs. Daniel Tompkins (M.M. ’15, Ph.D. ’17) works as an Applied Scientist II at Microsoft in the area of audio and speech recognition with deep learning. He has also served on product teams developing machine-learning models for audio classification, anomaly detection, music generation, and time series data. His prior training on the guitar, lute, and theorbo led to his doctoral dissertation on changing practices in European musical harmony (1400–1750) using machine learning and other statistical analyses, and to a publication in Mathematics and Computation in Music entitled “A Cluster Analysis of Mode Identification in Early Music Genres.” He won four Best Student Paper prizes during his graduate studies and also won “Best in Show: Innovation” at FSU’s 2017 “Digitech” Exposition for his exhibit “Machine Learning and Music Analysis.”

Ciele Gutierrez (M.M. ’16) has been working at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare as a medical music therapist since graduation. During the first three years she built the full-time NICU Music Therapy program funded by a grant from FSU’s College of Medicine and made possible by FSU’s Dance Marathon. She was promoted to Director of the Music Therapy Department in February 2020.

Logan Mortier (B.M. ’16) had his Off-Broadway debut in a revival of No Strings. He also went to Tokyo to do West Side Story on a new type of stage called Stage Around.

Kelly Patton (B.M. ’16) has been working as a medical music therapist for AdventHealth Orlando since January 2019 providing music therapy services for patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the adult inpatient Oncology units. She was accepted into the University of Central Florida’s Marriage and Family Therapy program for fall 2020 and began her master’s program to become a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.

Cara Stroud (Ph.D. ’16) serves as Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the Michigan State University College of Music where

she teaches courses in the undergraduate core curriculum as well as graduate courses in popular music, music after 1900, and musical narrative. Her publication on the inclusion of female composers in the music theory curriculum (“Transcending the Pedagogical Patriarchy: Practical Suggestions for Including Examples from Women Composers in the Music Theory Curriculum”) appears in the refereed journal Engaging Students, and she has presented research on form in popular music and on narrative strategies in music by John Corigliano, Libby Larsen, and Alfred Schnittke at regional, national, and international conferences. Her current research interests include intertextuality in music theory pedagogy and form in top-40 popular music.

Taylor Kate Eubanks (B.M. ’17) performed in A Christmas Tradition at the Marietta Strand.

Stephen Ivany (D.M. ’17) recently joined the California State University, Fresno as Assistant Professor of Trombone and Euphonium, after spending three years as an assistant professor at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. He is teaching trombone, euphonium, music theory, and various other music courses. He is also a faculty member at the Festival Internacional de la Mùsica FIM “Loja-Ecuador.”

Jacob Kight (M.M. ’17, D.M. ’20) is Assistant Professor (visiting) at the University of South Florida.

Angel Lozada (B.M. ’17) did the world premiere of Unmasked: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber at Paper Mill Playhouse.

Laura Clapper Zabanal (D.M. ’18, M.M. ’19) has a new position in the United States Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. “I cannot wait to work with everyone and become part of the FDC family!! I would be remiss without acknowledging the integral role my family, teachers, mentors, colleagues, and friends have played in my journey to this moment – thank you all!! Also, a huge shoutout to Troy Paolantonio (B.M. ’03, B.M.E. ’03) for being an amazing coach leading up to the audition! Washington, D.C. here we come!!”

Matt Jordan (D.M. ’18) is Assistant Professor of Percussion at Jacksonville State University.

Jordan Galvarino

Nicholas Hatt (D.M. ’18) and Jordan

Galvarino (M.M. ’16, D.M. ’19) completed their first season of the Emerald Coast Chamber Music Festival and Institute with their Canadian colleagues (Jacob Clewell, viola and Sasha Bult-Ito, piano) of the Velox Quartett this past summer. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization had to restructure their Chamber Music Institute into the ECCMF Virtual Institute in order to provide something of value to music students facing numerous festival cancellations. They led 30 student participants in two weeks of lessons, masterclasses, and seminars devoted to personal and professional development. These students were emerging young artists from three North American countries and represented schools such as Florida State University, Eastman School of Music, McGil University, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Bard College, and many others. Executive Director Nicholas Hatt and Co-Artistic Directors Jordan Galvarino, Jacob Clewell, and Sash Bult-Ito are busy preparing for the Inaugural year of the 2021 Emerald Coast Chamber Music Festival and Institute.

Mark J. Sciuchetti Jr.

Mark J. Sciuchetti Jr. (M.M. ’18) is Assistant Professor of Geography at Jacksonville State University. He recently published a co-authored articled with Dr. Denise Von Glahn in Ecomusicology Review entitled “A New or Another Sound Map: Annea Lockwood and Mark Sciuchetti Listen to the Hudson River.” In collaboration with Dr. Sarah Eyerly, he launched the companion website “Moravian Soundscapes” (moraviansoundscapes.music. fsu.edu) for her book Moravian Soundscapes: A Sonic History of the Moravian Missions in Early Pennsylvania,” which is now available through IU-Press. The website was a nearly four-year project to bring the sights and sounds of her text to the reader. It will continue to grow as they embark on new research endeavors in soundscapes.

Alexandria Arcia (B.M.E. ’19) was appointed Director of Bands at Paxon School for Advanced Studies in Jacksonville, FL.

Rubi Flores (B.M. ’19) was named one of ten outstanding graduate students and recent alumni who spent the 2019-2020 academic year as part of the Fulbright US Student Program. Flores was selected for the bi-national business program in Mexico City, which places grantees in different business environments while taking graduate business classes at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México. After graduate school, Flores plans to work in international development with a focus in Latin America.

therapist at a Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital in Jacksonville, FL. She is in the process of starting a Disorders of Consciousness MT program at the hospital. Denne is pursuing the NMT and MATADOC certifications. Turner Gray (B.A. ’19) accepted a graduate assistantship for Master of Music studies at Washington State University. Kayla Hanvey (M.M. ’19) was named one of ten outstanding graduate students and recent alumni and spent the 2019-2020 academic year as a part of the Fulbright US Student Program. Hanvey studied extended techniques in Hungarian repertoire for the flute under the tutelage of István Matuz in Budapest, Hungary. She plans to continue her musical studies at the doctoral level with a concentration in extended techniques and contemporary music. Ashley Lewis (M.M. ’19) works in Orlando, FL for Central Florida Community Arts as a Music Therapy Coordinator and Music Therapist on a grant from AdventHealth Hospital. She has been able to stream her services through online platforms postCOVID and is currently re-imagining her program to include a greater geographical reach in her clientele. She is proud to be one of the first music therapists to work exclusively in an art and performance organization and hopes to launch a program specifically for actors and performers to raise awareness about mental health issues specific to the artistic profession.

Dawn A. Iwamasa (Ph.D. ’19) is currently Assistant Professor of Music Therapy at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She

Alexandria Denne

Alexandria Denne (M.M. ’19) is a music

began in fall 2019.

Dawn A. Iwamasa

Emilia Addeo (B.M.E. ’19) has recently been hired as Band Director for Shoal River Middle School in Crestview, FL.

Ediberto Ortega (B.M. ’19) performed on a world cruise with Oceania Cruises in Port Louis, Mauritius (9,953 miles from Tallahassee).

Ash Stemke (M.M. ’19) serves as Assistant Professor of Music at Murray State University where he teaches courses in music theory, aural skills, composition, and digital music. His music explores self-similarity, teleology, and transformation, and has recently been performed by the Boston New Music Initiative, the Riverside Symphony, the Tallis Chamber Orchestra, and yMusic. He recently won first prize in the San Francisco Choral Artists’ New Voices Project and his commissioned film score “Launch Sequence” (written for Georges Méliès’s 1902 film Le Voyage dans la Lune) will soon be sent to the moon (!) as part of Carnegie Mellon University’s MoonArk project. His music has been featured at events such as New Music on the Bayou, NSEME, numerous SCI conferences, and the Schoenberg Academy in Vienna, Austria.

Emilia Addeo

2020s

Brad Betros (B.M. ’20) performed a self-written cabaret, Manhattan Skyline, in Jacksonville to a sold-out audience just before making the move to NYC.

Katerina McCrimmon (B.M. ’20) was in The Rose Tattoo with Marissa Tomei on Broadway this past fall.

Spencer Oyster (B.M.E. ’20) was appointed Director of Bands at Marathon Middle/High School in Marathon, FL.

Justin Snively (B.M.E. ’20) was appointed Director of Bands and Orchestra at Stone Magnet Middle School in Melbourne, FL.

Anthony Borda Harrison Brown Ian Graves

Chance Israel Jordan Lenchitz Kelsey Paquin

STUDENT NEWS

Anthony Borda (B.M. Tuba Performance)

was a finalist in the Solo Tuba Young Artist Competition at the 2020 Southeast Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

Harrison Brown (B.M. Tuba Performance)

participated in the 2020 Sewanee Music Festival in Tennessee.

Ian Graves (M.M. Tuba Performance) was a finalist in the Mock Tuba Audition at the 2020 Southeast Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

Chance Israel (D.M. Piano Performance)

recently competed in the Osaka International Music Competition. Having placed first in the regional round in Atlanta, Israel went on to receive 2nd place at the final round in Japan. Israel performed Petrushka by Stravinsky, competing with more than 50 contestants in his category. In addition to winning 2nd place, Israel was awarded a full-scholarship and housing at the Cap Ferret Music Festival for the Summer of 2020 in France. “I owe this achievement to FSU and especially to my Professor Dr. Stijn De Cock for having improved me tremendously,” said Israel.

Mikailo Kasha (B.M. Jazz Studies) was the recipient of DownBeat Magazine’s 42nd Annual Student Music Awards Jazz Soloist Undergraduate College Outstanding Performance. Kasha was the only bassist selected by DownBeat Magazine for the award. Established in 1976, the DownBeat Student Music Awards are considered the most prestigious in jazz education. Hundreds of musicians, music educators and music industry professionals received their first international recognition as DownBeat Student Music Award winners.

Jordan Lenchitz (Ph.D. Music Theory)

won the Best Student Paper Award at the 2020 meeting of the South Central Society for Music Theory held in Nashville, TN for his research presentation “Spectral Fission in Barbershop Harmony.”

Kelsey Paquin (D.M. Clarinet Perfor-

mance) has been awarded the Theodore Presser Foundation Graduate Music Award. This award will allow her to complete her research project, “The Clarinet Works of Indian Classical Composer John Mayer.” This summer she will travel to London, England and Kolkata, West Bangla, India. Paquin will follow this with a series of lecture recitals across the country.

Joel Perez (B.M. Jazz Studies) won the 2020 American Trombone Workshop National Jazz Solo competition in March in Washington, DC. The American Trombone Workshop is the only professionally organized and staffed trombone workshop or conference in the United States. Soloists, educators, and students—as well as university and college trombone ensembles from around the world—attend the workshop annually.

Joel Perez Brandon Smith Ethan Gonzalez Soledad

Ryan Sorenson Austin Thornton Jonah Zimmerman

Brandon Smith (D.M. Tuba Performance)

won the 2019 International Tuba and Euphonium Conference Arnold Jacobs Mock Orchestral Audition at the ITEC held at the University of Iowa in May 2019. The competition featured a recorded round and a live final round that was held at the annual International Tuba and Euphonium Conference. Smith also placed in these competitions: 2020 United States Army Band Tuba Euphonium Workshop Solo Tuba Competition – Finalist; 2020 Southeast Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference - Finalist, Solo Tuba Artist Competition; and 2020 International Leonard Falcone Festival - Bronze Medalist, Artist Tuba Competition.

Ethan Gonzalez Soledad (B.M. Compo-

sition) participated in two remote music festivals this past summer. Soledad was given the opportunity to compose a piece for the Doclé Reed Quintet for a new festival called “zFest,” an event that came out of the Facebook group “Music, but everybody is quarantined.” The second remote music festival was the Curtis Institute’s Young Artist Summer Program where he was able to compose a piece for solo marimba to be performed by residing faculty and two other solo pieces to be performed by performer participant volunteers (violin and piano). There were daily seminars and masterclasses to discuss repertoire, learn important aspects about being a composer, present works, and create a dialogue about relevant social issues in the new music landscape, i.e. racism and people’s perceptions of a composer’s music. “I don’t think I’ve ever continually churned out so much music in so little time. I also I realized how important it is to have these discussions about the state of the music composition world,” said Soledad.

Ryan Sorenson (D.M. Tuba Performance)

was a finalist in the Solo Tuba Artist Competition at the 2020 Southeast Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

Austin Thornton (B.M. Music Education)

was a finalist in the Solo Euphonium Young Artist Competition at the 2020 Southeast Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. He also participated in the 2020 Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC.

Jonah Zimmerman (M.M. Euphonium

Performance) won first prize in the 2020 International Euphonium and Tuba Festival Artist Competition and the second place Silver Medal in the 2020 Leonard Falcone International Euphonium Artist Competition. Zimmerman also placed in these competitions: 2020 Online Brass Championships – Best Euphonium, 9th Place Overall; 2020 United States Army Band National Collegiate Solo Competition – Finalist; 2020 Midwest Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference – Finalist, Mock Euphonium Audition and Solo Euphonium Competition; 2020 Southeast Regional Tuba Euphonium Conference – Finalist, Mock Euphonium Audition; 2020 International Euphonium Tuba Festival – First Place, Solo Artist Competition; and 2020 International Leonard Falcone Festival – Silver Medalist, Euphonium Artist Competition. n

IN MEMORIAM

Dorothy West (B.M. ’42)

6/15/2019

Mary Brown (B.M. ’45)

4/24/2019

Mildred McTureous (B.M. ’45)

2/1/2019

Sidney Ashley (B.M. ’47)

1/10/2019

Doris Boone (B.M. ’47)

10/21/2019

Peggy Gainer (B.M. ’48)

5/12/2019

Velma Ruth McDonald (B.M. ’49)

3/18/2019

Esther Langston (B.M. ’50)

6/4/2019

Jacqueline Napier (B.M. ’50)

4/9/2020

Betty Allan (M.M. ’51)

4/13/2020

Joanne Apel (B.M. ’51)

4/23/2019

Norma Eddins (B.M. ’52)

1/15/2019

Mary Essel (M.M. ’52)

10/11/2019

Janie Buck (B.M.E. ’53)

8/28/2019

Donna Blackketter McCrea (B.M. ’51)

3/31/2019

Alice Eddins (B.M. ’53, M.M. ’59)

10/1/2019

Lera Bell (B.M. ’54)

8/26/2019

Emma Mosteller (B.M. ’54)

3/2/2019

Miriam Fielding (M.M. ’56)

5/31/2019

Richard Thierry (B.M. ’56, M.M. ’57)

2/14/2019

Janet Zeigler (M.M. ’57)

6/23/2019

Charles Alley (B.M. ’58, M.M. ’63, Ph.D. ’76)

11/2/2019

Mary Sewell (B.M. ’58)

6/12/2019

Catherine Smith (D.M. ’58)

1/2/2019

Roberta Abstein (B.M.E. ’61)

6/17/2019

Wayne Hobbs (B.M. ’60)

4/26/2019

George Bew (M.M. ’61)

8/7/2019

Joseph DeLage (Ph.D. ’61)

1/3/2019

Janice Knapp (B.M. ’61)

9/28/2019

Barbara Probst (B.M.E. ’61)

3/13/2019

Jay Buchanan (B.M. ’62, M.M. ’67)

6/5/2019

Ralph Gabriel (Ph.D. ’62)

2/13/2019

Rochelle Williams (M.M.E. ’62)

6/14/2019

James Davis (M.M. ’63)

10/27/2019

Linda Riddle (B.M.E. ’63)

4/21/2019

Ann Ray (B.A. ’64)

3/3/2020

Suzanne Hill (B.M. ’66)

3/21/2019

Sandra Skeenes (M.M. ’66)

3/15/2019

Barbara Smith (B.M.E. ’66)

8/7/2020

A. Byron Smith (B.M. ’66, M.M.E. ’70, Ph.D. ’85)

9/5/2020

Douglas Focht (B.M. ’67)

6/8/2019

Albert Ralls (M.M. ’67)

10/3/2019

James Banim (B.M. ’68)

5/7/2019

Stephen Bayless (B.M.E. ’69)

6/24/2019

Dennis Carroccio (B.M. ’69)

8/7/2020

William Denison (Ph.D. ’69)

2/15/2019

Michael Doherty (M.M.E. ’69)

10/17/2019

Linda Bush (B.M.E. ’71)

8/30/2019

Elizabeth Newnam (D.M. ’72)

3/1/2019

Richard Sanders (M.M.E. ’72)

9/18/2019

Theodore Brannen (B.M.E. ’75)

8/2/2019

Kathryn Weaver (B.M. ’75)

5/28/2020

Carolyn Rayboun (B.M.E. ’77)

9/19/2020

Daniel Clemenz (M.M.E. ’78)

5/28/2019

Elizabeth Cawood (D.M. ’79)

6/22/2019

Rhonda Rinker (M.M. ’79)

2/28/2019

David LaJeunesse (B.M.E. ’93)

8/26/2020

William Turbeville (B.A. ’93)

6/30/2020

Dimitri Diatchenko (M.M. ’96)

4/21/20

Carmen White (B.A. ’00)

3/9/2019

Jeffrey Walters (B.A. ’02)

6/3/2019

Aaron Hilbun (D.M. ’04)

4/7/2019