Director Spotlight: Kevin Sanders

KEVIN SANDERS

The new director of the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music brings a fresh vision to one of the College of Communication and Fine Arts’ most prominent establishments

WHEN DR. KEVIN SANDERS TOOK UP HIS NEW ROLE WITH THE RUDI E. SCHEIDT SCHOOL OF MUSIC in mid-2020, he traded in his many previous titles with the school for just one: director.

at once,” said Sanders. “We are growing and enhancing our unique community partnerships, we are in the process of creating a five-year vision for the School to ensure our faculty and students thrive in this decade, and, of course, we are looking Sanders, who has been with the forward to the completion of the new University of Memphis since 2008, Scheidt Family Music Center.” started as tuba euphonium professor and eventually saw his musical Community partners of the School faculty work shift from of Music include the likes performance-related of Shelby County Schools, matters to include more “We are at a Memphis Symphony administrative functions unique point Orchestra, IRIS Orchestra, such as overseeing the school’s undergraduate in the journey Memphis Music Initiative, Opera Memphis and more. scholarships and of the Rudi graduate assistantships. Despite the new singular E. Scheidt “These kinds of relationships are the tide that lifts all title, his job remains School of Music boats,” said Sanders, “and as varied as ever. where there I think all parties involved are aware of that. We look “One of the things I’ve is a palpable forward to working with come to love about the momentum all of these organizations position of director is the opportunity to of initiatives again in the near future.” interact with all of the converging And in a city like Memphis, school’s stakeholders,” said Sanders. “One week at once.” finding local talent to work with is rarely an issue. will see me talking to people about the new music center or meeting with faculty, another week may be spent visiting with our supporters or talking about ways we can better impact the Memphis community.” “That’s one of the things that makes us so special,” said Sanders. “We’ve got this incredibly large and comprehensive music program right inside of a city that’s anything but a college town. That’s Among Sanders’ chief goals as director become one of the School of Music’s are to provide a world-class curriculum greatest resources in the form of deeply instilled in performance, these community partnerships.” teaching, research, arts advocacy and entrepreneurship, all while encouraging community engagement through strategic partnerships. Sanders said he also hopes to continue to grow and evolve as a School of Music by introducing new academic programs, as well as examine the curriculum “We are at a unique point in the to address the changing landscape journey of the Rudi E. Scheidt School students will face after graduation. of Music where there is a palpable momentum of initiatives converging “In many ways, there are less defined positions you might see in a symphony

orchestra or performance job and much more in the way of entrepreneurism,” he said. “It’s up to us to craft a curriculum and student experience that is unique to us, and to do it in a way that can’t be replicated by any of our other peers in the region.”

A native of Bryant, Ark., Sanders is the son of a choral conductor and a church pianist. As a musician, he has performed on five continents with some of the world's finest orchestras, including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Macau Orchestra in China and the Melbourne Symphony in Australia.

Sanders holds degrees from the Interlochen Arts Academy, Indiana University, the Juilliard School and Michigan State University. He is an Adams Brass Instruments Performing Artist. In addition, he has served as the former director of Graduate Studies with the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, as well as a Dean’s Fellow for Research with the College of Communication and Fine Arts.

“In the role of Dean’s Fellow for Research, I was able to step out of my comfort zone and facilitate relationships and conversations,” said Sanders. “I learned a tremendous amount and got a much better picture of just how music and the arts can contribute to our Carnegie Research 1 Initiative.”

NEWS & NOTES

VOICES

Design Studio 5 spring semester collaboration.

ARCHITECTURE

• After 36+ years teaching architecture at the UofM, professor SHERRY BRYAN celebrated her first day of retirement by renewing her commitment to architectural education as professor emeritus. This is the first emeritus position approved in the Department of Architecture. • Memphis-based architects Matt Seltzer (archimania) and Tim Michael (designshop) and Knoxville-based architects Brandon Pace (Sanders Pace Architecture) and Michael Davis (Sanders Pace Architecture) participated in the final reviews for the Design Studio 2 taught by professors ANDREW PARKS (archimania) and MICHAEL HAGGE. The students completed designs for a residential infill project for developer Laurynas Petrauskas (Petrauskas Capital) and architect Jason Jackson (brg3s). • DR. MARIKA SNIDER’s documentary film Urbanizing the Suburbs: From Defunct Strip Mall to Walkable Urban Neighborhood was screened at the Better Cities Film Festival in Detroit in October. • Adjunct professor Jimmie Tucker (Self+Tucker Architects) and professors Sherry Bryan and Michael Hagge selected space in the historic Universal Life Building for a lecture and exhibition by Pascale Sablan. The building, designed by the renowned architectural firm McKissack & McKissack in 1949, serves as home to STA. While there, Bryan and Hagge had the pleasure of talking with some alums of the UofM M.Arch program MARIO WALKER (MFA ’12),

CAMERON MCLEMORE (MFA ’18), ANDREA JIMENEZ (MFA ’19), VICTOR M. ROBINSON JR. (MFA ’14), ANTONIO TIRADO (MFA '18) and COLBY C MITCHELL (MFA ’13). • The Department of Architecture welcomed SONIA RAHEEL as adjunct professor. Raheel is a UofM alum, earning the Master of Architecture degree and the BFA in both Architecture and Interior Design. She teaches ARCH 3213 Survey of Interiors + Furniture. • Architecture students in Design Studio 5 taught by PAM HURLEY and KATE HAYWOOD and students in a course taught by Frank Saitta in the UofM Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality & Resort Management collaborated in the spring semester. In addition to sharing information, students toured the Arrive Memphis hotel downtown.

ART

• REBECCA HOWARD, visiting assistant professor of Art History, has an article titled "Interactive commemoration in the Sacro Bosco" published in the journal Studies in the History of Gardens & Designed Landscapes. In addition, Howard contributed two essays to the site Smarthistory, a resource used by art history teachers around the world.

• DR. MICHAEL SCHMIDT, associate professor of graphic design, was selected to receive the 2020 College of Communication and Fine Arts Dean’s Engaged Scholarship Award.

• Professor FRED ALBERTSON retired in May 2020, completing 32 years with the University. • Throughout the fall 2020 semester, art education students developed hands-on virtual lessons that were posted on the Dixon’s website. • UofM Art History alum JODY STOKES-CASEY published her article titled “Art/Race/Violence: A Collaborative Response” in the journal Visual Arts Research. • UofM Art History professors

DR. LUCIENNE AUZ and DR. REBECCA HOWARD presented their latest research at the Southeastern College Art Conference. Auz’s paper “Empowerment through Body Mapping” was part of the panel “Art as Catharsis: Combating Trauma through Creativity,” and Howard’s paper “Lake Como to the Dialogo: Paolo Giovio’s Public Portrait Collections” was part of the panel “Portraits of Power: Legitimacy, Symbolism and Ideology in the Public Portrait Gallery.”

• Art History professor DR. EARNESTINE JENKINS was featured in art consultant Alaina Simone’s list of “Top Five Black Women to Know In The Art World,” an article written by Brienne Walsh published on Forbes.com. • Two UofM interns, NEECOLE GREGORY and JOLYNNE MINNICK, completed two new exhibitions at the Delta Heritage Center museum. Their supervisor was Adriana Dunn, curator of the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center, who was hired in May 2020, while she was still completing her degrees and was serving as AMUM’s GA. She will receive her MA and certificate in Museum Studies in December.

• LAHENRYA BOYD (BFA ’07), KELLY HOOKS (BFA ’04) and ZOE VU (BFA ’15) each earned their Master of Professional Studies with a concentration in Strategic Leadership from the University of Memphis. Hooks graduated this past spring, while Boyd and Vu graduated this past fall. • BRANDON BELL, assistant professor for Graphic Design, appeared as a featured speaker at the American Advertising Federation District 7’s 2020 Leadership Conference. In addition, Bell completed several new set screen design projects for ABC News, and Graphic Design Senior Briana Jensen is currently assisting with other set designs for 20/20 and Good Morning America.

COMMUNICATION & FILM

• DR. CRAIG STEWART and DR. AMANDA YOUNG's manuscript "'Something with a Frightening Reputation': 60 Minutes’ Accommodation of HIV in Gene Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease" was accepted for publication in the journal Rhetoric of Health & Medicine.

• DR. JOY GOLDSMITH released the book Caring for the Family Caregiver, which examines the high cost and poorly addressed exigencies of the family caregiver in chronic illness, including health literacy, palliative care and health outcomes through the prism of communication. In addition, Goldsmith and her development team were awarded a $57,000 grant from the Archstone Foundation for the mobile health iOS app “Developing and Integrating COVID-19 Pandemic Content for the Health Communication App.”

• DR. AMANDA YOUNG, LYDIA GETTINGS (MA student) and their colleagues had an article published in the September issue of the Annals of Emergency Medicine titled “Let Their Voices Be Seen: Using Photovoice to Understand the Experiences of Sickle Cell Patients in the Emergency Department.” In addition, Young is serving on a working group at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital that has received funding for a two-year project that will develop educational materials to support informed consent in gene therapy for sickle cell patients.

• DR. WENDY ATKINS-SAYRE, professor and chair of the Department of Communication and Film, recently published her co-edited volume with Ashli Quesinberry Stokes of University of North CarolinaCharlotte. The volume, titled “City Places, Country Spaces: Rhetorical Explorations of the Urban/Rural Divide,” is part of the Frontiers in Political Communication series at Peter Lang Publishing, edited by Mitchell McKinney and Mary Stuckey.

NEWS & NOTES

VOICES

• DR. KATHERINE HENDRIX's article "There are No Awards for Surviving Racism, Sexism, and Ageism in the Academy" was accepted for publication in the Journal of Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies. In addition, Hendrix's paper "When teaching fails due to third-party Interference: a blackgirl Warrior's story," was accepted for publication in Communication Education. • DR. MARINA LEVINA’s article “The Labor of Consent: Affect, Agency, and Whiteness in the Age of #metoo,” which was co-authored with Dr. Rachel Dubrofsky, was published in Critical Studies in Media Communication.

• DR. CRAIG STEWART served as co-PI on a recently awarded $1 million National Science Foundation ADVANCE Adaptation grant, "ASPIRED: Adaptations for Sustainable Policies and Increased Recruitment Excellence in Diversity" (Dr. Esra Ozdenerol, Department of Earth Sciences, PI). In addition, Stewart's article "Populist Linguistic Tone in Recent U.S. Presidential Campaign Discourse: A DICTION Analysis" was published in Communication Research Reports. • DR. TONY DE VELASCO was selected as the 14th Benjamin Rawlins Professor under the recommendation of Dr. Anne Hogan, dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts, as well as the Benjamin W. Rawlins Jr./Union Planters Professorship Committee.

• DR. SACHIKO TERUI was selected to receive the 2020 College of Communication and Fine Arts Dean's Outstanding Research Award.

• NOOR GHAZAL ASWAD, doctoral student with the Department of Communication and Film, was recognized for top student paper and top overall paper in the Rhetorical and Communication Theory Division of the National Communication Association. In addition, Ghazal Aswad was selected as the winner of the 2020 College of Communication and Fine Arts Graduate Student Outstanding Research Award – PhD. • C.L. DANGERFIELD, PhD student with the Department of Communication and Film, has been elected to the Rhetoric Society of America's Board of Directors, specifically filling the graduate student/early career seat for communication studies. She will become a member of the board on July 1 and will serve in this capacity until June 2024.

• KIERSTEN BROCKMAN, PhD student with the Department of Communication and Film, was selected as the recipient of the 2020-21 Osborn Fellowship Award — awarded by the Graduate Committee — due to her dedication to the Department of Communication and Film.

• TYLER JAMES PILKINTON received the CCFA Dean's Student Outstanding Achievement Award.

JOURNALISM & STRATEGIC MEDIA

• Assistant professor DR. RUOXU WANG's paper "Catch them all: Exploring the psychological impact of playing Pokemon GO," was accepted for publication in the Journal of Communication Technology. In addition, further research from Wang, “Exploring the Effects of Compliance/ Non-Compliance Message Framing, Desirability of End States, and Brand Zealotry on Consumers’ Responses to Wearables Advertising,” was published in the Journal of Promotion Management alongside co-authors Dr. Yan Huang from the University of Houston and Dr. George Anghelcev from Northwestern University in Qatar. • Public Relations professor KIM MARKS MALONE was selected for the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) College of Fellows. She is one of 15 this year, and 350 total chosen for this honor.

Representatives from the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media attend the Tennessee Press Association winter convention. Second row: Otis Sanford, Noah Baker, Dr. Tom Hrach First row: Tatjana Petrikina, Peyton Thornburg, Dr. David Arant

• DR. MATTHEW HAUGHT, assistant chair and associate professor with the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media, won the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s third annual Visual Communication Teaching Award. Haught also was elected head of the Newspaper and Online News Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. He will serve in the role for a year. • Advertising professor JOEL NICHOLS was named to the BBB’s National Advertising Review Board, which works to resolve appeals from decisions of the National Advertising Division and plays an important role in the advertising industry’s self-regulatory program designed to ensure the truthfulness and accuracy of advertising. Nichols also was named to the AAF’s National Education Executive Committee, which is responsible for developing meaningful education programs for students pursuing academic studies in advertising and promotes close ties between faculty, students and advertising professionals.

• DR. MELISSA JANOSKE MCLEAN was named CCFA Dean’s Research Fellow in May 2020. • Professor OTIS SANFORD, Hardin Chair of Excellence, published the book In A Colorful Place with Daily Memphian colleague Dan Conaway.

Dr. Ruoxu Wang The Department of Theatre & Dance presents Inherit the Wind.

• DR. RUOXU WANG and SANFORD were named the winners of the 2020 D. Mike Pennington Award for Outstanding Mentorship. • Creative Mass Media and Advertising

double-major CORINNE BALDWIN graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA, one of 16 this class University-wide. • Graduate assistant RACHEL STARK was a first-place and second-place winner in the liberal and fine arts category in the UofM’s 32nd annual research forum. • Representatives from the Department of Journalism and Strategic Media appeared at the 2020 Tennessee Press Association winter convention in Nashville on Feb. 13. Faculty members

Otis Sanford were DAVID ARANT, TOM HRACH and OTIS SANFORD. Students were TATJANA PETRIKINA, PEYTON THORNBURG and NOAH BAKER. Students took home 10 awards in the Tennessee AP Journalism Competition, including one Best of Show in Online Journalism. • Undergraduate student CALEB SUGGS placed tenth in the 2019-20 Hearst Television Features Competition. • Journalism major LIAUDWIN SEABERRY won the 2020 Phil Cannon Memorial Scholarship, which included an internship at the FedEx St. Jude Invitational. • KALYN WILLIAMS, 2020 advertising graduate, was named to the American Ad Federation's list of Most Promising Multicultural Students.

THEATRE & DANCE

• MICHAEL MEDCALF, assistant professor of dance, has been selected as a member of the board of directors of Tennessee Association of Dance and will act as lead on the membership committee. • JORGE GUAMAN was selected for the Dean's Outstanding Achievement Award. • JAMESON GRESENS was selected for the Dean’s Graduate Creative Achievement Award. • Several students took home awards at the 37th Annual Ostrander Awards Collegiate Division for the UofM production of Inherit the Wind: BRIAN RUGGABER for Excellence in Set Design; JOHN PHILLIANS for Excellence in Sound Design; JAMESON GRESENS

NEWS & NOTES

VOICES

Jameson Gresens' award-winning lighting design.

for Excellence in Lighting Design; and TOBY DAVIS as Best Leading Actor. • KEEGON SCHUETT (BFA ’13) directed the world premiere of his newly published play Goddess of Tears, featuring several UofM alums

including ALICE RAINEY BERRY (BFA '94, MFA '12), JENNY ODLE

MADDEN (BFA '92), DAVID COUTER (BFA '16), CHRISTINA HERNANDEZ (BFA '13), JANIE CRICK (BFA '13), RON GORDON (MFA '82) and

GLORIA SWANSONG (BFA '12). CASSIE BECK (BFA ’99) was featured in a new NBC show Connecting, now streaming on Hulu and Peacock. • DONNA KIMBALL (BFA ’85) provided a character voice in The Dark Crystal, which won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Program. Kimball is also performing in Fraggle Rock: Rock On! produced by the Jim Henson Company and streaming on AppleTV.

• KRISTINA HANFORD (BFA ’13) is the co-founder and COO of Virtual Babysitters Club (virtualbabysitersclub.com) which employs out-of-work NYC actors/ dancers during the pandemic. • TRAVIS BLACKWELL (BFA ’15) will be the guest artist speaker for the Tennessee Theatre Association (TTA) Annual Conference.

MUSIC

• DR. JACK COOPER received the 2020 Dean’s Creative Achievement Award.

• DR. EMILY YOUNG FRIZZELL was appointed assistant professor in music education.

• DR. JONATHAN TSAY was appointed assistant professor in piano. • DR. RYAN FISHER was elected president-elect of the Tennessee Music Education Association. • In addition, Fisher's article “Research-to-Resource: A Choral Director’s Abridged Guide to the Male Voice Change,” has been published in Volume 38, Issue 2 of Update: Applications of Research in Music Education. • The CCFA Research Council committee has approved and the dean has awarded a seed grant to

DR. JOSEF HANSON to fund the Memphis Music Education Innovation Summit. • Several representatives from the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music presented at this year’s NAfME (National Association for Music Education)

conference. DR. RYAN FISHER presented “Factors that Influence edTPA Scores” at a poster session; DR. JOE HANSON presented a session on “Sources of Efficacy Beliefs Among Instrumental Students”; and

DR. HEATHER KLOSSNER presented “Side by Side: A Partnership between Orff Schulwerk Music Teachers and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra” at a poster session. They were selected from 510 research proposals.

• DR. KENNETH KREITNER was the 2020 recipient of the Thomas Binkley Award for outstanding achievement in performance and scholarship by the director of a university or college early music ensemble. Kreitner is an active performer on early brass and woodwind instruments and directs the University’s Collegium Musicum. • KYLE FERRILL debuted his new podcast The Balanced Singer, which applies concepts from yoga, meditation, Buddhism, habit formation and more to the vocal arts. • The Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra named cellist ESTEFAN PEREZ, cello, recipient of the Rebecca Webb Wilson Fellowship. The second award went to violist Kathryn Brown.

• DR. KIMBERLY PATTERSON, cello, was awarded a $5,000 grant from the University of Memphis Division of Research and Innovation Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Pilot Program. The grant will go towards funding her upcoming album on PARMA Records with guitarist Patrick Sutton. • Piano technician DANNY HONNOLD was the winner of the 2019-20 Staff Recognition Award.

Dr. Ryan Fisher

• DR. MICHELLE VIGNEAU, associate professor of oboe, received the School of Music's Faculty Teaching Award for 2020. • The University of Memphis Chamber Choir joined three other choirs from Alabama, Georgia and Florida to rehearse Brahm’s “A German Requiem” under the direction of Dr. Eric Nelson in preparation for their performance at the 2020 ACDA Southern Division conference in Mobile, Ala. • TREVOR TODD, senior music education major, won the 2020 Hebert E. Rumble Outstanding Teacher Candidate Award. The UofM award is presented each year to the teacher candidate whose performance in residency is judged to be the most outstanding. • First-year DMA student CONNOR LANE, flute, was one of three flutists in the finals of the national young artist competition sponsored by the Flute Society of Kentucky. • Six students had the honor of being selected to the 2020 All-Collegiate Symphony Orchestra, sponsored every three years by the Tennessee Music Educators Association. These

students are SAMUEL JOSE ORTIZ (English horn), HANNAH DICKERSON (bassoon), MITCHELL CLOUTIER (violin), NOEL RIAN MEDFORD (violin), CAROLINE VER MULM (cello) and LIAM O'DELL (double bass).

• JONATHAN SCHALLERT was awarded the Graduate Assistant Meritorious Teaching Award for the academic year. He was selected from more than 250 graduate students who teach courses at UofM.

• MAKENNA AMUNDSON, BM in music education student, was the winner of the Presser Foundation Scholarship. • ANGELICA RENDEK was selected to make a poster presentation at the Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Chapters Piano Pedagogy Symposium at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. Rendek is the student president of the RESSOM MTNA Collegiate Chapter under

advisor DR. KEVIN RICHMOND and a first year DMA student studying

with DR. ARTINA MCCAIN.

• DR. JEFFREY MURDOCK (PhD ’15, Music Education) was elected president-elect of the Southwestern Division of the American Choral Directors Association. He is currently co-director of choral activities at the University of Arkansas. Murdock is also semi-finalist for the 2020-21 Grammy Educator of the Year award. • KEVIN CARPENTER, a University of Memphis alumnus, launched the Memphis Area Virtual Youth Choir. The MAVYC, which premiered with a rendition of Frank Ticheli's “Earth Song,” brought together students from different schools to perform all-digital concerts. • Master’s student in saxophone ALEC BARTLETT won a position in the Rocky Mountain Repertoire Theater pit orchestra last summer in Grand Lake, Colo. • JUSTIN WEIS (Performance – Euphonium, 2020) was selected as a finalist for the Singapore Brass Festival and traveled there thanks to a grant from the University. He competed against a dozen other brass players from all over the world and placed second in this prestigious international music competition. • NAIRAM SIMOES (BM ’12, trumpet) was appointed assistant professor of trumpet at Arkansas State University.

Dr. Kimberly Patterson, cello, and guitarist Patrick Sutton.