Points of Pride lists faculty, student and alumni achievements. It is accumulated and produced three times a year, generally in January, March, and October.
Grants and Awards
Sara Anthony (B.A. Music) earned the prestigious Gilman Scholarship to Study Abroad in December. She received a $4,500 scholarship to student at the National University of Ireland in Galway this spring. Her studies in Ireland will focus on the acoustics of music, electronic music composition and sound synthesis.
Michael Hoff, Professor of Art History, received a $20,000 interdisciplinary UNL Research Council Grant for his research entitled "Antiochia ad Cragum Archaeological Research Project 2011: Excavation of the Roman Imperial Temple." The grant was funded through a gift from the Jane Robertson Layman Fund, which supports faculty research.
Jake Welchert (B.F.A. Art), received an AIGA silver award for a beer branding and label design for a fictional brewing company from Boston, Mass. The beer was called Hip Hops. AIGA is the professional association for design.
Congratulations to the following students in the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film and School of Music, who received recognition at the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival Region V competition in January. More than 60 UNL students participated in this year's festival. Honorees included:
- Sam Hartley, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film undergraduate, won the acting competition in the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Competition. Hartley competed with his scene partner, Cami Philgreen, School of Music. They were one pair of 296 Irene Ryan nominees from the six states in Region V. They also won Best Musical Theatre Scene, and Philgreen was selected as Best Scene Partner. They will travel to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in April to compete in the national Irene Ryan scholarship competition.
- Aaron Sawyer, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film graduate student, was the runner-up for the Stage Directors and Choreographers (SDC) National Directing Fellowship.
The following students won Global Gateway Study Abroad Scholarships for $1,500. This scholarship is provided by funds from the University of Nebraska Foundation and offered by Chancellor Harvey Perlman. The awardees from our college included:
- Michaela Bradley, Art and Art History
- Jake Denney, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film
- Jeri Dobos, Art and Art History
- Allison Holdsworth, Art and Art History
- Reagan Lopez, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film
- Laurel Metzger, School of Music
- Mindy Peck, Art and Art History
- Matthew Schaich, School of Music
- Maurice Wegulo, Art and Art History
The following students received Hixson-Lied Undergraduate Creative Research Grants in October:
- Michaela Bradley, Department of Art and Art History, $675, large-scale drawings.
- Kyren Conley, Department of Art and Art History, $900, large-scale paintings.
- Randy Patrick Jansen, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, $1,200, short film entitled "Kids."
- Christopher Lyons, School of Music, $600, "Life and Works of Dr. Benjamin Jepsin."
- Patrick Zatloukal, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, $1,000, "Sordid Lives: A Study in Four Chapters."
The following student received a Hixson-Lied Undergraduate Creative Research Grant in November:
- Meredith Ramsay, School of Music, $510, Plowman, Fischoff, Coleman and International Chamber Music Ensemble Competition.
The following students received Hixson-Lied Presentation of Scholarly and Creative Activity Grants in November:
- Ezinma Trio, School of Music, $1,200, Tour Across Nebraska.
- Clifford Towner, School of Music, $500, CBDNA Conference in Seattle, Wash.
The following students received Hixson-Lied Student International Study Support Grants in November:
- Sarah Anthony, School of Music, $1,000, study at the University of Ireland at Maynooth.
- Audrey Koch, Department of Art and Art History, $1,600, study at the Universite Paul Valery in France.
- Chailey Young, Department of Art and Art History, $1,600, study in Cordona, Italy.
The following students received Hixson-Lied Graduate Student Scholarly and Creative Activity Grants in December:
- Jonathan Crosmer, School of Music, $1,200, research project on viola strings.
- Meghan Sullivan, Department of Art and Art History, $1,440, large-scale ceramic project.
- Zach Vreeman, School of Music, $2,500, research on Randall Thompson at the Houghton Library at Harvard University.
The following students received Hixson-Lied Student Travel Grants in January:
- Jeri Dobos, Department of Art and Art History, $1,700, travel to Turkey this summer with Prof. Michael Hoff.
- Allison Holdsworth, Department of Art and Art History, $1,400, travel to London and Paris this summer with Prof. Sandra Williams.
- Matt Schaich, School of Music, $1,200, travel to Vienna with Prof. Paul Barnes.
- Audrey Stommes, Department of Art and Art History, $1,400, travel to London and Paris this summer with Prof. Sandra Williams.
The following faculty received Hixson-Lied Faculty Development Travel Grants in November and December:
- Dale Bazan, School of Music, $500, participate in the Instrumental Music Teacher Educators Biennial Conference in Sterling, Ohio.
- Steve Kolbe, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, $500, to visit technology installations in California.
- Karen Kunc, Department of Art and Art History, $2,000, printmaking studio residence in Venice, Italy.
- Laurel Shoemaker, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, $700, to attend Broadway Master Class in New York City.
- Alison Stewart, Department of Art and Art History, $1,000, attend the Print Council of America Conference in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Faculty
John Bailey, Larson Professor of Flute, was a guest artist at the Hot Springs (Ark.) Flute Seminar in October, where he conducted the Hot Springs Flute Choir in concert, and presented a recital, lecture and masterclass. Bailey was also the featured artist for the Rochester Flute Association's annual Flute Day, where he gave a recital, masterclass and lecture, and conducted a flute choir reading session.
Carolyn Barber, Associate Professor and Director of Bands, presented a clinic on auditioning, another focusing on artistry in ensemble rehearsals and a third devoted to educational unity and efficacy at the Nebraska Music Educators Conference in November. In early December, she conducted the New York School Music Association All-State Wind Ensemble in Rochester, N.Y. In mid-January, she conducted the Connecticut Music Educators Association Northern Region Honor Band in New Berlin, Ct., and at the end of the month she served as director and conductor for UNL's Winter Festival for Winds and Percussion. Photo below.
Dale Bazan, Assistant Professor of Practice, presented alongside the Moran Woodwind Quintet (John Bailey, flute; William McMullen, oboe; Diane Barger, clarinet; Alan Mattingly, horn; and Jeffrey McCray, bassoon) at the College Music Society Symposium in Minneapolis in September, and with Associate Professor Carolyn Barber and Larson Professor of Flute John Bailey at Nebraska Music Educators Conference. Both presentations were on topics related to engaging high school music musicians and their auditioning for college music programs. Bazan also presented in November on teaching with popular music at the Ontario Music Educators Association Conference in London, Canada. A poster describing research he conducted with Dr. Frederick Burrack of Kansas State University on the professional development needs of Kansas and Nebraska music educators was presented at the Biennial Music Educators National Conference in Anaheim, Calif. Advances in Music Education Research (Vol. 3) was printed in spring with a chapter detailing his research on assessment and instructional design processes of high school band directors.
Anthony Bushard, Assistant Professor of Music History, wrote "Thad, Mel and the VJO; Music of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, for the Program Notes for the UNL Jazz Ensembles I & II in December.
Ann Chang, Artist in Residence (Piano) and Artistic Director of the Lied Center for Performing Arts, performed at the "Schubertiade Festival" in Chicago on Jan. 29. This annual event celebrates the birth of the great composer Franz Schubert by featuring noted scholars and performers of Schubert's work during an all-day festival, sponsored by Piano Forte Foundation of Chicago.
Ed Forde, Chairman and Professor of Art, and Eddie Dominguez, Associate Professor of Art, have their work in the group exhibition "New Mexorado: Artists Living and Working in the Albuquerque-Denver Corridor," which opens March 5 in Taos, N.M. The show includes 120 works from 80 artists. They also presented an exhibition of their work at the Art Gallery of New Mexico Highlands University in October 2010.
William Grange, Professor of Theatre, had his ninth book, Historical Dictionary of German Literature to 1945, published earlier in January by Scarecrow Press, an imprint of Rowman and Littlefield. The book covers a wide swath of literary analysis and achievement, from Old High German lays and ecclesiastical songs of praise to Middle High German epics, sagas and love lyrics. While extensive in its chronological dimension, the Historical Dictionary of German Literature to 1945 is equally comprehensive in the geographical and genre areas it covers. The history of this period in German literature is told through a detailed chronology, an introductory essay, a comprehensive bibliography and more than 200 cross-referenced dictionary entries on poetry, novels, historical narrative, philosophical musings and drama. The exceptional writers who emerged and shaped German literature over the centuries - including Walther von der Vogelweide, Johann Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, Heinrich Heine, Friedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Mann and many others who are well known and admired worldwide - are also covered.
Karen Kunc, Cather Professor of Art, has her work in the exhibition "Abstraction & Color: The Prints of Margo Humphrey and Karen Kunc" at the Blackburn 20|20 Gallery in New York City Feb. 3-March 3.
Jeffrey McCray, Assistant Professor of Bassoon, performed a guest artist recital at both Michigan State University and Grand Valley State University in October. In addition, he taught masterclasses for the bassoon students at both universities, as well as at the University of Michigan.
Giacomo Oliva, Professor and Endowed Dean of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, performed as pianist for School of Music voice faculty, students and alumni for the seventh annual Celebration of American Song, featuring the music of Frank Loesser, on Jan. 31. Oliva also served as chair of the National Association of Schools of Music accreditation teams for the Department of Music at St. Cloud University in St. Cloud, Minn., and the School of Music at Georgia State University in Atlanta.
Jamie Reimer, Lecturer in Voice, published her article, "Revealing Robert Owens: A study of compositional style and performance practice in the song cycle Heart on the Wall, in the Nov./Dec. 2010 volume of the Journal of Singing.
Eric Richards, Assistant Professor of Composition, premiered a three-movement concert work entitled "Fantasy for Trumpet and Jazz Orchestra" at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago in December. The composition was created after a request from the leader of the Rob Parton Big Band, a 19-piece jazz ensemble. The Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic is one of the largest music conferences worldwide, drawing more than 15,000 delegates.
"Local Wonders," a play with music ran at the Chicago Dramatists Dec. 2-Jan. 9. Based on the writings of poet Ted Kooser," Local Wonders" was adapted by Associate Professor of Theatre Virginia Smith and Paul Amandes with music by Paul Amandes.
The Chiara String Quartet (Rebecca Fischer and Julie Yoon, violins; Jonah Sirota, viola; and Gregory Beaver, cello) continued their year-long Creator/Curator Series with Vol. 2 featuring composer Huang Ruo in Brooklyn, N.Y. in December. For this series, the Chiara has commissioned four stellar young composers to write new work and to curate the concert on which the new work is to be performed, choosing music that illustrates their influences, inspiration and heritage. In January 2011, they performed around New York, including at the Chamber Music America national conference, WYNC's Soundcheck and two performances at the first-ever Ecstatic Music Festival at Merkin Hall. Their performances at the Ecstatic Music Festival earned them a positive review at MusicalAmerica.com on Jan. 24.
Students
Three dissertations from the School of Music made the UNL Libraries Digital Commons' Top-20 most downloaded UNL dissertations list for 2010. The three were: #3 Marina Fabrikant, May 2006, 1,377 downloads of "Bach-Busoni Chaconne: A Piano Transcription Analysis"; #6 Steven Edward Moellering, May 2007, 891 downloads of "Visions Fugitives: Insights into Prokofiev's Compositional Vision"; and #7 Brian Alber, March 2006, 749 downloads of "The Evolution of Sonata Form in the Wind Music of W.A. Mozart."
Alumni
Harold (Barnard II) Allen (B.A. Music 2001; M.M. 2003) released a CD last fall entitled "Country Love." For more information, visit http://haroldallenmusic.com/home.html.
Craig Ellingson (B.F.A. Musical Theatre 2001), Chair and Director of the Minnesota State University Moorhead Theatre Department, was recently awarded one of six National Teaching Artist Grants from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The grant will support his sabbatical leave during 2011-2012, when he will participate in Dell'Arte International and its Physical Theatre certificate program in Blue Lake, Calif.
Jessie Graff (B.A. Theatre 2007) continues to do stunt work for movies and television. She appeared recently in episodes of Chuck on NBC and Hawaii Five-O on CBS. She has also worked as a stunt double in Leverage on TNT.
Tim Hammer (B.A. Theatre 2002) co-starred in the Nov. 23 episode of "No Ordinary Family" on ABC. He also played Quincy in the final episode of E.R. on NBC in April 2009.
Ryan Johnston (B.A. Theatre 1999) created a short video for the Theatre Communications Group entitled "Stage Matters" on why/how/if theatre matters in America. The film is now available for viewing online at http://tinyurl.com/2eq2tg4. Picture below.
Tori Lenosky (B.FA. Film 2007) is a junior producer at Parts and Labor, an active New York City production company. Their recent films include Here, The Loneliest Planet, Cold Weather and Lovely, Still.
Matt Miller (B.FA. and B.A. Theatre 2008) was interviewed by Tri-C Presents in November regarding his work as a lighting designer for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago before a performance in Cleveland, Ohio. He has been with Hubbard Street for more than a year.
Elizabeth Parker (Ph.D. Music Education 2009) had her article "Exploring student experiences of belonging within an urban high school choral ensemble: an action research study" published in Music Education Research in December 2010.
Nicholas Phillips (B.M. 2001) released a CD on Albany Records Jan. 1, 2011. The CD is titled "Portals and Passages" and features solo piano music written by American composer Ethan Wickman. He is also recording a CD of piano music by Croatian composer Boris Papandopulo (1906-1991), which will be released by Albany Records in the spring of 2011. Phillips is currently an Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Mai Mijoe Sahiouni (B.A. Theatre and B.J. in advertising/public relations 2010) was named one of the 50 Most Promising Minority Student finalists by The American Advertising Federation. The AAF's Most Promising Minority Student Program is the premier advertising industry award program to recognize and recruit outstanding minority college graduates in advertising, marketing, media and communications. She is currently an intern with The Beckwith Company and Dietrich Nelson and Associates in Los Angeles. While at UNL, she was an assistant to the general manager of the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film during her first year in UCARE and also worked as a marketing associate for the Nebraska Repertory Theatre. She will be featured in Advertising Age, USA TODAY and the Most Promising Minority Student book.
Programs
The School of Music presented the opera Amahl and the Night Visitors Dec. 12 at the Tassel Theatre in Holdrege, Neb. A pre-performance talk and reception following the performance was sponsored in collaboration by the School of Music, Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and the UNL Alumni Association.