Alumni News | March 2022

Join us in congratulating our inspiring alums, who’ve shared with us news of their recent accomplishments.

Percussionists and Sandbox Quartet members Jonathan Allen ’13MM ’14AD, Victor Caccese ’13MM, Ian Rosenbaum ’10MM ’11AD, and Terry Sweeney ’15MM were nominated for a  Grammy Award in the “Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance” category for their most recent album, Seven Pillars. The album is a collaboration between the quartet and composer Andy Akiho ’11MM that seeks to create a “genre-defying audio and video collaboration for percussion quartet.” In December, following the group’s Grammy nomination, Sandbox Percussion and Akiho were featured in a New York Times article about the development of Seven Pillars.

Vocalist Sheila Barnes ’74MM ’75MMA was a guest lecturer at the Composers’ Forum at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, Amsterdam University of the Arts, in January. Barnes’ lecture was titled “Issues for Composers in Writing for the Voice.” During her residency, Barnes held one-on-one sessions with students. This event marked Barnes’ third appearance at the forum. She has also lectured on composing for voice at the Jerwood Opera Writing Program at Britten Pears Arts, in Aldeburgh, England.

Tenor Lucas van Lierop ’17MMA premiered the title role of Orphée in Orphée | l’Amour | Eurydice, a new mixed-media opera inspired by Gluck and commissioned by the Dutch National Opera, Opera Zuid, and The Nederlands Reisopera, in conjunction with WeMakeVR.

Violinist Adelya Nartadjieva ’16MM was named concertmaster of the Jacksonville Symphony and will join the orchestra at the start of the 2022-2023 concert season.

Sanctuary and Storm, an opera by composer Tawnie Olson ’99MM ’00AD with a libretto by  Roberta Barker, won the 2021-2023 National Opera Association’s Dominick Argento Chamber Opera Composition Competition. Olson’s work was co-commissioned by the Women Composers Festival of Hartford and the Canada Council for the Arts for re:Naissance Opera.

A retrospective recording of music by composer Max Stern ’71 was released in 2019 by the Israel Music Institute, which receives support from the country’s Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport. A concert celebrating the release of the CD was held this past February at the Jerusalem Music Centre. The recording, Max Stern: Retrospective, was included in the February edition of CD HotList: New Releases for Libraries.

Submit your news by May 1 to be included in our next update.