Student and Alumni News | November 2023

Student and Alumni News | November 2023

Our students and alumni are enjoying much success in their artistic endeavors. Please join us in congratulating them!

Cellists Jesús Castro-Balbi ’99MM and Soo Jin Chung ’11MM ’12AD and violinists Eunsae Lee ’22MM and Suliman Tekalli ’16AD performed with the Sejong Soloists at the Here and Now Music Festival in Seoul, Korea.

Cellist Hannah Collins ’06BS ’08MM ’09AD of the Bach Aria Soloists, and the ensemble’s founder and Artistic Director, violinist Elizabeth Suh Lane ’88MM, released an album titled Le Dolce Sirene on the Reference Recording Label.

The Callisto Quartet, YSM's Fellowship String Quartet, which includes violinists Cameron Daly ’18BA ’20MM and Gregory Lewis ’19MM ’27DMA, will serve as Associate Artists in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel. The quartet will perform Mozart’s viola quintets at the chapel with Miguel da Silva of the Ysaÿe Quartet in late November.

On Sept. 30, guitarist Thomas Flippin ’07MM ’08AD premiered Confluence: Double Concerto for Classical and Blues Guitars by GRAMMY-nominated composer Chris Brubeck (son of jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck) alongside GRAMMY-winning blues guitarist Vasti Jackson, D.J. Sparr, and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, under conductor Robert Moody.

Horn player Stephanie Fritz ’23MM is making her Broadway debut as the horn chair for How to Dance in Ohio, previews of which begin this month at the Belasco Theatre. "Seven autistic young adults prepare for a spring formal dance—a rite of passage that breaks open their routines and sets off hilarious and heartbreaking encounters with love, stress, excitement, and independence," the show's website explains. The show is based on Alexandra Shiva's documentary film.

Sophia Jean ’25MM and Jungah Yoon ’19MM ’20MMA placed First and Third, respectively, at the 2023 Donald Peck International Flute Competition.

Orchestral conductor Craig Hella Johnson ’95DMA and Conspirare was nominated for a Grammy Award in the "Best Choral Performance" category for a recording titled House of Belonging. Johnson and Conspirare won a Grammy in 2015 for their album The Sacred Spirit of Russia and have received eight Grammy nominations.

Tenor Seiyoung Kim ’24MMA will make his debut appearance at the Houston Grand Opera in February in the world premiere of Meilina Tsui's The Big Swim. Kim is in Houston this month participating in a workshop.

Baritone Pawel Konik ’17MM will make his house debut at Théâtre des Champs-Élysées as Orest in Strauss’s Elektraand will also perform the role at Staatsoper Stuttgart and Philharmonie Köln. Konik will return to Staatsoper Stuttgart to reprise his role as Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff and Donner in Wagner’s Das Rheingold.

Pianist Andrea Lam ’03CERT ’04AD was appointed Lecturer in Piano at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne.

Juan Esteban Martinez ’21MM was appointed Principal Clarinetist of the New Jersey Symphony.

Jesse McCandless ’17MM was appointed Principal Clarinetist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Composer Charles Nichols ’92MM released a new album of music called Crossing the Divide. The album was recorded by the Beo String Quartet for Centaur Records and is available on Apple Music, Naxos Music Library, ArkivMusic, and ProStudioMasters. The album's cover art was done by Jay Bruns.

César Palacio ’21MM was appointed Bass Clarinetist of the Phoenix Symphony.

Pianist Robert Rocco ’88MM ’89MMA collaborated in recitals of Brazilian, Spanish, and Catalan art song at the Barcelona Festival of Song at the Biblioteca de Catalunya. Rocco performed on a Pleyel grand piano that at one time belonged to composer Enrique Granados.

Andrew Stadler ’17MM was appointed second trumpeter of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Adjunct Professor of High Brass at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith, and Adjunct Professor of Trumpet at the University of Arkansas Little Rock.

Pianist Alexa Stier ’21MM ’27DMA won third prize, the audience prize, and a prize for the best interpretation of new music at the Olivier Messiaen International Competition in Grenoble, France.

On Dec. 7, organist Alexander Straus-Fausto ’24MM  will perform at Princeton University Chapel. The recital will be broadcast on WWFM.

Percussionist Michael Yeung ’22MM ’23MMA ’24AD was a winner of Young Concert Artists' 2023 Susan Wadsworth International Auditions and was named a YCA Jacobs Fellow. Yeung performed in a Winners Concert at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York on Nov. 12.

Pianist Xuerong (Kyra) Zhao ’14AD released an album called Vibrant on the Albany Records label this month. The album features performances of music by Rachmaninoff, Schumann, and Scriabin.

These news updates feature alumni and current students! Submit your news by Jan. 1 to be included in the next Alumni and Student News roundup.