Recent Orchestral, Academic, and Professional Appointments

Drew Banzhaf (MM ’14) – Double Bass section (one-year position), Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Kayla Burggraf (BM ’14) – Principal Flute, Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra

Conrad Cornelison (MM ’14) – Adjunct Professor of Bassoon, University of North Florida

Hannah Hammel (MM ’17) – Principal Flute, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra

Jordan Koransky (MM ’16) – Second Violin section, Houston Symphony Orchestra

Bryan Parkhurst (BM ’07) – Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Aural Skills, Oberlin College and Conservatory

Ivy Ringel (current Master’s student) – Principal Bassoon, The Atlanta Opera

Carey Skinner (BM ’15) – Campaign Associate in the Philanthropy & Advancement Department, The Cleveland Orchestra

Anastasia Sukhopara (MM ’14) – Second Violin section, Houston Symphony Orchestra

Ernie Tovar (current Master’s student) – Fourth Horn, The Philadelphia Orchestra

Competitions, Awards, Performances and Premieres

Double bassist Drew Banzhaf (MM ’14), oboist Margaret Butler (MM ’93) and clarinetist Elizandro Garcia-Montoya (MM ’03) participated in the 27th annual Midsummer’s Music Festival in Door County, Wisconsin, featuring multiple chamber music programs including works by Eastern European composers.

Current Doctoral student Michael Clark was awarded the Music Teachers National Association Professional Certification. Michael currently studies piano performance with Professor of Piano Dr. Robert Roux.

The Dover String Quartet (MM ’13) released their second album called “Voice of Defiance.” The CD includes Czech composer Viktor Ullmann’s String Quartet No. 3, Op. 46, Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 68 and Polish composer Szymon Laks’s String Quartet No. 3.

Alumnus Thomas Glass (MM ’16) is the newest addition to the IMG Artists New York Vocal roster. Baritone Thomas is a 2017-2018 Studio Artist at Houston Grand Opera, where he debuted as Baron Duphol in La Traviata.

The inauguration of alumnus Cristle Collins Judd (BM & MM ’83) as Sarah Lawrence College’s 11th president took place on Friday, October 2, 2017.

Alumna Meghan Kasanders (MM ’16) won first place at The Mildred Miller International Voice Competition with the Pittsburgh Festival Opera. Meghan is currently a Young Artist at Opera Saratoga.

Alumnus Joseph Kingma (MM ’13) was the first prize winner of the 2017 Franz Liszt Festival and International Piano Competition.

Pianist Dr. Andreas Klein (DMA ’89) performed the opening concert of the 2017-2018 Brookings-Harbor Friends of Music season. He also opened the 2017-2018 Crooked Tree Arts Center Performing Arts Series in October.

Composer Benjamin Krause’s (DMA ’14) new work String Quartet No. 1 “Cascades” was premiered by the Delgani String Quartet as part of their Cascade Quartet Project; connecting music and landscape through composition, performance, and documentation.

Cellist Francesca McNeeley (MM ’14) and composer Andrew Schneider (BM ’13) are among the roster of Seven Eight Artists, a Houston based Artist Management.

The New York Youth Symphony premiered composer Hilary Purrington’s (BM ’13) composition Daylight at Carnegie Hall in New York this past November.

Alumnus Ricardo Rivera-Soto (MM ’17) was accepted into the Ryan Opera Center, the professional artist-development program for Lyric Opera of Chicago, for the 2018-2019 season.

The Rolston String Quartet (MM ’17) was showcased at the Five Boroughs Music 2017-18 Festival.

Soprano Clara Rottsolk (MM ’02) was among other soloists who performed Mozart’s choral masterpiece Mass in C Minor with the American Classical Orchestra at the Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center.

Maestro Alastair Willis (MM ’99) conducted his first performance as the music director of the South Bend Symphony Orchestra.

Violist Rachel Kuipers Yonan (BM ’08) joined the Ciompi Quartet for two performances this fall in Baldwin Auditorium located at Duke University.

Violinist Jude Ziliak (MM ’11) is the 2018 recipient of the Jeffrey Thomas Award from the American Bach Soloists. The Jeffrey Thomas Award is given annually to a young musician who demonstrates extraordinary promise and accomplishments in the field of early music.

Recent Orchestral, Academic, and Professional Appointments

Zach Bridges (MM ’16) – Tuba section, U.S. Army Ceremonial Band

Lucinda Chiu (MM ’17) – First Violin section, Los Angeles Opera Orchestra

John Church (current Master’s student) – Principal Trombone, Portland Opera

Conrad Cornelison (MM ’14) – Principal Bassoon, Jacksonville Symphony

Stephen Farrell (MM ’17) – Trombone section, Naval Academy Band

Hunter Gordon (MM ’16) – Second Bassoon (one-year position), Charlotte Symphony Orchestra

Sean Gordon (MM ’15) – Second Bassoon, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra

Christian Gray (MM, currently LOA) – Double Bass section, Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center

Derek Jenkins (MM ’13) – Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition, Arkansas State University

Jonathan Kaplan (MM ’17) – Second Trumpet, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra

Milton R. Laufer (DMA ’98) – Director, Western Carolina University’s School of Music

Robert McClure (DMA ’13) – Assistant Professor of Composition/Theory, Ohio University

Boson Mo (current DMA student) – Acting Assistant Concertmaster, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Mike Myers (MM ’97) – Fourth Trumpet, Seattle Symphony Orchestra

Robert O’Brien (current Master’s student) – Third Percussion, Houston Ballet Orchestra

Rebecca Reale (BM ’15) – First Violin, Los Angeles Philharmonic

Patty Ryan (MM ’17) – Cello, Artaria String Quartet

William Shaub (former AD student) – Concertmaster, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra

Timothy Steeves (current DMA student) – Acting Associate Concertmaster, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Michael Stubbart (MM ’15) – Section Percussion (one-year position), Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Hugo A. Valverde Villalobos (current Master’s student) – Second Horn, The Metropolitan Opera

Fei Xie (MM “06) – Principal Bassoon, Minnesota Orchestra

Dian Zhang (current DMA student) – First Violin section, San Francisco Opera

Competitions, Awards, Performances and Premieres

Two Shepherd School alums Frederick Ballentine (MM ’13) and Allegra De Vita (MM ’13) are members the 2017-18 Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists roster with Washington National Opera. The new class of young artists will perform in the Kennedy Center Opera House this coming season.

Composer Lembit Beecher’s (MM ’05) work I Have No Stories to Tell You was part of a site-specific double-bill including Monteverdi’s Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Lembit also had his work Sophia’s Forest premiered at Drexel University. This work is scored for five voices, custom-built sound sculptures, string quartet and percussion.

Three Shepherd alums Jennifer Johnson Cano (MM ’03), Adam Lau (MM ’10) and Jack Swanson (MM ’16), performed their Mostly Mozart debut in the opening night presentation of The Singing Heart at the Lincoln Center with the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra.

Alumnus Douglas DeVries (MM ’16) performed with the Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra. Other Shepherd School students in the orchestra are current masters students Nicole Haywood, Megan Wright and Emmy Tisdel and alums Eva Dove (MM ’17) and Amanda Galick (MM ‘15).

Alumnus Tommy Dougherty (MM ’15) was among the 2017 Morton Gould Young Composer Award winners from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

Music Academy of the West’s 2018 New York Philharmonic Global Academy Fellowship Program winners include Shepherd School alumna Hannah Hammel (MM ’17) and current graduate student Michael Marks.

Current undergraduate student Keith Hammer won the Aspen Music Festival and School Solo Percussion Competition. He performed Caméléon by Eric Sammut at the latest percussion ensemble concert.

Alumnus Michael Hewitt (MM ’17) performed the role of King Edward III in the 2017 Glimmerglass Festival’s American premiere of Donizetti’s The Siege of Calais. A glowing review emphasized that Michael’s “focused baritone has the weight to convey the darker emotions of an unsympathetic character.” (Opera Warhorses, 2005-2017: William’s Reviews)

Violinist Luke Hsu (BM ’12) won second prize and the Chamber Music Prize in the 2017 Michael Hill International violin competition in New Zealand. The Violin Channel also announced him as a Violin Channel Young Artist.

Alumnus in orchestral conducting Paul H Kirby’s (MM ’79) composition The Night of the Secretary General, a one-person music drama, will be presented October 21 and 22 in New York City, a joint sponsorship of Music at Our Saviour’s Atonement Lutheran Church and the Musicians Club of New York.  James Parks will perform the role of Dag Hammarskjöld.  Further information can be found on the websites of MOSA and MCNY.

Pianist Christina Krause (MM ’11) was selected as a winner of The Music Academy of the West’s 2017 Marilyn Horne Song Competition in Santa Barbara, along with soprano Hannah Rose Kidwell. Christina received the Regina Roney Prize ($5,000) and will be presented in a recital tour that includes a commissioned song cycle by composer Jake Heggie.

Alumnus Stephen Lamb (MM ’02) performed the Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto with the U.S. Coast Guard Band on their tour concert in July.

Alumnus Cristian Macelaru (MM ’06, MM ’08) conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in two concerts at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. Christian has also been appointed tenured conductor with the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music.

Alumna Hilary Purrington (BM ’13) is the 2017 Underwood Commission Winner. She has received a $15,000 commission for a work that will be premiered by the American Composers Orchestra in a future season. She has also been selected to compose a new work for the New York Youth Symphony which will open the NYY’s 2017-18 season.

The Houston Symphony production of Wozzeck conducted by Hans Graf won the 2017 German ECHO Klassik for best opera recording of the year. Five Shepherd School alumni were part of the production: Frederick Ballentine (MM ‘14), Julia Dawson (MM ‘13), Calvin Griffin (MM ‘13), Brenton Ryan (MM ’11) and Samuel Schultz (BM ’09, MM ‘11). The CD album has also been released by Naxos Music Library.

The Rolston Quartet (MM ’17) were one of the guest ensembles at the 2017 Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival. They have presented masterclasses and given performances to twenty young artists and composers.

The Knoxville Orchestra shared a Q&A with alumnus and new concertmaster William Shaub (former AD student). William will be leading the orchestra is the upcoming 2017-18 season.

Alumna Caroline Shaw’s (BM ‘04) premiere of Broad and Free was performed by Shepherd School Professor of Violin Kathleen Winkler and pianist Conor Hanick at the Music Academy of the West. Caroline completed her undergraduate degree with Kathleen Winkler in violin performance.

Alumna Erin Wall (MM ’00) made her Blossom Music Festival debut with the Cleveland Orchestra singing in a performance titled A Night at the Opera this past July.

Recent Orchestral, Academic, and Professional Appointments

Michael Accinno (BM ’06) – Appointed Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow, University of California, Riverside

Michelle Black (MM ’14) – First Violin Section, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra

Tommy Carpenter (MM ’15) – Cello section, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Sophia Cho (BM ’14) – First Violin section, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra

Stephen Farrell (MM ’17) – Trombone, United States Naval Academy Band in Annapolis, Maryland.

Daniel Hawkins (MM ’17) – Utility Horn, San Francisco Symphony

Natalie Hoe – (MM ’17) – Principal Clarinet, The Florida Orchestra

MuChen Jessica Hsieh (MM ’17) – Principal Second Violin, Houston Symphony Orchestra

Andy Liang (BM ’12, MM ’14) – Second Violin section, Seattle Symphony Orchestra

Ryan Little (MM ’17) – Principal Horn, Naples Philharmonic, Florida

Andrew Pedersen (MM ’17) – Double Bass section, Houston Symphony Orchestra

Daryl Robinson (MM ’14) – Assistant Professor and Chair of Organ Studies at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music and Cathedral Organist for Christ Church Cathedral, Houston.

Daniel Smith (BM ’13) – Associate Principal Double Bass, San Francisco Symphony

Alicia Valoti (MM ’10) – Appointed Assistant Professor of Viola and Chamber Music, Central Michigan University

Hugo A. Valverde Villalobos (current Master’s student) – Fourth Horn, Sarasota Orchestra

Joshua Vonderheide (current AD student) – Associate Principal Percussion, Malaysia Philharmonic Orchestra

Competitions, Awards, Performances and Premieres

Alumnus Aaron Blake (MM ’10) was one of five top winners of the 46th annual George London Awards Competition for American and Canadian singers. He was awarded the George London-Lissner Charitable Fund Award of $10,000.

Bass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee (former Master’s student) was one of three winners to receive a 2017 Richard Tucker Career Grant as part of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. He also performed with the LA Opera singing Angelotti in Tosca

Grammy award winning Sasha Cooke (MM ’04) performed with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra followed by a performance of Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83 by Shepherd School Professor of Piano Jon Kimura Parker.

The Dover String Quartet (MM ’13) has been awarded a 2017 Avery Fisher Career Development Grant. This prestigious grant provides professional support to young promising musicians.

Alumna Gabriela Lena Frank (BM ’94, MM ’96) had her work Conquest Requiem premiered by the Houston Symphony. She is also The Houston Symphony’s composer-in-Residence.

Alumnus Calvin Griffin (MM’14) has joined ADA Artist Management. The ADA team works to nurture the careers of the finest performances from emerging to internationally renowned artists.

Pianist Jason Hardick (MM ’01, DMA ’07) will be a special guest at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music 2017-2018 season.

Composer Charles Hulka’s (DMA ’13) work Por la Fuerza las Tierras won first place in Divison 1 of the Tribeca New Music 2017 Young Composer’s Competition.

Cellist Coleman Itzkoff (BM ’14) was one of eleven gold medalists in the string section of the 1st Berline International Music Competition.

Alumna Joanna Latini (MM ’17) will be joining the 2017-18 Barbara and Halsey Sandford Studio Artist Program at the Kentucky Opera.

Alumna Alison Lee (MM ’15) won second place in the 2016 Midwest International Piano Competition.

Current undergraduate composition student Paul Novak won first place in the Sarah and Ernest Butler Texas Young Composers Competition.

2015 George London Award winner and alumna Sarah Mesko (MM ’10) performed a set she titled Stars and Night, at this season’s George London Foundation Recital Series at The Morgan Library & Museum.

Shepherd School piano student Stephanie Ng won second place in the Virginia Waring International Piano Competition performing Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto No. 5 with the Waring Festival Orchestra.

Alumnus Kolio Plachkov (MM ’12) performed Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 in E-flat Major with the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra.

Alumna Hilary Purrington (BM ’13) was among the sixteen winning composers in the 2017 American Academy of Arts and Letters awards in music. She received the Charles Ives Scholarship of $7,500 which is given to composition students of great promise.

Alumnus Tomasz Robak (BM ’13) performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Parma Symphony Orchestra at the Valley Gorge Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio under Maestro Laycock.

Alumnus Brenton Ryan (MM ’11) performed with the San Diego Opera singing Gastone in La Traviata

Alumna Stephanie Sanchez (AD ’17) will be a young artist at the 2017 Glimmerglass Festival and will be joining Arizona Opera as a studio artist for the 2017-2018 season.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Glenn Korff School of Music named alumnus Sergio Ruiz (DMA ’04), professor of music and chair of the Georgia College Department of Music, as its new director.

Tenor Jack Swanson (MM ’16) was one of seven winners to receive a 2017 Sara Tucker Study Grant as part of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation.

Soprano Erin Wall (MM ’00) made her debut with the Quad-Cites Symphony in March singing Richard Strauss’ Four Last Songs (1948) and Richard Wagner’s Liebestod as part of Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde (1865).

Recent Orchestral, Academic, and Professional Appointments

Ted Botsford ( BM & BA ’06, MM ’09) – Double Bass section, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

Kevin Brown (BM ’10 & MM ’13) – Appointed Assistant Professor of Double Bass, Michigan State University

Natalie Gaynor (current Master’s student) – Principal Second Violin, Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet Orchestra

Jory Herman (BM & MM ’06) – Double Bass section, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra

Cristle Collins Judd (BM & MM ’83) – Appointed President of Sarah Lawrence College

Rosie Salvucci (BM ’14) – Principal Double Bass, Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Milano, Italy

John Walters (current Master’s student) – Second Clarinet, Detroit Symphony Orchestra

Kelly Zimba (MM ’15) – Principal Flute, Toronto Symphony Orchestra

Competitions, Awards, Performances and Premieres

Composer Lembit Beecher (MM ’05) is currently the Composer-in-Residence for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Alumnus John Bland (MM ’80) is a founding member of the Mid-Atlantic’s newest professional brass ensemble called BrandyWine Brass. The ensemble’s goal is to create new collaborative programs with other musicians and organizations in the Delaware Valley.

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson-Cano (MM ’03) is featured on a major new CD release with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on the international music label known as Naxos.

Double Bassist Shawn Conley (BM ’05, MM ’08), was among the musicians in the Silk Road Ensemble which won a 2017 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album: Sing Me Home.

Current honor student in organ performance Monica Czausz recently signed with Karen McFarlane Artists, Inc, one of America’s premier management agencies for concert organists. Monica will perform on the magnificent 104-rank Casavant Freres pipe organ at First Baptist Church in downtown Oklahoma City in a concert presented by the American Guild of Organists.

Ryan Darke (MM ’10) is Principal Trumpet of the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra and Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of Arizona.

Alumnus Glenn Einschlag (MM ’99) is among five distinguished faculty members in the Department of Music at the University of Buffalo to perform in a concert this February. Mr. Einschlag is an adjunct instructor at UB.

Conductor James Gaffigan (MM ’03) returned to Jones Concert Hall to conduct the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He was featured on Houston Public Media to talk about his love of Houston and the music of Beethoven, Strauss, and Liszt.

Tommy Glass (MM ’16) was awarded third place in the 29th annual Eleanor McCollum Competition of the Houston Grand Opera including a cash prize of $3,000. Current Master’s student Geoffrey Hahn won the online Viewer’s Choice Award of $500.

Alumna Sonja Harasim (MM ’08, DMA ’16) is using her Jade Presents Arts Partnership Grant to commission a new piece of music for violin and piano by Professor of Composition and Theory and Director of Graduate Studies Richard Lavenda.

Alumna Abigail Karr (BM ’00, MM ’03) recently released a CD featuring the complete Felix Mendelssohn Violin Sonatas on the Olde Focus Recording Label.

Meghan Kasanders (MM ’16) is among the twenty-nine emerging artists selected to participate in the 2017 Summer Festival as a member of Opera Saratoga’s Young Artist Program.

Alumna Lucia Lin (MM ’85), currently in the first violin section of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, performed Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Wellesley Symphony.

Alumnus Robert McCauley (MM ’89) had two arias and a vocal quartet from his work The Last of V. – the Death and Life of Virginia Wolfe performed at the Society of Composers, Inc. Region VI Conference at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Verona String Quartet (Jonathan Ong, violin; Dorothy Ro, (MM ’14) violin; Abigail Rojansky, viola; Warren Hagerty, cello), winners of the 2015 Concert Artist Guild Competition, performed their Carnegie Hall debut featuring a world premiere by composer Michael Gilbertson.

Tenor Brenton Ryan (MM ’11), who was part of the cast, and producer Blanton Alspaugh (MM ’87) were part of the Grammy Award-winning production of “The Ghosts of Versailles” for best opera recording and best engineered album, Classical, in the 2017 Grammy Award Ceremony.

Jack Swanson (MM ’16) will make his Los Angeles Opera debut in the lead role in Leonard Bernstein’s Candide in January 2018.

Current Master’s student Anne-Marie Stanley was a finalist in the Eleanor McCollum Competition of the Houston Grand Opera.

Pianist Andrew Staupe (DMA ’16) joined the Maryland Symphony Orchestra in a performance of the romantic Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in celebration of Valentine’s Day at The Maryland Theatre.

Violinist Chloe Trevor (MM ’13) will be featured as the soloist with the East Texas Youth Orchestra. She will also give a free masterclass for string musicians at the University of Texas at Tyler’s Braithwaite Hall.

Chabrelle Williams (MM ’15) was among four Houston District winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She was a member of the first class admitted to the Shepherd School Artist Diploma program.

Alumnus Daniel Zajicek (DMA ’12) is among eight composers whose unpublished works have been selected for the Fort Worth Opera new work series. Daniel’s work “Nothing In The Nothingness” will be presented during the final week of the 2017 Fort Worth Opera  Festival in May.

Recent Orchestral, Academic, and Professional Appointments

Everett Burns (MM ’14) – Third / Associate Principal Horn, Virginia Symphony

William Cedeño (MM, currently LOA) – Principal Flute, South Dakota Symphony

Gina Choi (MM ’12) – Principal Piccolo, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

Dana Cullen (former Master’s student) – Fourth / Utility Horn, San Antonio Symphony

Steven Holloway (MM ’13) – Trombone, The United States Navy Band

Cecile-Laure Kouassi (current Master’s student) – Double Bass section, Oslo Philharmonic

Christian Macelaru (BM ’06, MM ’08) – Appointed Music Director and Conductor, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music

Michelle Pan (MM ’14) – Oboe, Suzhou Symphony Orchestra

Madeline Slettedahl (MM ’16) – Pianist, Chicago Lyric Opera Young Artist Program

Daniel Taubenheim (MM ’16) – Associate Principal Trumpet, San Antonio Symphony

Mark Teplitsky (MM ’16) – Principal Flute, San Antonio Symphony

Dawson White (MM ’12) – Section Viola, Houston Grand Opera

Competitions, Awards, Performances and Premieres

The Cassatt String Quartet (Muneko Otani and Jennifer Leshnower, (BM ’89), violins; Ah Ling Neu, viola; Elizabeth Anderson, cello) began its inaugural residency in Midland. The residency gave Midland students the opportunity to study with artist teachers, enhance chamber music and orchestra skills and develop chamber music audiences.

Doctoral composition student, Erberk Eryilmaz has had his work chosen to be used in the Moon Arts Project at Carnegie Mellon University. The MoonArk is expected to travel to the Moon aboard a Lunar Lander and intended to remain on the Moon as an enduring time capsule depicting elements of Earth’s art, design, music and many other forms.

Ling-Ling Huang, William Shaub (current Artist Diploma students) and Amanda Galick (MM ’15) are the newest members of 2016-17 Da Camera Young Artist program

The Jasper String Quartet ’08 (John Freivogel and Sae Chonabayashi, violins; Samuel Quintal, viola; Rachel Henderson, cello) kicked off the Montgomery Chamber Music Organization with a performance at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.

Composer Benjamin Krause (DMA ’14) was a winner of the Houston Symphony Young Composer Competition and had his work Pathways premiered by the Houston Symphony Orchestra in their season opening performance.

Hannah Hammel (current Master’s student) won first place in the National Flute Association’s Young Artist Competition in San Diego. She was also recognized as having the Best Performance of a Newly Commissioned Piece. Patrick Tsuji (MM ’13)  was awarded third prize in the National Flute Association’s Young Artist Competition.

Pianist Christopher Janwong McKiggan (current Doctoral student) performed Zhou Long’s Postures for Piano and Orchestra with the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jose-Luis Novo, at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts.

Shepherd’s current quartet-in-residence The Rolston String Quartet (Luri Lee and Jeff Dyrda, violins; Hezekiah Leung, viola; Jonathan Lo, cello) was among seven Astral Artist Competition winners to perform at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.

Recent Orchestral, Academic, and Professional Appointments

Rudy Albach (MM ’15) – Principal Double Bass, Columbus Symphony Orchestra

Renaud Boucher-Browning (BM ’14) and Izumi Miyahara (MM ’10) – members of Da Camera’s 2016-17 Young Artist Program.

Mary Box (MM ’16) – appointed Head Coach / Rehearsal Pianist, Wichita Grand Opera

Allegra De Vita (MM ’14) – (mezzo-soprano) – joins Washington National Opera Domingo-Cafritz 2016-17 Young Artist Program

Ben Edquist (MM ’15) – Baritone, one of eight 2016-17 Studio Artists at Houston Grand Opera

Sophia Grabandt (MM ’16) – Violin section, Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin (Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra)

Jonathan Gunn (BM ’94) – Assistant Professor of Clarinet, University of Texas at Austin’s Butler School of Music

Monica Griffin Hunter (MM ’02) – promoted to Senior Lecturer of Music, Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington

June Kim (MM ’16) – Principal Oboe, Nova Scotia Symphony

Eric Kutz (MM ’94) – Assistant Professor of Cello, University of Maryland

Ian Koziara (MM ’16) – Tenor, new member of Metropolitan Opera’s Lindermann Young Artist Development Program

Kathryn Ladner (MM ’12) – Flute/Piccolo, Houston Symphony Orchestra

Steven Logan (Master’s student) – Principal Timpani, Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra in New Zealand.

Philip Marten (BM ’15) – First Violin section, Kansas City Symphony Orchestra

Markus Osterlund (Undergraduate student) – Assistant Principal / Utility Horn, National Symphony Orchestra

Dr. C. Michael Palmer (MM ’99) – Assistant Professor of Music Education, Ball State University, Indiana

Kevin Pearl (MM ’12) – Assistant Principal Oboe, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

Jack Peña (Master’s student) – Principal Bassoon, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra

John Romero (MM ’16) – Principal Trombone, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

Jack Swanson (MM ’16) – Tenor, signed by Columbia Artists Management

Rebecca Tobin (MM ’16) – Second Clarinet, one-year position with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C.

Jennifer Zhou (MM ’16) – Flute, The United States Army Field Band, Washington, D.C.

Heather Zinninger Yarmel (MM ’10) – Acting one-year Associate Principal Flute, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra

Lachezar Kostov (Doctoral student) – Assistant Principal Cello, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Competitions, Awards, Performances, and Premieres 

Undergraduate cello student Katherine Audas, wins the grand prize of 2016 Enkor International Music Competition in the strings division. Enkor is the first global online competition for classical music performers.

Bass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee (former Master’s student) won The Don Placido Domingo Ferrer Prize of Zarzuela and tenor Brenton Ryan won the Birgit Nilsson Prize at the 2016 Operalia Competition, in New York.

Nicholas Brownlee (former Master’s student) was the first place winner of the 35th International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition.

Chiara String Quartet, (Rebecca Fischer and Hyeyung Yoon, violins; Jonah Sirota, (BM ’98) viola; Gregory Beaver, (BM ’98) cello) has announced the release of their new CD called “Bartok By Heart”. The quartet has recorded all six Bartok string quartets by memory.

Doctoral piano student Scott Cuellar won the Gold Medal at the San Antonio International Piano Competition. The competition is held quadrennially and attracts international competitions at a very high standard. Scott also won prizes for best performance of a Romantic work (performing Schumann “Humoreske”) and best performance of a Russian work (Prokofiev 4th Sonata.) The prize includes $15,000 and several concert opportunities in San Antonio next year as well as a guest appearance at the Cactus Pear Music Festival.

Master’s double bass student Michael Marks, was awarded first place in the Double-stop Foundation Competition in New York City. Alum, Michael Fuller (MM ’15) was also awarded second place. Each winner was loaned a fine instrument for the next three years. The Doublestop Foundation provides fine string instruments for deserving musicians who can not afford the investment of an instrument.

The 2016 Jensen Foundation awarded bass Adam Lau (MM ’10) first place in the 17th annual Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition. Mr. Lau received a prize of $15,000. Mezzo-soprano, Allegra De Vita (MM ’14) was awarded second place and received a price of $10,000.

Shepherd composition alum Hilary Purrington (BM ’13) had a work premiered at the 2016 NY Philharmonic Biennial at The Greene Space. Hilary’s piece is called “For your judicious and pious consideration”, arranged for mezzo-soprano, piano, and viola.

Current undergraduate harp student Cindy Qin won first place in the 2016 San Antonio Tuesday Musical Club’s Young Artists Competition.

Shepherd’s graduate quartet-in-residence The Rolston Quartet (Luri Lee and Jeff Dryda, violins; Hezekiah Leung, viola; Jonathan Lo, cello) has won first place of the 12th Banff International String Quartet Competition. The quartet will begin a three-year development career program worth of $150,000, which includes a concert tour throughout Europe and North America, a two-week Banff Centre residency involving recording an album, and a cash prize of $25,000.

The Rolston Quartet (Luri Lee and Jeff Dryda, violins; Hezekiah Leung, viola; Jonathan Lo, cello) received third place in the M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition which was held at the University of Michigan. Their reward includes a $3,000 prize.

Pianist Madeline Slettedahl (MM ’16) was selected as a winner of The Music Academy of the West’s 2016 Marilyn Horne Song Competition in Santa Barbara. Madeline received the Regina Roney Prize $4,000 and will be presented in a recital tour that includes a partnership with WQXR, New York’s classical music station.