Recent Orchestral, Academic and Professional Appointments
- Sarah Bouse (MM ’16) – Professor of Music at Lake Michigan College
- Kayla Burggraf (BM ’14) – Piccolo, Kansas City Symphony
- Bianca Chambul (LOA) – Principal Bassoon, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
- Molly Gebrian (DMA ’10) – Assistant Professor of Viola at the Fred Fox School of Music at the University of Arizona
- Matthew Gustafson (BM ’18) – Cello Section, The Austin Symphony
- Ivy Ringel (MM ’18) – Principal Bassoon, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
- Sonja Harasim (MM ’08, DMA ’16) – Associate Professor, Violin, Viola; String Area Coordinator at Concordia College; Director at the Concordia String Preparatory Program
- Petros Karapetyan (current graduate student) – Violin Section, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra
- Tomasz Kowalczyk (MM ’18) – Principal Percussionist, Sarasota Orchestra
- Andrew Staupe (DMA ’16) – Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Houston
- Lucas Sanchez (BA, BM, MM ’16) – Principal Timpani, Florida Grand Opera Orchestra and Palm Beach Symphony
- Ye Young Yoon (MM ’19) – Section Percussion, Sarasota Orchestra
Competitions, Awards, Performances and Premieres
Katherine Audas (current graduate student) won second prize in the Carlos Prieto Cello Competition in Mexico.
Shepherd School’s graduate Quartet-in-Residence, the Callisto Quartet, won second prize at the 2019 Banff International String Competition.
Percussionist Justin A. Doute (MM ’18) won first prize in the first annual Emerging Soloist Competition with the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs in Colorado Springs.
Germaine Franco (BM ’84, MM ’87), the first Latina to join the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the first female composer to be hired by DreamWorks Animation and Pixar, and who arranged, orchestrated and co-produced the Oscar-winning song of 2019, was chosen as the composer for Hollywood’s up and coming film “Dora and the Lost City of Gold.
Seven Composers were selected for the 2020 Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute. Of the seven chosen, among them were Shepherd School alumna Clare Glackin (MM ’17), current students Theo Chandler and Nicky Sohn. current graduate student Daniel Zlatkin was chosen as an alternate and alumnus Ben Morris (MM ’18) was chosen as an honorable mention.
Shepherd baritone Thomas Glass (MM ’16) and violist Gabrielle Skinner (MM ’18) performed at the First Congregational Church in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
Erin Graham (MM ’19) paired with Congolese refugee Salemu, for a work during the Houston Symphony Orchestra’s “Resilient Sounds” concert.
Sarah Lawrence College President Cristle Collins Judd (BM & MM ’82) received one of five Distinguished Alumni Awards “for graduates who have advanced the interests and standards of excellence of Rice University through distinctive professional or volunteer careers.”
Shepherd School alumni placed in the 2019 Houston Symphony Ima Hogg Competition! Coleman Itzkoff, cello (BM ’14) won Second Place & the Nancy and Robert Peiser Award for Artistic Encouragement. Coleman performed at the Miller Outdoor Theatre concert on June 29. Chloe Tula, harp (BM ’17) won Third Place and Katherine Audas, cello (current graduate student) won Fourth Place & The Hermann Shoss Audience Choice Award.
Daniel Knaggs (DMA ’14) won the Noël Minet Prize at the Marktoberdorf International Chamber Choir Competition in Germany for Pacific Lutheran University Choir of the West’s performance of Of Time and Passing – II. To everything a season, Germany.
Ben Morris (MM composition ’17) received an ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Award, and his quintet performed at the Newport Jazz Festival in August. Clarinetist Juan Gabriel Olivares (MM ’13) also performed in the quintet. Learn more: https://www.ascapfoundation.org/news/2019/ben-morris-interview
Undergraduate student in horn performance Elisabeth Pesavento (current undergraduate student) is the first place winner in the International Horn Competition of America. Elisabeth is currently a junior studying with Prof. Bill VerMeulen.
Caroline Shaw (BM ’14), the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for music, released a new album which has received rave reviews, with NPR placing it on its “Best Albums of 2019 So Far” list.
Current Shepherd School Doctoral Composition student Sam Wu won first place in The Second International Music Competition Harbin. His composition titled “Winds of Winter” was performed by the Harbin Symphony Orchestra.