Alumni in the News

The competition was adjudicated by playwright and former UT Associate Professor of Practice Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.

Based in Washington, DC., Corry composes and arranges music for nationally significant events, from White House State Dinners and presidential inaugurations to diplomatic ceremonies and the televised National Christmas Tree Lighting. She also arranges national anthems for visiting dignitaries from every country with diplomatic ties to the U.S.
  
Her original composition for the Army’s float in the 2025 Rose Parade reached more than 75 million viewers. At the 75th NATO Summit, her music opened and closed the ceremonies at the request of the president, who called for an encore performance on the White House lawn — despite the rain.
  
Her most recent composition, Answering the Call, will be performed at the upcoming Congressional Medal of Honor ceremony honoring the “Hello Girls” for their service during World War I. Her piece Journey Home, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the burial of the Unknown Soldier, is currently under consideration as the official national song for Memorial Day.
  
Corry was recently nominated for a regional New York Emmy and composed over 65 works for the Army in the past year alone — including a new official march for the Army’s Financial Management Command.

Songwriter, singer, and actress Amanda McBroom has been called “…the greatest cabaret performer of her generation… an urban poet who writes like an angel and has a voice to match.” She was catapulted into the public eye when Bette Midler's Grammy-winning recording of McBrooom's song “The Rose” became a worldwide hit in 1979. 

The new album includes several holiday standards and music by McBroom and others.