Alumni in the News

On his second Fulbright Senior Specialist award in jazz, Hank Hehmsoth (B.M. 1975; M.M., Applied Music/Voice/Piano, 1976) will conduct master classes of contemporary American jazz in performance and theory at the Projazz Professional Institute in Santiago, Chile. He also will perform citywide jazz festival concerts with Chilean musicians. Joining him for a week are Russell Haight (M.M., Music, 2007; D.M.A., Music Education, 2009) and Utah Hamrick (D.M.A., Music, 2006), both colleagues of Hehmsoth at Texas State University. Photo by GR Hook.

James Walters (B.F.A., Drama, 1969) continues his position as a set designer for CBS’s television series NCIS for a 14th season. He’s worked on the show since 2006.

Selina Rosales (B.A., Directing, 2015) was named the new Program Assistant at the American Theatre Wing. She supports all core programs and services of the organization, which include the Andrew Lloyd Webber Initiative, The National Theatre Company Grants, The Jonathan Larson Grants, SpringboardNYC, and the Obie Awards.

Brooke Gassiot (B.F.A., Studio Art, 2006) and Jonas Criscoe (B.F.A., Studio Art, 2006) present Bits & Pieces, a two person exhibition at ICOSA Collective in Austin. The show runs through Oct. 29.

Jonathan Kulp (M.M., Theory, 1994; Ph.D., Musicology, 2001) was promoted to full professor in fall 2016 at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he is also director of the School of Music and Performing Arts. Photo by Amy Windsor.

Natalia Anciso (B.A., Studio Art, 2008) was the only visual artist to make TVyNovelas’s list of Hispanic Leaders/Top 50 Latinos for her “vibrant, romantic art that reflects the Chicana/Tejano culture.”  She will appear in the October 2016 issue with other prolific Latinos, including the Pope, Jorge Ramos and Jennifer Lopez.

Emily Edwards (B.A., Art History, 2015) recently joined the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York as the Exhibitions and Collections Coordinator. 

Marian Kansas (B.A., Directing, 2016) and Nicole Oglesby (B.A., Theatre and Dance, 2016) launched a new feminist theatre company in Austin called The Heartland Theatre Collective. They will premiere their first show, Dust by Oglesby and directed by Kansas, Oct. 6 -10, 12 - 15 at The Pony Shed at The VORTEX. Dust is a full length play about three sisters fighting to stay alive in the Texas panhandle during the dust bowl in the shadow of a dying farm and a miraculous apricot tree. Photo by Daniel Berkowitz.

John Steffa (D.M.A., Composition, 1985) will present a recital of new, original, chamber music for the students in the Department of Music at the University of North Carolina-Asheville on Sept. 30. A repeat program will be presented that evening for a general audience. The recital precedes a program on Oct. 7, in the Music Room of the Strathmore Mansion in Bethesda, Maryland. 

Art Therapy Austin, as SIMS Foundation providers, will host a "Make A Record!" fundraiser for this local organization that supports Austin area musicians, music industry professionals, and their families. During the East Austin Studio Tour, Art Therapy Austin will exhibit vinyl "Art Records" for sale at their studio/gallery space. In addition, Art Therapy Austin founder Deanna Miesch (B.F.A., Studio Art, 1991), and art therapists Deann Acton (B.F.A., Studio Art, 1991), and Shannon Mekuly (B.F.A., Studio Art, 1997) will exhibit and sell their own inspiring works during the tour.