Alumni in the News

American conductor Garrett Keast is building a reputation for musical excellence with orchestras in Europe and the United States. In the 2012/13 season he has enjoyed successful debuts with the NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Philharmoniker Hamburg and the Hamburg Ballet, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Bach Collegium München, and has been re-invited a third time to conduct at the Opera National de Paris. Additionally, he has conducted the Orchestre de Paris, North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart, RIAS Jugendorchester and the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie. Dates ahead include debuts with the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz, the Fort Worth Opera Festival, the Virginia Opera, and a return to the Hamburg Ballet. 

Writer and artist Margie Crisp (B.F.A. '91) traveled the length of Texas's Colorado River while researching for her book River of Contrasts: The Texas Colorado. She was selected as the 2012 Texas Book Festival featured artist and The Texas Institute of Letters selected River of Contrasts as the recipient of the 2013 Carr P. Collins Way for Best Book of Non-Fiction. Crisp's sensitive tribute to the river and its inhabitants is enhanced by the exquisite art she has created for the book, which was also recently named the winner of the Ron Tyler Best Illustrated Book on Texas History and Culture by the Texas State Historical Association.

Congratulations Bill Craver (B.F.A '52, M.F.A. '56 in Drama)! Bill, a distinguished Broadway producer and Company Manager, will be awarded with the Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre. The 2013 Tony Awards will be broadcast live on Sunday, June 9th on CBS, and are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. 

In a special performance, David Cloyd (B.A., Music Performance, '98) with violinist Miranda Scoma will be opening for label-mate James McCartney at the Lovin Cup in Rochester on May 14th. McCartney is currently on a 47-date, 27-state tour of the USA in advance of the release of his new album, Me (ECR Music Group).

Jill Bedgood's (M.F.A., '83) love book is on display at the Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art (IMOCA) as part of the "Let's talk about love, baby" exhibition. Bedgood's love book memorializes her parent's love by creating a cast of the impressions of a pair of moth earrings her father gave her mother in 1948, while stationed in Egypt.

"Artifact", an exhibition at Tiny Park Gallery (1101 Navasota Street, Austin, TX) opened on April 13 and continues through May 11. All three exhibiting artists, Jonathan Dankenbring, Scott Proctor and Beili Liu are Austin residents. Liu is currently an associate professor of art at The University of Texas at Austin, while Proctor received an MFA and is a lecturer at UT. Tiny Park's Associate Director Thao Votang (B.A. in Art History,'08) is the current coordinator of undergraduate admissions for the College of Fine Arts. Check out a great show put on by thriving UT alums. 

Kathy Creutzburg, sculptor and watercolorist, graduated from UT with a B.F.A. in 1988. Creutzburg is celebrating her first solo exhibition at the Michael Mut Gallery (97 Ave C, NY, NY 10009) opening April 4. 

Bruce Ludwick, Jr. (M.M., Organ Performance with Emphasis in Sacred Music, 2008) was appointed Director of Music and Organist at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Birmingham, AL as of January 1, 2013. Erin Montalto Ludwick (M.M., Vocal Performance, 2008) is from Birmingham and happy to be back home where she is setting up a private voice studio. Their wedding was at the Cathedral of St. Paul in June 2009 and was played by the late Dr. Gerre Hancock (former Professor of Organ and Sacred Music at UT-Austin). Bruce looks forward to building upon the foundation of the cathedral’s choirs to include comprehensive choirs for youth and children as well as an organ recital series.

Gwynn Thayer (M.A. Art History, '97) is now the Associate Head and Curator of North Carolina State University Libraries Special Collections. Thayer earned her Ph.D. in Public History in 2010. Her book "Going to the Dogs: Greyhound Racing, Animal Advocacy, and American Popular Culture" is coming out soon. 

The University of Exeter's Drama Department is performing their original show, More than the Sum, as part of the Cohen New Works Festival. UT alum, Avital Stolar (B.A.T.D. 2011), is now working on her Masters in Theater at Exeter and traveled from England to her alma mater to perform. Stolar explained, “Through connecting the two universities, we have engaged in a cultural exchange in which masters theater students from UT and Exeter share ideas from across the world and explore them in rehearsals. Meeting together in Austin will enable our collaborators from UT to see the final product they helped to create. As applied theater students, we all have an interest in developing artwork with the community and are excited to learn from each other about different ways of working with young people."