Alumni in the News

Luke Leonard's (M.F.A. 2010) upcoming directing projects include the Houston premiere of Bum Phillips: All-American Opera Sept. 24, 2015 at The Stafford Centre; the Australian premiere of The Difficulty of Crossing a Field in October 2015 at the Nagambie Lakes Opera Festival; and the world premiere of Welcome to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a musical play written and directed by Luke with music by Peter Stopschinski and co-lyrics by Katie Pearl, Oct 7-25, 2015 at 59E59 Theaters in New York.

James Jeter (B.M. 1971) will perform solo bassoon with the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players at the Wolf Trap Performing Arts Center in Virginia this June and with the Conductors Institute Orchestra at Bard College this July. He will also teach and perform at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in western Michigan for his tenth summer.

After earning her Ph.D. in Acupuncture last summer from the Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hilary Karming Lai (B.A. and B.F.A., 2007) has opened her own practice, Benefit Acupuncture, in Colleyville, Texas.

Butler School of Music alumnus and conductor Brett Mitchell (M.M. 2003, D.M.A. 2005) has landed a two-year contract extension with the world-renowned Cleveland Orchestra, along with a promotion from assistant conductor to associate conductor. Mitchell's duties will shift to those of an active conductor and will entail more opportunities leading pops, family and education programs.

Jelisa Jay Robinson's (Theatre and Dance 2014) play The Stories of Us premieres May 16 at the fifth annual Austin Latino New Play Festival. The Stories of Us is a collection of stories examining the intercultural conflict between African Americans and Latinos. Visit Teatro Vivo ATX for more information.

Pulitzer Prize-finalist Lisa D'Amour (MA Theatre, 1996) was featured in Vanity Fair for her Broadway debut with Airline Highway, a new play that centers around a community of misfits in D'Amour's hometown of New Orleans. The feature was written and illustrated by D'Amour's former classmate Michael Arthur (PhD Theatre, 1999). Airline Highway premieres at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on April 23. 

Shelley Wood (BFA Studio Art, 1986) is exhibiting her photographic work at Photo Méthode Gallery in Austin, TX in a two-artist show titled, "Between the Aether." The exhibition will be on view through April 24.

Lisa D'Amour's (MA Theatre, 1996) play Airline Highway and Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's (MA Play Writing, 2009) play The World of Extreme Happiness were finalists for the 2015 Susan Blackburn Prize, an international award for women playwrights given annually to recognize those who have written works of outstanding quality. 

Jason Kendall (MA Acting, 1996) joined Al Roker and Stephanie Abrams this past month on the morning TV show "Wake Up With Al" on the Weather Channel. This series served as the only live astronomy program on national television. Check out videos of Kendall chatting about the stars here!

Erik Parker (BFA Studio Art, 1996) was featured in the Huffington Post yesterday for his massively colorful nature-scape paintings. His new series, titled "¿What About Now?" is currently on view at Madrid's Galería Javier López. They will make their U.S. debut this fall at New York's Paul Kasmin Gallery.