Alumni in the News

Jonathan Santore (Music Composition, '87) won The American Prize in Composition 2013, in the category for professional composers of choral music. He is Chair of the Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, where he has taught composition and theory since 1994, and is Composer in Residence for the New Hampshire Master Chorale. His composition Front Porch Poems, for mezzo, viola, and piano, is featured on the Chiaroscuro Trio's new CD New People, just issued by Albany Records; Aurelien and Elizabeth Petillot, founding members of Chiaroscuro, are also both alumni of the Butler School of Music.
 

Kristina Felix (MFA, '10) and Christina Weisner (MFA, '10) have both been awarded a 2013 Fulbright Research Grant in Sculpture. Felix will work with indigenous communities in the Andes, where she will learn traditional methods of storytelling, weaving and textile-making while incorporating this into her studio-practice. Weisner is headed to Germany where she will research and make site-specific sculptures based on the Ries Impact Crater, one of the largest meteorite impact craters in the world. 

The David Shelton Gallery (3909 Main Street Houston, TX 77002) presents a group exhibition of talented MFA 2014-15 candidates and 2013 graduates; Peter Abrami, Janaye Brown, Adriana Corral, Georgia Carter, Aaron Meyers, James Scheuren and Eric Shane Swanson. Opening reception: Friday, June 28, 6:00- 8:00 pm. 

The 2013 Tiny Park Drawing Annual is a group exhibition focused on drawings and the concept of drawing, in the widest terms. The show includes video work, three-dimensional cut paper drawings, as well as more traditional forms of drawing. This year's drawing annual will feature artworks by Sara Frantz (MFA, Studio Art, '07), Calixto Ramirez, David Culpepper, Rob Verf (Lecturer at UT), Sam Prekop and Claude van Lingen. Opening Friday, June 28, 2013, 7pm to 11pm, at 1101 Navasota St. 

Miles Maner (Music, '07) was appointed Bassoonist and Contrabassoonist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Miles grew up in Austin and got his Masters in Music at the Shepherd School, then played in the Kansas City Symphony for a few years. Evidently, when CSO conductor Ricardo Muti shook his hand, he said to Miles with a twinkle in his eyes, "You do know the contrabassoon is bigger than you are.". 

Andrew Rudin's (B.A. Music, '62) new "Sonata for Piano" was premiered by pianist Beth Levin May 5 at Spectrum in New York City. On that same day, the Dallas-based ensemble, Voice of Change, presented his "Sonata for Violin and Piano". In Philadelphia, on May 6, Lloyd Smith, cellist and Marcantonio Barone presented his "Sonata for Cello and Piano" in Philadelphia, under the auspices of 1807 & Friends. Rudin begins an operatic collaboration with Texas writer, Ann McCutchan in June. Three new CD's of Rudin's music are scheduled for release on Centaur Records. "September Trilogy" for string orchestra will have its premiere in Fall 2014 by Philadelphia-based Orchestra 200l, honoring his 75th birthday.

Jimmy Jalapeeno (aka Albert James Bonar, B.F.A, '70) passed away on May 22, 2013. He was a seasoned and celebrated painter and photographer. Jimmy Jalapeeno made art in Texas for 50 years and was a photographer for the Texas Historical Commission for more than 25 of them. Some of his most notable works are stunning paintings of the Texas Hill Country. 

Share your stories and celebrate Jimmy Jalapeeno's life Sunday, June 9 at 11 a.m. at Eye of the Dog Art Center in San Marcos, TX. For more information contact-

Jill Bedgood, jillbedgood@gmail.com, 512.431.3418

Bunnie Haigh, marian@marianhaigh.com, 512.217.3424

A.I.R. Gallery (111 Front Street, #228 Brooklyn, NY 11201) is pleased to announce Rock Jetty Deli & Food Corp, installation by 2012-2013 fellowship artist Lillian Gerson (B.A. Studio Art, '08).

Gerson's first solo show documents and processes the complicated emotions of life in the Rockaways in the days, weeks and ongoing months following Hurricane Sandy. Through scavenged material and handmade objects, the exhibition brings attention to the small yet powerful moments of beauty that emerged from the storm's destruction. In Rockaway, the storm changed everyone's life overnight. The artist's creative projects were put on hold for months, while focusing instead on basic survival, community and re-growth. Rock Jetty Deli & Food Corp features a large-scale multimedia sculpture with audio recordings documenting the peninsula under construction. The exhibition runs May 30-June 23, 2013.

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.