Class Notes

Eastman School of Music

1930
Dorothy Eshelman writes, “I am still very active in my chosen field.” Dorothy plays piano every day for the residents of her senior-living facility and three times a month for the residents of a nearby nursing home. She also is an accompanist for church services every Sunday and for special functions. Dorothy lives in Buffalo.

1952
The music of Sarah (Sallie) Dietrich Farabaugh, who began composing later in life, was performed in the concert “An Afternoon of Musical Reflections with God” at Duquesne University last October. Her grandson, Vincent Tresco, was one of the vocalists.

1955
Two compositions by Donald Cervone ’70 (PhD)—Non Nobis Domine, a motet for mixed chorus and organ, and A Simple Mass for chorus, cantor, congregation, and organ—were performed at St. John of Rochester Church in Fairport, N.Y., as part of a service celebrating the 50th anniversary of the ordination of the Rev. John J. Philipps.

1956
The Las Vegas Philharmonic premiered Hoopla (A Touch of Glee), composed by George Walker (DMA) last year. The piece was one of three compositions commissioned for the Las Vegas Centennial.

1957
Arlene Cohen Stein ’77 (MM) is the author of The Eye of My Apple, a collection of correspondence with her mother while she was attending the Eastman School as an undergraduate.

1960
The Mississippi Symphony Orchestra opened its 2005–06 season with a performance of Symphony No. 3, Palo Duro Canyon, by Samuel Jones (PhD). Samuel is composer-in-residence with the Seattle Symphony.

1962
June Ackroyd ’64 (MM) writes, “I retired in May 2005 after 26 years as a member of the music faculty at Northern Michigan University in Marquette. Last summer, I performed as a vocal soloist in recitals in Marquette and Traverse City, Mich. My future plans include travel and part-time teaching.”

1963
John Wyre (see ’68).

1968
Bill Cahn and Bob Becker ’69, ’71 (MM), of the percussion group Nexus, as well as John Wyre ’63, received lifetime achievement awards at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Columbus, Ohio, last November. In addition, Nexus appears on the recently released CD of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s compositions, Violin Concerto, Rituals for Five Percussionists and Orchestra, and Bill was artist-in-residence at the Showa College of Music and the Arts in Kanagawa, Japan, last October. . . . Webb Wiggins (MM) is associate professor of harpsichord at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Webb has been a faculty member of the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute since 1985.

1970
Charlene Campbell Butler writes, “I sang five recitals at sites in Delaware this season and performed my one-woman show, What’s So Grand About Opera?, at state libraries and at the Winterthur Museum in Wilmington, Del., last year. I also teach voice and piano.” . . . Donald Cervone (PhD) (see ’55). . . . Fred DiCesare (see ’05RC undergraduate). . . . Geary Larrick (MM) writes, “I presented a youth concert, ‘Playing and Reading,’ to students at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point’s Gesell Institute last October. The program included Jingle, played on xylophone, that my daughter, a former member of the class, composed. I also premiered Blues for Geary on solo marimba at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Stevens Point last fall.”

1971
Michael Pratt is music director of the Delaware Valley Philharmonic in Pennsylvania.

1973
Sandra Dackow ’77 (MM), ’87 (PhD) was a guest conductor with the Danbury (Conn.) Symphony Orchestra last November.

1974
Karen Ritscher ’79 (MM) is associate professor of viola at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She also is a member of the Azure Ensemble. . . . Jeffrey Showell ’76 (MM) is director of the James Madison University School of Music in Harrisonburg, Va.

1977
Arlene Cohen Stein (MM) (see ’57).

1981
Violinist Madeleine Mitchell (MM) has released the CD In Sunlight: Pieces for Madeleine Mitchell, which features works written for her by several British composers. . . . Gene Scheer ’82 (MM) was the librettist for Tobias Picker’s opera, An American Tragedy, based on the novel by Theodore Dreiser.

1983
Byron Stripling (see ’91).

1984
A concert in honor of Bob Stata ’85 (MM), who died of brain cancer on June 14, 2005, was held at the Nazareth College Arts Center in Rochester last November. . . . Michael Torke’s suite from An Italian Straw Hat was premiered by the Alabama Symphony last September. . . . Heidi Chisholm Wolfgang writes, “I’m the director of the Music Institute at the Hackley School in Tarrytown, N.Y. I took time last summer to return to my roots at the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan, where I served as the instrument repair technician.”

1985
James Bearden is an instructor of clarinet and saxophone at the Adler Institute of Music in Libertyville, Ill. . . . Jon Rumney ’93 (DMA) is a violinist with the chamber ensemble Luminus. The trio gave a concert at Valley City (N.D.) State University last October and instructed students at the university’s Community School of the Arts. . . . Phillip Snedecor ’93 (MM) is principal trumpet with the Harrisburg (Pa.) Symphony Orchestra.

1986
Oboist Nancy Ambrose King (MM), ’99 (DMA) is associate professor of oboe at the University of Michigan School of Music in Ann Arbor and president of the International Double Reed Society. . . . Steve Stull (MM) and Grant Knox ’03, ’05 (MM) performed in the Oswego (N.Y.) Opera Theatre’s production of The Merry Widow last November.

1987
Sandra Dackow (PhD) (see ’73). . . . Scott Shuler (PhD) is assistant superintendent of the Simsbury (Conn.) Public School District.

1988
Clarinetist Marianne Gythfeldt is a member of the quintet Zéphyros Winds.

1990
Michele Verheul (MM) is principal clarinet with Orchestra London in Canada.

1991
Robert Moody (MM), music director of the Winston-Salem Symphony, conducted trumpeter Byron Stripling ’83 in the symphony’s concert “The Sounds of New Orleans” last October.

1993
Jon Rumney (DMA) (see ’85). . . . Phillip Snedecor (MM) (see ’85).

1995
Joseph Johnson, a cellist with the Minnesota Orchestra, was a guest musician last October with the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, performing in the orchestra’s season-opening concert “Bohemia: Czech it Out.” . . . Katherine Winterstein is assistant concertmaster with the Portland (Maine) Symphony Orchestra and is concertmaster with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra. She also is a violinist with the Rhode Island Philharmonic and a faculty member at Middlebury College in Vermont.

1996
Deborah Avery was the featured clarinetist in the Inland Empire/Riverside County (Calif.) Philharmonic’s concert celebrating Mozart’s 250th birthday last November.

1998
Joel Schoenhals (DMA) is assistant professor of piano at Eastern Michigan University. He was a featured artist, judge, and teacher at the 2004 Besparmak International Piano Festival in Cyprus.

1999
Nancy Ambrose King (DMA) (see ’86).

2000
Kristen Hansen (DMA) teaches horn and music theory at Georgia State University’s Schwob School of Music. Last fall, as a guest of the horn studio at the University of Iowa, she gave a recital and presented a master class. . . . David Milne (DMA) is professor of music at the University of Wisconsin at River Falls, where he directs the jazz ensembles and teaches jazz and saxophone.

2001
Yasmin Craig (MM) is a violinist with the Portland (Maine) Symphony Orchestra. Yasmin teaches Suzuki violin at L’Ecole Française du Maine and the Portland Conservatory of Music. . . . Julia Gray ’01RC and Michael Callahan ’02 were married on November 12, 2005, in New Canaan, Conn. Julia is the associate manager of program planning at Carnegie Hall, and Michael is the director of choral music, general music, and drama at Somerville Middle School and the director of children’s music at the Presbyterian Church of Chatham Township in New Jersey. . . . Anton Machleder (DMA) has released the CD Guitarra de Cristal. Anton is assistant professor of guitar and music technology at Houghton College’s Greatbatch School of Music in Houghton, N.Y.

2002
Katie Buckley ’04 (MM) is principal harp with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. . . . Michael Callahan (see ’01). . . . Organist Thomas Trenney (MM) provided the accompaniment for the classic silent film Phantom of the Opera, starring Lon Cheney, in Midland, Mich., as part of the American Guild of Organists’ annual “Pipescreams” Halloween concert series.

2003
Grant Knox ’05 (MM) (see ’86). . . . Matthew Pivec (MM) is assistant professor of music at California State University at Stanislaus.

2004
Katie Buckley (MM) (see ’02). . . . Soprano Heather Davis performed in the Crossroads Arts Council’s season-opening concert in Rutland, Vt., last October. . . . Deanna Joseph (MM) is a conductor and lecturer at Smith College in Northampton, Mass. She also is director of the South Hadley Chorale and the Northampton Community Children’s Choir, as well as a singer with the Arcadia Players and Pioneer Valley Cappella.

2005
Soprano Jennifer Gliere (DMA) performed the role of Suzel in Mercury Opera Rochester’s first production, L’Amico Fritz, last October.