Alumni Spotlights

Dana Zenobi promoted to assistant professor at Butler University

January 24, 2022 | Navona Records

Zenobi (M.M., Voice and Opera, 2003/D.M.A, Voice and Opera, 2011) continues to excel as a performer and pedagogue. Her debut album, Joys Abiding: Soprano Baritone Duets by Historical Women Composers, recorded with fellow UT alumni baritone Oliver Worthington and pianist Chuck Dillard, is out on the Navona label in February 2022.

Charlotte Lee named a “Top 30 Professional of the Year” by Musical America

January 14, 2022 | Primo Artists

This 2021 distinction applauds the heroes of the music industry, the people who saved the day during the pandemic. Lee (B.A., Music, 1998) has been honored for her distinctive advocacy leadership through the pandemic in founding PAMAC (Performing Arts Managers and Agents Coalition) and playing a pivotal role in the industry-wide lobbying effort that led to the enactment of the Shuttered Venue Operators Grants program, providing $16.5 Billion in relief to the U.S. arts and culture industry.

Keenan Fletcher appointed to Texas Commission of Arts

November 22, 2021 | Daily Trib

Fletcher (B.M., Violin Performance) has performed with the Texas Chamber Orchestra in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and is a director of orchestra and chamber ensembles as well as a professional classical and jazz violinist. Gov. Greg Abbott appointed the Llano resident to the commission Tuesday, Nov. 16.

Joseph Christopher Colarusso celebrates with his 10-time Grammy Award winning band's 50th anniversary with new record "Half a Hundred Years"

October 30, 2021

Colarusso's (B.M., 1996; M.M., 1996; D.M.A., Music, 2015) band's new record is now available everywhere. It features the group's original members, current band members and special guests including Willie Nelson, George Strait, Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris, Bill Kirchen and Lee Ann Womack. Recent performances have included prestigious venues like the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., Moody Amphitheater in Austin and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. 

Christopher Auchter to perform in the Houston Grand Opera chorus

October 29, 2021 | Houston Grand Opera

Auchter (B.M., Music Performance, 2019) will perform in for Dialogues of the Carmelites and Romeo and Juliet this spring.

Chaz Nailor joins voice music at Southwestern University

October 29, 2021 | Southwesten University

 Nailor (B.M., Voice and Opera, 2002) has been hired as a part-time instructor of Applied Music in Voice at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.

Josh Miller recently awarded the American Prize in Directing

October 21, 2021 | The American Prize

Noted for his “gorgeously constructed stage pictures,” Miller’s (D.M.A., 2015) most recent directing credits include Albert Herring at Chicago Summer Opera, Le nozze di Figaro with the Crane Opera Ensemble, Suor Angelica/ Gianni Schicchi at St. Petersburg Opera (Theatre Tampa Bay nominee for Best Direction) and Turn of the Screw with Texas State University (National Opera Association Production Winner).

Dr. Ruben Balboa III appointed as a lecturer for the 2021-2022 academic school year at Texas State University

September 28, 2021 | Texas State

Balboa (D.M.A., String and Harp, 2020) will be teaching String Techniques, String Techniques II and Instrumental Performance Literature. He is also the new string project coordinator and assistant director of the University of Texas at Austin String Project.