Alumni Spotlights

Anthony Gatto’s (M.M., Composition, 1991) two newest albums, The Making of Americans and Wise Blood, were commissioned by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and are set for release in July 2020 by New Focus Recordings. The first opera is based on the novel by Gertrude Stein while the second is based on the novel by Flannery O'Connor. Photo by Chris Larso

Joan Schubert (B.M., Woodwinds, 1981) has most recently recorded works by Astor Piazzolla, Django Reinhardt and Maurice Ravel. Schubert will also be performing and recording original music for voices and piano, “Caged Bird,” with text by Maya Angelou. Photo by Bryon Dahl

Altin Sencalar (B.M., Jazz Performance, 2017) released his second album, Realization, featuring performances by jazz veterans and luminaries. Sencalar is touring with his co-led group across the nation, and they will be featured as guest artists at the 2020 American Trombone Workshop at Fort Meyer in Washington, D.C. He was also named as one of the "Artists in Residence" for the 2020 Jazz Institute at Brevard Music Center in Brevard, North Carolina. Photo by Jessica D. Cowles

John Salmon (D.M.A., Keyboard, 1988) is sponsoring a Dave Brubeck Centennial Symposium at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro starting Oct. 22. The event will include an opening concert, two stagings of Brubeck's Christmas pageant and one performance of his cantata, lectures by prominent scholars and a group discussion with the Brubeck siblings. 

Garrett Keast (B.M., Music Studies,1995) debuted his 2019-20 season with the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Orquesta Sinfónica del Principal de Asturias, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonietta de Lausanne, Tonali Orchestra and Berlin Opera Academy. Photo by Marco Borggreve

Hank Hehmsoth (B.M., Piano, 1975; M.M., Piano, 1976) worked with a 2019 National Endowment for the Arts NEA ArtWorks grant to produce the website, “Dan Morgenstern Collection,” which documents the complete archive of NEA Jazz Master Dan Morgenstern’s 70-year career as a jazz advocate, scholar, author and educator. Photo by Milo Hehmsoth

Rachell Ellen Wong (B.M., Strings and Harp, 2013) is the winner of the inaugural Lillian and Maurice Barbash J.S. Bach Competition at the Stony Brook University. She will be performing at the first annual Island Symphony Bach Festival January 26, 2020. Photo by Jiyang Chen

James A. Davis (M.M., Composition, 1987) has released his second book with the University of Nebraska Press, “Maryland, My Maryland: Music and Patriotism During the American Civil War.” He has also been named editor for a series of essay collections and monographs from Routledge titled “Modern Musicology in the College Classroom.” Photo by Lori Deemer

Altin Brennan Sencalar  (B.M., Jazz Studies, 2017) played and arranged music for the 60th anniversary of Motown Records in Detroit, Michigan. He backed the Temptations, Jennifer Hudson, Neyo, Big Sean, and the Four Tops among others. He was also hired as Adjunct Professor of Music at Central Texas College in Killeen, Texas.  Photo by Sarah Milligan.

Dustin Lee Williams (B.A., Music, 2008) became associate counsel for South by Southwest where he works on legal issues in connection with the SXSW conference and Austin festivals. Photo by John Duah