Alumni Spotlights

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

Christopher Atzinger (B.M., Piano, 1999) had his sixth commercial CD released on the Delos label, featuring works by American composer John Knowles Paine. Photo by Ali Hohn

Michael Austin (M.M., Theory, 2007) was appointed Founding Director of the School of Music at Louisiana Tech University where he has developed a degree program in Music Industry Studies, focusing on music and audio production. Photo by Donny Crowe

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.

Andrew William Parker (D.M.A., Woodwinds, 2013) has been appointed Assistant Professor of Oboe as well as Director of Summer Music Camps at the Oklahoma State University School of Music. He currently holds the position of Lecturer of Oboe and Music Technology at Brevard College along with Artistic Administrator at the Brevard Music Center Summer Festival and Institute. Photo by Art of Roxy Photography

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

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

Hank H. Hehmsoth’s (M.M., Piano, 1976) work on “Scary Movie” was praised by film reviewer James Jay Edwards and is receiving a Blu-Ray special edition release from the American Genre Film Archive. Hehmsoth was named a 2019 Morroe Berger-Benny Carter-Edward Berger Jazz Research Scholar by the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University and is working with a 2019 National Endowment for the Arts NEA ArtWorks grant. Photo by Milo Hehmsoth