Alumni Spotlights

Bruce Ludwick, Jr. (M.M., Organ Performance with Emphasis in Sacred Music, 2008) was appointed Director of Music and Organist at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Birmingham, AL as of January 1, 2013. Erin Montalto Ludwick (M.M., Vocal Performance, 2008) is from Birmingham and happy to be back home where she is setting up a private voice studio. Their wedding was at the Cathedral of St. Paul in June 2009 and was played by the late Dr. Gerre Hancock (former Professor of Organ and Sacred Music at UT-Austin). Bruce looks forward to building upon the foundation of the cathedral’s choirs to include comprehensive choirs for youth and children as well as an organ recital series.

David Viscoli, Professor of Piano, (B.M. 1987) was selected as a recipient of the Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Alexandre Dossin (DMA, Music, 2001) is a tenured faculty member at the University of Oregon. His recordings include: Russian Transcriptions, to be included in Naxos' ongoing international series "Complete Piano Works by Franz Liszt," which was released in July 2012; Rachmaninoff: Prelude in c# minor, op. 3 no. 2, Preludes op. 23; recording and editorial work, Schirmer Performance Editions, released in November 2012; Rachmaninoff:  Preludes op. 32; recording and editorial work, Schirmer Performance Editions, to be released in 2013; and Leonard Bernstein: Piano Works, Naxos American Classics Series, to be released late 2013. A full discography is available at www.dossin.net.
 

Congratulations to alum Justin Tucker (BA, Recording Technology, 2011), former Texas Longhorn and current kicker for the Baltimore Ravens. Rookie Tucker hit two crucial field goals in the fourth quarter as the Baltimore Ravens survived a furious second-half rally by the San Francisco 49ers en route to a 34-31 victory and the Super Bowl title on Sunday, February 3rd.

Mary Dave Blackman (Ph.D., Music Education, 1989) has published a textbook for music appreciation courses. An Introduction to Art Music is an eBook that uses listening materials from the Classical Music Library, an online resource with more than 500 university subscribers. The text is published by Kendall Hunt and approaches material from the point of view of a music educator, not a musicologist.

Music Performance alum David Cloyd (BM, 1998) will officially launch Hook & Ladder Records, an imprint on ECR Music Group, on January 22, 2013.

Besides being the owner of Hook & Ladder Records, Cloyd has released two albums (Unhand Me, You Fiend! in 2009 and I Could Disappear in 2010) and is currently ECR Music Group's executive vice president of creative operations.

The label's first release, Caroline Fenn's debut album Fragile Chances, is currently slated for a worldwide release in January.

Butler School of Music alumnus Dr. Gary Beckman (Ph.D., Musicology, 2007) has become co-editor of a new journal - Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts. The inaugural issue will be published on September 1, 2012. 

Dr. Beckman is currently a musicology professor and the Director of Entrepreneurial Studies in the Arts at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Andrew O. Hallock (BM, 2002, Music Composition) and the five other musicians in the ensemble "Sopra il Basso", based out of the Hague, Netherlands, have been invited to become the Resident Ensemble for 2012 at the Academie Ambronay in France.

After graduating from UT Austin in 2002, Hallock moved to Europe to study singing at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague; he graduated in 2009. Hallock also works as a freelance instrument maker, producing a variety of historical woodwind instruments in his workshop in the Hague.

The Texas Guitar Quartet, comprised of BSoM graduates Isaac Bustos (DMA, Music, 2010), Jonathan Dotson (DMA, Music, 2010), Alejandro Montiel, (DMA, Music, 2009) and Joseph Williams II, released their debut album titled "Red" in March of 2012. Produced in Houston, the recording contains new pieces and arrangements for guitar quartet, including the world-premiere recording of Antoine de Lhoyer's "Air Varié et dialogué" and Joseph Williams' "Red" quartet. For more information, please visit www.txgq.net.

The Virtuosi Quintet, founded by alumnus James Jeter (BM, 1971), bassonist, performed the world premiere of Jim Lahti's "Woodwind Quintet," written for Dr. Jeter, on March 25, 2012 at St. Malachy's Church in New York City. Works of Bach, Bozza, Grieg and Reicha were also featured. The other members of the Virtuosi include Karla Moe, flute, Bette Condon, oboe, Larry Tietze, clarinet, and Janet Lantz, horn.