Alumni Spotlights

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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

 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.

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).

Asche (B.M. '76, M.M. '78, D.M.A. '83, Keyboard) is the Senior Continuing Lecturer in Piano at the University of California at Santa Barbara. The award is the highest award granted by the organization and previous recipients include renowned pianists John Perry, Stewart Gordon, and Daniel Pollock, as well as mezzo-soprano Federica von Stade and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. Butler School of Music alumnus William Wellborn is also a previous recipient of the award.