Points of Pride lists faculty, student and alumni achievements. It is accumulated and produced three times a year, generally in January, March, and October.
News and Events
The School of Music and the Department of Theatre Arts collaborated on a memorial benefit recital to the victims of the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Pennsylvania tragedies featuring reflections from New York artists, the music of Philip Glass and School of Music and Department of Theatre Arts faculty entitled "A Grief Observed: Voices and Music from Ground Zero" on Sept. 30.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska Foundation sponsored "Mary at the Movies," a tribute to Mary Riepma Ross and her support of the arts at UNL on Oct. 4. Construction has begun on the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater and Van Brunt Visitor's Center complex at 13th and R sts. with occupancy beginning in Fall 2002.
The Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts participated in the first Lincoln Arts Festival in September, sponsored by the Lincoln Arts Council. Several faculty, staff and students volunteered their time to help staff an information booth and a group of UNL dancers, led by Prof. Lisa Fusillo and Asst. Prof. Sara Semonis, also performed.
The UNL Dance Program received a $10,000 grant from the National College Choreography Initiative to support the re-staging of Lincoln native Charles Weidman's "Lynchtown" with Carol Mezzacappa and UNL dancers to be performed Oct. 19 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. The National College Choreography Initiative was made possible through the generous funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Target Foundation. This is the first and largest grant for the university and the state in dance.
Arts Are Basic and the UNL Dance Program were featured in an October 2001 article in Dance Magazine, the world's leading dance publication, entitled "Nebraska Helps Put [Charles] Weidman Back on the Map."
Arts Are Basic, Friends of Lied, Great Plains Art Collection, Lentz Center for Asian Culture, Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater, Nebraska Art Association, Nebraska Repertory Theatre, and Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery were among 26 Lincoln-area arts organizations to receive Lincoln Arts Council technology awards.
Jeff Raz, a frequent guest artist for the Artists Diversity Residency Program, is featured in a book published this fall. "Rekindling the Flame: The Many Paths to a Vibrant Judaism" by Sam Osherson (Harcourt, Oct. 2001) focuses on Raz's work with ADRP in Nebraska and his Jewish-themed plays "Father-land," "Birth Mark" and "The Whole Megillah, abridged."
The Department of Art and Art History continues its series of exhibitions in the new Eisentrager-Howard Gallery honoring alumni and celebrating the renovation of Richards Hall with its exhibition, "5 Studio Art Alumni," which continues through Oct. 26. Featured in the new exhibition are the work of five UNL Department of Art and Art History Alumni: Karen Blessen, graphic art; Adele Henderson, prints/works on paper; Doug Martin, paintings; T.L. Solien, drawings; and Ron Watson, painted reliefs.
The Department of Art and Art History and the Under Pressure Print Club welcomed visiting artist Takeshi Takahara, University of Michigan Professor of Art, Sept. 24-28. The artist worked in the print studio each day to complete an edition of prints for the Under Pressure Print Club Brayer Members with UNL students serving as print assistants.
School of Music: A lead donor recently pledged $500,000 toward the Kimball Hall Pipe Organ Project in the form of a challenge grant. If $500,000 in matching funds can be raised, the University of Nebraska Foundation will provide an additional $130,000 so work can proceed. The new organ for Kimball Recital Hall will be built by Gene Bedient (BME 1967 and MM 1971) and his staff at the Bedient Company of Lincoln.
Friends of Opera has initiated a series of monthly "Home Concerts" to benefit the opera program. These concerts are held in the homes of opera lovers in the community. They feature operatic arias, duets, trios and quartets sung by students in the UNL opera program. The host invites friends, serves cocktails and/or dinner. The first two of these concerts have been enormously successful. Seven more are scheduled this year.
Faculty
Ron Bartels, Associate Professor of Graphic Design, had his digital computer video giclée print "Tell Me How" shown in the National Juried Exhibition "Curious Journey" at MakeReady Press Gallery in Philadelphia last February and March. His piece, "Lauren's Prize" was selected for a show featuring computer-generated art at the National Juried Competition at Gallery 214 in Montclair, N.J. last spring. "Was It You?," a computer digital giclée print was selected for showing at the New Orleans Museum of Art in New Orleans and the 14th annual National Works on Paper at McNeese State University in St. Charles, La.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Graphic Design Judith Cherry has had two solo exhibitions of her work at Gallery 72 in Omaha and at Collin County Community College in Plano, Texas. Her next solo exhibition will be at the Quincy Arts Center in Quincy, Ill., in January and February 2002. Her work has also been included this last year in group exhibitions at the John Pence Gallery in San Francisco, the Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney, Gallery 72 in Omaha and Haydon Gallery in Lincoln. Cherry received a Nebraska Arts Council Fellowship in 2001 and her work was featured on the cover of the 2001-02 Nebraska Arts Council Grant Book.
Assistant Professor of Visual Literacy Dana Fritz's recent collaborative installation with Larry Gawel "Floodplain: Secondary Crest" was at the University of Nebraska at Omaha gallery from Aug. 31-Sept. 21. Fritz's photographs were shown in the juried exhibition "Magic Silver" at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. Her mixed media drawings and prints were shown in "River Market Regional Exhibition" at the Kansas City Artists' Coalition, where she received the Juror's Award. Five of her photographs were also recently purchased by Wayne State College in Wayne, Nebr.
Professor of Painting and Drawing Keith Jacobshagen is presently finishing a one-person exhibition for the Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art Gallery in Kansas City to open Nov. 2. He is also finishing work on a group landscape exhibition at the Tory Folliard Gallery in Milwaukee which will open Oct. 19, and in late November, he will ship work to the Hirschl and Adler Modern Gallery in New York. Last July he finished a nine-foot painting commissioned by The Spring Corp. for their home offices. "Beyond the Horizon: Robert Sudlow and Keith Jacobshagen," organized by Exhibits USA has been traveling nationally for two years and will end this fall.
Professor of Printmaking Karen Kunc will exhibit her works in a solo show at the Blandon Memorial Art Museum in Fort Dodge, Iowa, this November through January (with catalogue). She will also have a one-person exhibition of "Woodcuts" at the Jan Cicero Gallery in Chicago this October. Kunc will be an artist-in-residence at Nagasawa Art Park in Tsuna, Japan, for six weeks this fall. She will also give a presentation at IMPACT 2nd International Printmaking Conference in Finland.
Chairman Joseph M. Ruffo has an exhibition of new work entitled "Portraits: Moments in Time" featuring one-of-a-kind giclée prints at the Skylight Gallery of the Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney through Nov. 4.
Assistant Professor of Trombone Scott Anderson presented a recital featuring works from the Paris Conservatory Solo Competitions at First Plymouth Congregational Church on Feb. 25. Other solo performances included the United States premier of Jawbone 5 (Homage to the Band 1970) by Folke Rabe at Saint Cloud State University on April 17.
Richard H. Larson Professor of Flute John Bailey is presenting a recital and masterclass at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada in October. Bailey has been selected Program Chair for the August 2002 annual national convention of the National Flute Association in Washington, D.C. The convention lasts four days and is expected to attract 4000 flutists from around the globe.
Associate Professor of Clarinet Diane Cawein premiered a new arrangement of Luigi Bassi's "Gran Duetto Concertante" for E-flat and B-flat clarinets with Wind Ensemble (arranged by New York composer Mark Spede) on May 2 at the University of Texas-Austin. Accompanied by two of her students, Cawein attended the 2001 Oklahoma Clarinet Symposium this June and was invited to be a featured guest artist for the 2002 Symposium. As Coordinator of the International Clarinet Association's High School Solo Competition, Cawein organized the competition and has prepared an article for "The Clarinet" journal of the I.C.A. to be published in December. Cawein traveled to New Orleans in August to participate in the 2001 I.C.A. ClarinetFest where she served as a judge in the final round for the I.C.A. Young Artist Competition.
Associate Professor of Piano Mark Clinton continues to reach out to Nebraska's independent piano teachers through an ongoing series of distance learning masterclasses, delivered across the state via satellite. During the Fall 2001 semester, Clinton will conduct two classes for high school students in Lincoln, Grand Island, Scottsbluff, and Columbus. The Clinton/Narboni Duo (Clinton and Assistant Professor of Piano Nicole Narboni) were guest artists/faculty members at the eighth international Ameropa Chamber Music Festival in Prague from July 29 to August 12, 2001. They presented a recital of works for two pianos by Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu, taught gifted students from six different countries, participated in a panel discussion on twentieth-century American chamber music, and collaborated in a series of chamber music recitals with other international guest artists. Six School of Music piano students traveled with Clinton and Narboni to Prague. During the two-week Ameropa Festival, they performed in chamber ensembles with students from all over the world, coached chamber music with members of the international faculty, had private piano lessons with the faculty, and attended a wide variety of lectures, masterclasses, and performances. Clinton and Narboni's fourth compact disc recording (funded in part by grants from the UNL Research Council and Layman Fund) continues to receive glowing reviews in several national and international publications.
Assistant Professor of Voice Michael Cochran, tenor, was a guest artist for the St. Charles Summer Opera Festival, performing arias and scenes from Puccini operas with the St. Charles Festival Symphony Orchestra. Multiple performances were given within the Chicago metropolitan area.
Quentin Faulkner, Larson Professor of Organ and Music History, together with Margot Woolard (DMA 1987) conducted four church music workshops in Scottsbluff, Lincoln, Omaha and Grand Island.
Assistant Dean and Lecturer in Voice Peggy Holloway was editor of "Six Songs by Marion Bauer" published by Hildegard Publishing Company in 2001. One song from this publication also appears in "First Solos: Vocal Music by Woman for High Voice." Holloway performed a guest lecture and recital on American Vocal Music for American Music Class at Slippery Rock University in May. She was a guest soloist for Omaha's River City Chorus June 2001 concert.
Professor of Music Theory Joseph Kraus was one of 41 faculty judges from across the country who participated in the grading for the Advanced Placement Music Theory Exam. In November, Kraus will be presenting a paper on Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony at the National Meeting of the Society for Music Theory in Philadelphia.
Professor of Music History Peter Lefferts has been appointed Director and Chief Adviser of UNL's Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program.
Glenn Nierman, Steinhart Professor and Chair of Music Education and Interim School of Music Associate Director, recently completed a chapter for the second edition of the Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning, scheduled for publication in 2002. He has five articles that appear in the 2001 MENC Publication Spotlight on Assessment. Nierman is a candidate for President of the Nebraska Music Educators Association (NMEA), and he will make two presentations at the NMEA Inservice Conference Clinic in November.
Composer-in-Residence Randall Snyder now has some of his music available online at www.miltmorepress.com.
Associate Professor of Music History Pamela Starr has begun a three-year appointment as Reviews Editor of the Journal of the American Musicological Society. Katie Baeth (MM in flute) will be the new editorial assistant. Starr has been invited to present a paper at the Yale University Conference "A Sense of Place:Seventy Years of Musical and Musical-Liturgical Scholarship at Yale" in December 2002.
Assistant Professor of Music Education Robert Woody presented a paper at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Part of a mini-symposium on musical expressivity, his presentation was titled "Eliciting Expressive Music Performance: Instructional Approaches."
Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Stan Brown is a regular columnist for The Voice and Speech Review, and he acted in the developmental workshop production of "Open Heart" with Carla DeVito and Robby Benson in Los Angeles.
Chairman Jeffery S. Elwell has been elected chairman of the UNL Research Council for the 2001-02 academic year. His play, "Truth and Consequences" was produced by the Back Street Theatre Company in Mandurah, Western Australia, at both the Bunbury Drama Festival in Perth and Drama Fest in Fremantle in September. His play, "Fenced In" is having a developmental workshop and staged reading at the New Jersey Playwrights Theatre in mid-November, tentatively starring Dion Graham and Ben Vereen. Elwell's play, "Falling to Earth" is having a developmental workshop and staged reading at Hofstra (N.Y.) University in mid-November. His play "Evening Education" was published by Samuel French Inc. in May.
Rick Endacott, Assistant Professor of Film and New Media, received a Layman Foundation grant to write a screenplay about Native American youth and suicide. He also served on a panel at the SlamDance Film Festival.
Associate Professor of Theatre Arts William Grange served his second Fulbright Senior Scholar Award in Germany at the University of Cologne. He has published "Foreign-language Comedy Production in the Third Reich" in Metamorphoses VII Winter 2001: 176-197; and published "Moissi: Triest, Berlin, New York: eine Schauspielerlegende" by Rüdiger Schaper in Theatre Survey 42 No. 1: 100-102. His own book, "Hitler Laughing: Comedy in the Third Reich" will be published by Southern Illinois University Press this spring.
Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts William Kenyon served as lighting designer for the American Indian Dance Theatre on its international tour. He served as lighting designer for "Orphans" at the Hope Summer Rep in Michigan.
Professor of Theatre Arts Charles O'Connor designed a new virtual set for the Nebraska Educational Television and designed a set for "Othello" at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival while on faculty development leave.
Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts Virginia Smith played the role of Amanda in "The Glass Menagerie" for the Living Picture Project, a professional theatre based in Omaha. She also directed "Noises Off" for Brownville Village Theatre and her play "Walking With Them" was produced by The Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Justice Team in Detroit. "Lulu Takes a Lover," a short film starring Virginia Smith was screened at the Long Island Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.
Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Ed Stauffer designed the set for "The Physicist" at the Producer's Club in New York.
Assistant Professor of Film and New Media Sharon Teo and her partner Roger Good won a regional Emmy from the Ohio Valley Chapter of the National Academy of the Television Arts and Sciences for outstanding achievement in editing this summer. She received a Layman Foundation grant for the production of an original work, "Breeders."
Students
The University Singers won an audition to sing at regional American Choral Directors Association in March and the Varsity Men's Chorus has been invited to sing at the Intercollegiate Men's Choruses National Convention.
The Nebraska Trombone Ensemble was invited to perform at the 2001 International Trombone Federation Workshop on May 22 in Nashville. The group performed a new set of arrangements by UNL Composerin-Residence Randall Snyder entitled "Beatlemania." This ensemble is comprised of trombone students at the University of Nebraska.
Timothy Dickmeyer (MM Bass Trombone) was named coordinator of touring and educational programs with the Omaha Symphony Orchestra. He began this full-time position in August.
DMA student Anthony Radford, baritone, attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama for the summer semester.
Deena Reedy (DMA flute) presented a lecture-recital at the annual national convention of the National Flute Association in Dallas this past August and will present a different version of the same lecture-recital at the national meeting of the College Music Society in Phoenix in November.
BM students Angelo Subido, baritone, Jeff Behan, tenor, and Emily Hoeller, soprano, performed the lead roles in the Kurt Weill operetta "From Berlin to Broadway" with a Quad City area production in Iowa.
Lynn Waddell (DMA flute) was awarded a prestigious Presidential Fellowship for the 2001-2002 academic year, which will support her research on performance practice of early 20th-century French flutists.
Jude Thaddeus Hickey (BA) is currently in a production of Landford Wilson's "The Mound Builders" in Raleigh, N.C. Kent Paul, who spent three seasons directing at the Nebraska Repertory Theatre, is directing the production.
Alumni
Albert Sperath (MFA 1976) was the primary author for "The Art of Ellis Wilson" published by the University Press of Kentucky last year. This year, he was named director of University Museums at the University of Mississippi in Oxford.
Betty Kjelson (BFA 1949) has finished "Betty's Book: A Journey from Pain to Recovery," an unusual hardback of 20 riveting, flowing pages of paintings that record her struggle and reveal the power of creativity as a healing tool, which she created following a 1991 burn accident. Kjelson received the Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award in Art in 2000.
Christopher Classen (BFA 1999) had his first opening in August at a small gallery in Hollywood. He has also done free-lance graphic designing and has redesigned two nightclubs. He is in Los Angeles pursuing his Master's degree at the Southern California Institute of Architecture.
Tim Yontz (Ph.D. Music Education 2001) has been hired as assistant director of bands/music education at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Layne Ehlers (Ph.D.) is currently teaching theatre at Bacone College in Muskogee, Okla. She has been hired to develop a major and build a theatre program.
Jeni Fabian (MFA 1999) is teaching 7-9 drama in Basingstoke, England, at the Harriet Costello School, which is 45 minutes west of London.
Kristin Hensley (BA 1998) received a rave review in the Los Angeles Weekly for directing a production of "The Line That Picked Up 1,000 Babes (and How It Can Work for You" at The Gig in Los Angeles. In the cast was Stephanie Deaver of UNL.
Jeremy Kendall (MFA 1994) is teaching Intermediate Acting for the Department of Theatre Arts. He and his wife Laura (BA 1995) have recently returned to Lincoln after living and working in Los Angeles for the past few years.
Joan Korte (MFA 1993) is teaching Introduction to Theatre for the Department of Theatre Arts. She also teaches theatre courses at Nebraska Wesleyan University.
Jeff Stander (BFA 2001) received an internship in production design given by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the only award given in this category nationally. He assisted professional television designers at CBS in Hollywood. Among those who he worked with was Dawn Schaefer (MFA 1999), Executive Art Director at CBS.
Patrick Tuttle (MFA 1994) played the legendary Giacomo Girolamo Casanova in the Open Fist Theatre Company's (Hollywood, Calif.) production of Constance Congdon's "Cassanova" in June. An article and photograph were featured in the Los Angeles Times.
Affiliates
The Nebraska Art Association painting "Young Worshipper of the Truth" at Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden was featured in the article "Marsden Hartley's Lincoln Portraits," published by Randall R. Griffey in the Summer 2001 issue of American Art, a scholarly journal published by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The other two paintings in this important late series by Hartley, which depict Lincoln as a youth, just prior to his inauguration, and in the midst of the Civil War, are in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Yale University Art Gallery.