Points of Pride lists faculty, student and alumni achievements. It is accumulated and produced three times a year, generally in January, March, and October.
Grants and Awards
The following faculty received Hixson-Lied Faculty Presentation of Scholarly/Creative Activity Grants in October:
- Carolyn Barber, School of Music, $575, Presentation at the Midwest Clinic, an international band and orchestra conference.
- Ann Chang-Barnes, School of Music, $1,400, Presentation of her recital in St. Petersburg, Russia.
- Liz Ingraham, Department of Art and Art History, $550, Presentation of her work at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference.
- Liz Ingraham, Department of Art and Art History, $650, Exhibitions at the San Luis Obispo Art Center and Cuesta College.
- Wenhai Ma, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, $1,200, Presentation at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore.
- Janice Stauffer, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, $800, Presentation at the International Textile and Apparel Association meeting.
The following faculty received Faculty Seed Grants and Visiting Scholar Grants from the UNL Research Council in December:
- Diane Barger, School of Music, $600, to bring Dr. Michael Lowenstern to Lincoln in March.
- Ann Chang-Barnes, School of Music, $10,000, for her research entitled "Lessons from the Ancient Piano for Modern Pianists."
- Paul Haar, School of Music, $800, to bring Dr. John Riley to Lincoln in February.
- Michael Hoff, Department of Art and Art History, $777, to bring Dr. Andrew Stewart to Lincoln in April.
The following students received Hixson-Lied Scholarly and Creative Presentation Grants in December:
- Natalie Tavlin, Ja'Nelle Taylor, Kimberly Wingrove, Allison Frenzel, Sean McGill, Logan Pietz, Rachel Charlop-Powers, William Heafer, Jim Hopkins, Robert Krecklow, Matthew Miller and Greg Parmeter, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, $200 each for participation at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
- Rhonda Willers, Caitlin Applegate, Sarah Blitz, Jesse Ross, Jenni Brant, Autumn Cipala, Susan Dewsnap, Seth Green, and Xanthe Isbister, Department of Art and Art History, $2400 to assist with transportation and art shipping costs related to their participation in the MFA Graduate Student Exhibition and Collaborative Exchange at the University of Colorado.
- Nicholas Kenny, School of Music, $300 for his participation in the MTNA Regional Competition.
- Matthew Moehle, School of Music, $450 for his presentation of a research paper at the North Texas Symposium on Research in Music Education.
- Julia Neal, School of Music, $300 for her participation in the MTNA Regional Competition.
The following students received Hixson-Lied Study Abroad Support Grants in December:
- Seth Green, Department of Art and Art History, $1,200 for his participation in the Kiln Building Workshop in Valparaiso, Chile.
- Courtney Pearson, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, $2,000 for study abroad at the University of Wollongong in Australia.
- Nicholas Reynolds, School of Music, $950 for study abroad in Germany at the Deutschland Institute and his private study in piano.
Benjamin Kamprath, Department of Art and Art History, received a $1,964 Hixson-Lied Undergraduate Creative Research Grant in October for his project "Parallel: Documenting a Personal Process." The purpose of the project is to document the personal process of art creation through film and print media. His finished project will be on exhibition at the Rotunda Gallery at the Nebraska Union beginning April 23.
Shane Haley, M.F.A. Department of Art and Art History, won a $500 award from the Great Plains Museum, where he works.
Erika Navarette, M.F.A. Department of Art and Art History, won a $5,300 Hispanic Scholarship Fund/McNamara Family Creative Arts Project Grant.
Samuel B. Rapien, M.F.A. Department of Art and Art History, won a gold medal, the highest student achievement medal, at the Nebraska American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Student Design Show in November. He won for his DVD entitled "The Work of Sam Rapien," which included his design work from the last five years. Rapien's award marked the fifth consecutive year that students in UNL's graphic design program have garnered top-place medals at the Nebraska AIGA professional and student design show.
Faculty
John Bailey, Larson Professor of Flute, was featured soloist at the Eastern Iowa Flute Association's Flute Fair in October. He gave a recital, lectured on pedagogy and worked with flutists from the University of Iowa.
Carolyn Barber, Associate Professor and Director of Bands, presented a rehearsal lab at the 60th annual Midwest Clinic, an international band and orchestra conference, in Chicago in December.
Paul Barnes, Associate Professor of Piano, received the Nebraska Music Teachers Association Teacher of the Year Award at the Nebraska Music Teachers Association (NMTA) State Conference in October. The award was given to Barnes to recognize his success with his students in piano competitions, as well as his active performing career. Barnes received mention in a Nov. 27, 2006, New York Times Review of Philip Glass's "The Concerto Project, Volume 2" CD, which included "Piano Concerto No. 2: After Lewis and Clark." Barnes performed at the Great Romantics Festival at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, in October. In November, he adjudicated the Missouri Music Teachers Association State piano competition at William Jewell College. He also adjudicated the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition Nov. 17-19. On Dec. 17, he organized and directed a concert featuring Byzantine chant entitled "Christmas in Byzantium" held in the rotunda of the Nebraska State Capitol.
Ann Chang-Barnes, Senior Lecturer in Piano, performed a world premier with the Rastrelli Cello Quartet at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Dec. 29. The quintet performed the newly arranged works for piano and cello quartet by Russian composer Sergei Drabkine, and "Four Seasons" by Astor Piazzolla. The American performance will be held at the Lied Center for Performing Arts on Feb. 26, 2008.
The Chiara String Quartet (Rebecca Fischer and Julie Yoon, violins; Jonah Sirota, viola; and Gregory Beaver, cello) made their Washington debut in October at the Kreeger Museum and received a positive review in the Washington Post on Oct. 30, 2006. They performed in New York City in January at Merkin Concert Hall and at Rose Live Music Club in Brooklyn. Their performance at Merkin Hall was followed by a reception sponsored by the University of Nebraska Foundation and was attended by Chancellor Harvey Perlman, University of Nebraska Foundation President and Chief Development Officer Clarey Castner, Development Officer Lucy Buntain Comine, Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts Endowed Dean Giacomo M. Oliva and School of Music Director John Richmond. The Chiara's performance received a rave review in the New York Times by Allan Kozinn. The Quartet was featured on WNYC (New York's NPR station) on "Soundcheck" with John Schaefer, discussing classical music in a club. They were also featured on WRTI (Philadelphia's NPR station) on "Crossover." They also performed in Lincoln at the Chatterbox and performed the first two concerts of the Lincoln Brahms Festival: Love, Life and Spirit" at Kimball Recital Hall and the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery.
Aaron Holz, Assistant Professor of Art, is presenting a one-person exhibition at the Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney from now until April 8, as part of the Nebraska Now Series. In the exhibition, Holz investigates relationships of individuals, painting techniques, styles and art movements through his small-scale portrait paintings.
Karen Kunc, Cather Professor of Art, and Francisco Souto, Assistant Professor of Art, and five of their graduate students will exhibit their work at the Fine Arts Academy in Helsinki, Finland, in March.
John Moran, Professor Emeritus and former Director of the School of Music, was inducted posthumously into the Nebraska Music Educators Hall of Fame in November. His wife, Janelle, accepted the award. The Hall of Fame Award is the most prestigious honor that can be bestowed on any Nebraska Music Educator, past or present. The recipient is nominated by peers in the profession and former students.
Francisco Souto, Assistant Professor of Art, received honorable mention in The 7e Triennale de Chamalieres Mondial de L'Eestampe et de la Gravure Originale, one of the most prestigious print triennials for small format in the world. He also won awards at the 12th International Biennial Print and Drawing Exhibition at the Taiwan National Museum and The International Mini-Print Biennial in Cluj, Romania. His recent exhibitions include the Biennial Exhibitions in Taiwan and Romania, "Prints and Artist's Books" at Murray State University in Ky., "Francisco Souto: New Work" at the Wakeley Gallery at Illinois Wesleyan University, and "Colorprint USA 2006" at Texas Tech University.
Darryl White, Associate Professor of Trumpet, was appointed to the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) Conference staff as Sessions Coordinator. At the 2007 IAJE Conference in New York City, White gave a clinic presentation on Session Etiquette and was the overseer for all Sessions during the five-day conference. White is also director of the Clifford Brown/Stan Getz All-Stars, which performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Jan. 9 and also gave a private performance for the IAJE Conference on January 11.
Students
Sean Burton, D.M.A. .School of Music, published an article entitled "Sacred and Political Duality: An Analysis of Selected Motets from William Byrd's Gradulia" in the December 2006 Choral Journal. His article was featured as the cover article in the journal, which is a peer-reviewed scholarly publication of international renown. He also published his performing edition of "Our God, Creator" by late UNL Professor Emeritus Robert Beadell with Colla Voce Music, Inc., an international music publisher based in Indianapolis.
Jonathan Crosmer, M.M. School of Music, and violist, has been named the winner in the first annual "Play with the Chiara" competition. He will join the Chiara String Quartet on Saturday, Feb. 3 in their faculty recital, performing Mozart's Quintet in G minor, K. 516. The inaugural contest was open to violin, viola, cello and bass players and had two rounds of competition. Undergraduate cellist Lenna Pierce was named alternate. The other two finalists were cellist Andrew Holm and violinist He Xiang.
Jessica Graf, B.A. Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, worked on an episode of the NBC TV show "Scrubs" (episode #612). She doubled for the character of Maggie when she gets clubbed in the head by Turk (Zach Braff) and J.D. (Donald Faison). In February, she begins rehearsals for a live stunt show called "Pirates Dinner Adventure." She also played a wrestler in a movie called "Mamma's Boy" starring John Heder from "Napoleon Dynamite." She also worked as a double for Bruce Willis' daughter in "Die Hard 4."
Leonardo Lebas, D.M.A. School of Music, was awarded the UNESCO-Aschberg Fellowship for Artists 2006-2007. He will be a resident composer at the Conservatorio de Las Rosas in Morelia, Mexico, from March to May 2007. The funding from this fellowship is meant to provide a serious composer willing to create and meet intercultural challenges with an independent creative residency.
Curtis Moeller, B.M. School of Music, presented a one-man theatrical recital entitled "An Obliged Genius" on the life of composer Franz Liszt in January at Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden. The performance was the culmination of his UCARE award, his senior recital and his undergraduate honors thesis.
Julie Neal, M.M. School of Music, won the woodwind division and Nicholas Kenney (M.M.) won the brass division of the Collegiate Competition at the state Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Young Artist Competition. They both competed at the regional MTNA competition in North Dakota in January. Angela Heck (M.M. flute), Elizabeth Aleksander (D.M.A. clarinet) and Nicholas Reynolds (B.M.) received an honorable mention at the state competition.
Jacob Thomas, M.M. School of Music, will be on the Emeril Live TV show in an episode entitled "Emeril's Chocolate Challenge" on Sunday, Feb. 11 at 7pm CST on the Food Network. His recipe, Jake's Explosive Turtle Cheesecake," won the national chocolate recipe contest. An Emeril Live crew filmed Jacob in Lincoln in October.
David Woods, B.M.E. clarinet, won the Nebraska Music Teacher's Association (NMTA) Collegiate Woodwind Competition.
The following School of Music students placed at the Regional National Association of the Teachers of Singing (NATS) 2006 Auditions in November at Wichita State University:
- First Year Women: Paige Whitaker (2nd place) and Allison Frenzel (semi-finalist).
- First Year Men: Adam Fieldson (2nd place), Stephen Brandt (4th place), John Gieringer (semi-finalist) and Bryan McKnight (semi-finalist).
- Sophomore Women: Jessie Beran (3rd place) and Jessica Rajewich (5th place).
- Sophomore Men: Micah Smith (4th place).
- Junior Women: Sarah Smith (2nd place) and Natalie Tavlin (3rd place).
- Senior Women: Tertia Hock (3rd place) and Anna DeGraff (5th place).
- Non-traditional students: Shannon Postier (1st place).
- Lower College Musical Theatre (Male and Female): John Gieringer (1st place), Allison Frenzel (2nd place), Jessie Beran (3rd place), Adam Fieldson (semi-finalist) and Bryan McKnight (semi-finalist).
- Upper College Musical Theatre (Male and Female): Tertia Hock (1st place) and Natalie Tavlin (2nd place).
Alumni
Jeff L. Fisher (B.F.A. Art 1975) had an exhibition entitled "eight digital prints" at the Unitarian Church in Lincoln in December.
Roxanne Jackson (M.F.A. Art 2004) was one of three artists whose work was featured in an exhibition entitled "Tugboat Presents: One Night Only" at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art in Omaha, on December 20.
Susan Puelz (B.F.A. Art 1980, M.F.A. 1984) had concurrent solo exhibitions last July at the Anderson-O'Brien Fine Art Gallery in Omaha and at the Great Plains Art Museum at UNL.
Affiliated Units
The Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center hosted a successful visit by filmmaker Ali Selim ("Sweet Land"). On the weekend of Jan. 12, more than 700 tickets were sold to "Sweet Land," which was shown at the Ross. Selim also met with students in the Film and New Media program in our College, as well as students from the College of Journalism and Mass Communications.
Seven graduate students from the Department of Art and Art History worked with students in several Arts Are Basic schools in Lincoln last Fall:
- Wendy Bantam and Sam Rapien-Bryan Community School
- Sherry Black, Michael Burton, Eriko Fujita and Anne Ruehrmund-Norwood Park
- Ziaomiao Wang-North Star