RECENT SUCCESSES OF OUR ALUMNI AND GRADUATE STUDENTS

Liz Argus www.alumni.tulane.edu/edcon/bios/Liz%20Argus.pdf
Musical Theater; performances in the Summer Lyric Theater
“Liz Argus is in glorious voice…” The Times-Picayune

Bridget Bazile www.bridgetabazile.com
Winner of the Leontyne Price Vocal Arts Competition
1st Prize in the AIMS Meistersinger Competition in Graz
Featured soloist in performances in Carnegie Hall
Performances in North America, Europe and Australia

Charles Barzon
DMA at Catholic University (in progress)
Collaborative Piano/Chamber Music
Studies at the Goethe-Institut

Matthew Burtner http://www-ccrma.stanford.edu/~mburtner/
Composer
Faculty member at University of Virginia
Winner of several international composition contests including the Musica Nova International Electroacoustic Music Competiiton, the Luigi Russolo International Computer Music Competition, the Gaudeamus International Young Composers Competition, the Hultgren International Cello Biennial, Prix d'Etet, Darmstadt, and others

Cliff Callender
Composer; Faculty member at Florida State University
Callender's music has been recognized by and performed at the North American Saxophone Alliance 2002 Biennial Conference, Northern Illinois University, the iChamber New Music Series, the NACUSA Young Composers Competition, the Northern Arizona University Centennial Composition Competition, the Composers Conference at Wellesley College, the Ernest Bloch Music Festival, the 2nd PIANISSIMO festival in Bulgaria, the University of Chicago Contemporary Chamber Players, SCI Regional and Student conferences, SEAMUS, the Fifth World Harp Congress in Copenhagen, and the Chicago Union League Civic & Arts Foundation .

Evan Christopher http://www.riverwalk.org/profiles/evanc.htm
Performances and participation in festivals all over the world
Residency in Paris, France, sponsored by French-American Cultural Exchange in co-operation with the City of Paris
Featured artist in the Jazz and Heritage Festivals
Radio and TV interviews; documentaries
Reviews in major newspapers including the Chicago Tribune:
“In New Orleans , anyone who follows jazz knows that pianist Tom McDermott and clarinetist Evan Christopher rank among the city's most charismatic duos. Over the weekend, Chicago listeners discovered this remarkable partnership, with McDermott and Christopher receiving several standing ovations during an often-boisterous local debut at the Old Town School of Folk Music”

Brendan Connelly www.twoheadedcalf.org
Composer of theater music; co-founder of Theater of a Two-headed Calf
Head of Development of Wet Ink Musics, a New York-based non-profit presenting organization dedicated to the promotion and presentation of new music.
“The maid delivers entire monologues backed by the dissonant strains of an unseen band (wonderful stuff, conducted by composer Brendan Connelly) www.nytheater.com
“The music , by Brenedan Connelly, is brilliantly discordant..” www.curtainup.com

Tony Dagradi www.tonydagradi.com
Astral Project (contemporary jazz ensemble)
Associate Professor at Loyola University
Voted “Best Saxophonist” in New Orleans ' Offbeat magazine readers poll
Grants from the Louisiana Division of Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation
Several CDs including his own CDs as a leader as well as recordings with Marsalis, Bley, Longhair, Allison and many others

Fernando del Valle www.fernandodelvalle.com
Winner of the Bel Canto Competition in Milan
Singer associated with the best concert halls and opera houses in the world including Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Atlanta Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Teatro La Fenice, Nationalthatre Mannheim, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Dusseldorf, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma
“..some of the most attractive tenor sounds to be heard today, carried effortlessly, unforced, through all the range.” Opera (Andrew Porter)

Angela Dilkey www.emsc.nysed.gov/nysssa/SCS05/FinalProgramRevised.pdf
Faculty member at SUNY Fredonia
Participation at the Tanglewood Music Festival where she performed Bach cantatas under Seiji Ozawa
Performed in Suor Angelica and sang several recitals in Rome
Sang the role of the Mother in Hansel and Gretel with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Governess in Britten's Turn of the Screw with the Ethos new music group
She was also the soprano soloist in the Mozart Requiem with the Western New York Chamber Orchestra and in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Midland-Odessa Orchestra in Texas.

Victoria Dolceamore www.sangennarofoundation.org/cms/executive.php
Composer of film music and music for TV including the Invisible Child

Marc Embree www.marcembree.com/test/
Longtime association with the New York City Opera and Metropolitan Opera
Faculty member at DePaul University in Chicago
Performances all over the world (Avery-Fisher Hall, National Orchestra of Mexico, Grand-Theatre du Nancy, Theater im Pfaltzbau, Theater des Westen, etc.)
“Mr. Embree cut a magnificent figure as the preacher, at once charismatic and dissolute: a genuine tragic hero.” The New York Times
“Marc Embree as Dr. Sloper gave a terrific performance as a mountain of arrogance and cruelty.” Newsweek

Ruth Falcon http://mannes.dotmarketing.com/college/studying_at_mannes/college_programs/biography.jsp?b=14730
Competitions include First Prize in Rio de Janeiro , Geneva Competition, Vercelli , Metropolitan Opera Auditions
Concertized extensively with conductors including James Levine, Nello Santi, Seiji Ozawa, Christoph von Dohnanyi
Longtime association with the Metropolitan Opera
Faculty member at Mannes College of Music

Lauren Guidry
Concert guitarist

John Giraud
Singer – New Orleans Opera Association
Musical Director of Junior Lyric Theater

Andy Guthrie www.andyguthrie.com
Composer/Pianist/Singer in New York City
Interview/performance featured on NPR
Several CDs
“In this gorgeously dark acoustic album, Andy Guthrie's bare guitar chords, melodic piano and beautiful voice combine to create a haunting mood. It is utterly sincere, vibrant, intoxicating…”

Jeffrey Harrington http://www.parnasse.com/jeffcv.shtml
Composer
ACTV, Inc.
Lead Client-Side programmer of HyperTV. Inventor and chief architect of HyperTV 3.0 client side all-Flash system
Computer Music Programming
Composer of Music for Children's Television Workshop
Member of programming team responsible for award-winning CDROM educational games using C++ and a proprietary object-oriented scripting language. Programming credits on three titles distributed by Electronic Arts

Glenn Hartmann http://www.jewishmusicfestival.org/2006/events/school-outreach.php
International credits in Klezmer Music, including JazzFest Berlin
Established New Orleans Klezmer Allstars
Several CD recordings

Monifa Johnson
Historic Savannah Foundation Board of Trustees
Program Director of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation

Anthony Laciura www.spearheadnews.com/Interviews/ laciura interview.html
Performances all over the world; longtime association with the Metropolitan Opera
“One of the singers who projected their words with special relish was Anthony Laciura. Mr. Laciura sings mostly character parts at the Met, for which his inherent comic gifts, with his rubbery face and athleticism, ordain him. But he also has an excellent tenor, and he handled his arias with distinction.” The New York Times

Diane Lala www.uc.edu/CCM/musical_theatre/faculty.htm
Director/choreographer/distinguished performer
Faculty member at the Cincinnati Conservatory
Received a Marquee Award as Best Actress in a Musical for Chicago

Shannon Lee www.imdb.com/name/nm0005135
Singer, actor

Kyle Malone
Graduate student at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore

Nicole Montany www.nikkiduck.com www.nikkiboxer.com
Co-Director, with her husband, of a private Music School in Colorado, Boxer Vocal Music Studio in Aspen, Colorado
Performances with Santa Fe Opera

Amanda Norman Waites www.nocca.com/faculty.html
Head of Classical Music division at NOCCA

Melissa Pausina
DMA candidate in Music Composition at Temple University

John Rankin www.strdigital.com/rankin.htm
Concert guitarist
Faculty member at Loyola University

Dominique Robillard www.carpediem-records.de/en/news.htm
Concert guitarist

Matt Sakakeeny www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/music/mpri/participants.html
PhD candidate in Ethnomusicology at Columbia University
Recipient of NSF research grant in Cultural Anthropology Research in New Orleans music

Charles Shadle www.intermezzo-opera.org/Artists/CShadle.htm
Composer; recipient of commissions from numerous organizations including SUNY Buffalo, Longwood Opera, the Lake George Opera Festival, the Newton Choral Society, the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
Faculty member at MIT