Pamela Bell (AS ’71, ’84) was among several Shenandoah community members who performed in the Winchester Little Theatre’s rendition of “King Lear” in September.
Thomas Wilkins (C ’78) conducted the National Symphony Orchestra on Sept. 5 at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia, in a special performance featuring Grammy Award-winning recording artist and Oscar Award-winning actress Jennifer Hudson. Several members of the Shenandoah University community attended the performance and visited Wilkins backstage, including President Tracy Fitzsimmons, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Vice President for Advancement Mitch Moore, Alumni Association Board of Directors President Susan Wyatt Helsley (C ’76, ’85), Executive Director of Donor & Alumni Relations Emily Burner (EL ’16), Chip Connelly (C ’92), Judy Barefoot Connelly (C ’74), Richard Robertson (C ’76), Leslie Hughes Robertson (C ’74), Charlotte Hickerson McKee (C ’76) and David McKee (C ’76). (Pictured to the right.)
Edrie Means Weekly (C ’84) served as a contributing author for two books recently released: “The Vocal Athlete: Application and Teaching the Hybrid Singer” and “Training Contemporary Commercial Singers.” She also presented three research papers in the summer of 2019: “Vocal Health Care Survey Among Classical Singers,” “Do Classical Singers Maintain Training Program Post College” and “Pathology Pathways of Professional Singers Singing in Multiple Styles” at the Voice Foundation Annual Symposium. Weekly also taught a three-day continuing education course, Musical Theatre Singing Styles, for the Contemporary Commercial Music Vocal Pedagogy Institute in the summer of 2019. (Pictured to the left.)
Jonathan Noyalas (AS ’01) presented “They Come not with Fire and Sword: Sheridan’s Veterans and the Opening Campaign for Reunion and Reconciliation in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley” in October at the Virginia Military Institute; the presentation was sponsored by the Rockbridge Civil War Round Table and VMI’s Museum System. (Pictured to the right.)
Samuel Karns (AS ’02) welcomed his second child, August Ridgely Karns, on May 7.
Travis Stoner (AS ’02, HP ’05) was awarded Fellow status in the Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists.
Eugene Loranger (AS ’03) and Cathy Loranger (EL ’15) celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on Oct. 7.
In September, Katie Props (C ’04) was featured in an exhibit created for The Milliner’s Guild for New York Textile Month. (Picture to the left.)
Sara Brunow (C ’05) was hired as the Muriel O’Neil Education and Engagement Director for the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida.
Kalvin Oliver (AS ’05) celebrated his 20th season with the Hornet football program.
Jeremy Blaustein (C ’06) was appointed the new producing artistic director for Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre. (Pictured to the right.)
Tara Newinsky Gesling (C ’07) performed in “Away From the Ribbon” at the Skyline Film Festival in Winchester in September.
Alfred Nathaniel Gumbs (C ’09) serves as the organist for Winchester Musica Viva’s 39th season, and began the season in October with the fall concert titled “Signs of New Life.”
Emilie Faith Thompson (C ’09) is the lead in the Washington Stage Guild’s production of “Candida.”
David Merrill (C ’10) will direct the Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church’s performance of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” in Severna Park, Maryland, in October.
Zachary O’Brien (HP ’10) and Briana Barron O’Brien (AS ’11) welcomed their son, Liam James O’Brien, on Aug. 14. (Picture to the left.)
Scott Van Dusseldorp (AS ’10) was hired as the head baseball coach at John Champe High School in Stone Ridge, Virginia.
Brittany Layne Axselle (AS ’11, EL ’11) and John F. Axselle IV (B ’11) welcomed their son, Levi James Axselle, on Feb. 7.
Kyle Farrell (B ’11, ’14) and Jillian Sweeney Farrell (AS ’11, P ’14) welcomed their son, Collin Randall Farrell, on Aug. 30.
Kyle Feldman (AS ’11, P ’14) was invited to speak at the 2019 American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists’ Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida on Oct. 26.
Patricia Saunders Nixon (C ’11) is a member at large of the Board of Directors of the Virginia National Association of Teachers of Singing.
Brooke Strickler Redmond (B ’11) and John Redmond (B ’12) welcomed their daughter, Kennedy Paige Redmond, on May 20.
Samantha Martin Koontz (HP ’13, AS ’13) and Jeremy Koontz (AS ’11) welcomed their second child, Adam Thomas Koontz, on June 24.
Erin Long (C ’13) married Jonathan Krellenstein at Fero Vineyard in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, on June 22. Catharine Kuntz Murray (C ’13) and Chelsey Jean Smith (C ’13) were bridesmaids and Nigel Huckle (C ’13) and Grant Snuffer (C ’12) were in attendance.
Blaine Russell (C ’13) was appointed to the design team for Music and Worship Arts Week, an annual event for church musicians organized by the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts.
Allison Echard (C ’14, ’18) submitted her master’s thesis for publication in Music Therapy Perspectives; her thesis is titled “Making Sense of Self: An Autoethnographic Study of Identity Formation for Adolescents in Music Therapy.” (Pictured to the left.)
Kyle Robb (AS ’14) and Laurie Connelly (AS ’15) were married in Frederick, Maryland, on Aug. 10. The following alumni were in attendance: Kenneth May, Jr. (AS ’12); Kathleen Terza May (AS ’12, HP ’14); Chelsea Crone Spinks (AS ’12, P ’16); Christopher Spinks II (AS ’13); Andrea Walker (B ’15); Gabriella Kolb (B ’15); Christopher Felt (AS ’12); Melody Swain Harmon (C ’75); Grace Gioglio Cox (AS ’16); Sarah Wohld (N ’15); Bailey Rankin (AS ’15); Samantha Schambach (AS ’15); Sara Felipe-Dietz (AS ’15); Richard Carpenter (AS ’14, EL ’14); Maggie Hashemzadeh (AS ’12); Emma Sweeney DeMello (AS ’15); David Bollinger, Jr. (AS ’12); Megan Garrett Bollinger (AS ’12); Anne Carr Regan (C ’74); Abigail Pauley (AS ’12); 
Carlos Ramos, Jr. (AS ’12, B ’12); Bryan Pope (AS ’14); Alicia Vickers (AS ’14, P ’17); Nick Lopez (AS ’11); Chip Connelly (C ’92); Judy Barefoot Connelly (C ’74); Elizabeth Baker (C ’14); Sarah Semelsberger (AS ’15); Emily Menhorn (C ’15); Jesse Nichols (B ’11); Michelle Park (AS ’01); Marianne Zboray (C ’74); James Weincek (’80); Carissa Helm (AS ’14); Tyler Quinn (AS ’17, ’EL); Hunter Walker (AS ’14); Eric Hobby (AS ’15); Jarod Clyburn (AS ’11); Frederica Dooley-Brown (C ’11); and Kelley Connelly (C ’13). (Pictured to the right.)
Michael Christie (C ’17) plays the trumpet in the pit for Tina Fey’s “Mean Girls,” which debuted in Buffalo, New York’s Shea’s Performing Arts Theatre in September.
Kailbeth Andreina Chacin Gonzalez (C ’17) will co-open the 2019/20 season for the Latin American Chamber Players in New York City in November. (Pictured to the right.)
Nicholas Lenz (C ’17) choreographed the performance of “Children of Eden” produced by the Stage Right! theater company in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, which earned the company a Guinness World Record for fastest theatrical production.
Aaron Chow (C ’18) was a finalist in the Canadian Chopin Piano Competition in Toronto, Canada in August. (Pictured to the left.)
Andrew Ingell (P ’19) has joined the staff at Comber Physical Therapy and Fusion Chiropractic in Williamsburg, Virginia, as a physical therapist.
Madison Vickhouse (C ’19) made her Virginia State Company debut as Hot Box Ferguson in Guys and Dolls in September.
Stephanie Fairbairn Ycaza (C ’19) was named the new instructor of tuba and euphonium at the University of Northern Iowa.
In Memoriam
Jean Allen Davis (C ’48) of Edinburg, Virginia, passed away on Sept. 30, 2019. Davis was an educator for 43 years. She served as both a music teacher and a seventh-grade teacher in Virginia, a private piano teacher and the first librarian at W.W. Robinson Elementary School in Woodstock, Virginia. As a long time resident of Edinburg, she was a founding member of the Edinburg Heritage Foundation and co-author of “The History of Edinburg,” written in 1994. She received a bachelor’s degree in music education and piano from Shenandoah Conservatory and a master’s degree in education with an emphasis on library science from James Madison University. Jean is survived by her brother, Bill Davis; her nephew, William Davis; her niece, Elizabeth Wright; and her extended family of dear friends.
Charles Ernest Rodgers, Jr. (’49) of Waynesboro, Virginia, passed away on Aug. 3, 2015. He was a veteran of the United States Army and retired after 40 years from the General Electric/Genicom Company. He is survived by his wife, Joyce Rodgers; a son, Charles L. Rodgers; a daughter, Hollie N. Rodgers; and two step-grandchildren, Andrew and Abby.
