Associate Professor of Theatre Carolyn Coulson, Ph.D., has been appointed Shenandoah Conservatory’s new assistant dean for student learning. Her main responsibilities include overseeing assessment at the conservatory and working with faculty to promote excellence in the quality of academic program and student success throughout the conservatory.

“I’m delighted that Carolyn is taking on this leadership role. Beyond having the enthusiastic support of the associate deans and her colleagues, she brings with her significant knowledge of the conservatory, strong project management skills, and a passion for academic excellence and data-driven decision making,” said Shenandoah Conservatory Dean and Professor of Music Michael Stepniak, Ed.D.

In her new role, Dr. Coulson is working closely with Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs Jeffrey Marlatt, Ph.D., to continue strengthening a culture of assessment at the conservatory. Specifically, she is working with faculty across the conservatory to enhance their expertise in assessing student learning and continually strengthening degree programs. Serving on the Conservatory Curriculum Committee, she is helping to review all curricular proposals, working to align program-level outcomes with assessment plans, data collection and data reporting, and is leading the Conservatory Student Learning Leadership Group. Coulson also retains broad engagement and teaching within the Theatre Division while taking on this new leadership role.

Additionally, one of her articles, “Accidental Openings,” was recently accepted for publication in “My Wandering Uterus,” a collection of women’s travel writing in various genres. This article joins two others Coulson has in the publication pipeline, one on medieval drama, and the other on pedagogy and performance-based research.

Distinguished Artist-in-Residence, Chair of Keyboard Division and Professor of Piano John O’Conor, Mus.D., was awarded an honorary fellowship by the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in Dublin at a ceremony on Oct. 21, along with several other notable Irish personalities including writer Colm Toibin (“Brooklyn” and many other books) and the eminent historian and biographer of W.B. Yeats, Roy Foster. In November, O’Conor traveled to Suzhou, China, and performed the Mozart two-piano Concerto with the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, with Robert Blocker (dean of the School of Music at Yale University) under the baton of Xu Zhong. He was also a member of the jury of the inaugural Suzhou International Piano Competition in November. He rounded out the month with being presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award of the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland, on Nov. 26. President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins, presented O’Conor with this annual award at the conclusion of a gala concert. O’Conor is also set to present a recital on Tuesday, Jan. 9, in the Terrace Theater of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., with the renowned Irish mezzo-soprano Tara Erraught, who makes her Metropolitan Opera debut this season in New York with two major roles in “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” and “Hänsel und Gretel.” The recital program features lieder and songs by Liszt, Wolf, Quilter and Strauss, as well as a solo cantata by Rossini. Learn more at kennedy-center.org/calendar/event/RSVSC.

Master Teacher in Acting and Professor of Theatre Larry Silverberg signed contracts with Smith & Kraus Theatre Publishers for two new books to be released in 2018. Smith & Kraus is the world’s leading theatre book publishing company. The first book, “Acting Revolution: Larry Silverberg’s Approach for the 21st Century Actor,” explores his new technique of acting. The book will launch in 2018 along with “Acting Revolution Online University,” a new initiative with online certificate training programs for actors and acting teachers. Learn more at actorevolution.com/about.html. Silverberg’s second book, “Larry Silverberg’s Meisner Manual,” is a new book on the Meisner Approach and is a complete, updated version of his four Meisner workbooks. Silverberg also launched and released three online seminars, “Acting Revolution: Meisner Demystified,” which were attended by thousands of actors and acting teachers from around the globe. The fourth webinar in the series is being released in January 2018. For more information and to register for the free session, visit trueactinginstitute.com/free-webinar.

Assistant Professor of Piano Ieva Jokubaviciute, M.M., performed on numerous recital tours with violinist Midori Gotō in Japan, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Germany, Austria and Poland this fall. One highlight included collaborating with Midori, who is a United Nations Messenger of Peace, to visit earthquake-affected sites in Mexico (Morelos state) and bring music to devastated and underprivileged communities. Also, in November, Jokubaviciute presented a six-concert tour of major East Coast cities with Musicians from Marlboro. They shared chamber music with piano and winds by Beethoven and Poulenc at New York City’s Carnegie Hall; in Philadelphia; at the Freer Gallery in Washington, D.C.; at Boston’s The Gardner Museum; and in Brattleboro, Vermont, and Greenwich, Connecticut.

Auxiliary Adjunct Associate Professor of Voice (Soprano) and Co-Founder of the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute Edrie Means Weekly ’84, M.M., recently became a peer reviewer for Plural Publishing and the Journal of Voice. Means Weekly’s peer-reviewed article, “A Vocal Health Survey Among Amateur and Professional Voice Users,” was published in the Journal of Voice. Means Weekly presented a paper, “Voice Educators’ Vocal Health Referral Practices,” at the international Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA) Symposium in Toronto, Ontario. She also presented workshop and masterclass sessions on contemporary commercial music and musical theatre for the North Carolina National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) chapter in early November.

Director of Instrumental Chamber Music and Professor of Viola and Chamber Music Doris Lederer, Diploma, Curtis Institute of Music, conducted a viola masterclass on Nov. 3, for Penn State students. 

Music Director and Assistant Professor of Theatre Rick Edinger, M.A.; Associate Professor of Voice, Coordinator of Musical Theatre Voice, Artistic Director of CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute and Assistant Professor of Voice, Musical Theatre and CCM Matt Edwards ’15, D.M.A., and Assistant Professor of Voice, Musical Theatre and CCM Stephanie Higgins, M.M., are developing a collaborative relationship with the University of Virginia’s Voice Clinic to support and address needs of vocal pathology and injury in musical theatre voice training. This relationship helps ensure the vocal health of students as they explore musical theatre repertoire. Edinger and Higgins, in collaboration with colleagues at peer institutions, contributed to the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s (NAMT) new online resource, The Nuts and Bolts Guide for new work development. They developed content for the university and college section of this guidebook, which was electronically released on Oct. 17. Dr. Edwards was also appointed secretary to the executive board of the Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance.

Director of Musical Theatre and Assistant Professor of Theatre Kevin Covert, B.F.A., joined the adjudication team for the National High School Musical Theatre Awards representing “The Shuler Hensley Awards” (Georgia).

Assistant Professor of Jazz Dance Jacob Brent, M.F.A., was appointed director of communications to the executive board of the Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance.

Christina Halpin Chair in Dance, Chair of Dance Division and Assistant Professor of Dance Maurice Fraga, M.F.A., presented his duet, “Firepoint,” showcasing two members of the Shenandoah Dance Ensemble, at the 2017 Dumbo Dance Festival held in October, at the Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center in Brooklyn, New York. “Firepoint” is a story of two women’s journey together as one deals with something raw and emotional on the inside, and the other seeks to comfort and reassure. Strength is given by offering “tough love.” This duet was also presented at the Fall Dance Concert in October, in Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre. The Dumbo Dance Festival is a four-day event presenting 70 companies from New York, the United States and around the world. Fraga was also selected to teach and engage with other national artists and students at the 2017 Texas Dance Improvisation Festival in September at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas.

Director and Associate Professor of Organ and Church Music and Director of Church Music Institute J. Thomas Mitts, D.M.A., participated in the symposium and masterclass on the music of César Franck hosted by Ste. Clotilde (the church that Franck served) in Paris, France. Also at that time, Dr. Mitts studied French improvisation with Frédéric Blanc, protégé of Madame Duruflé.

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music Production and Recording Technology Dan Shores ’99, B.M., presented at the 142nd Audio Engineering Society (AES) convention in Medellin, Columbia, in August. He also shared three presentations at the AES conference at the Javits Center in New York in October.

“The Lutheran Identity of Josquin’s ‘Missa Pange lingua’: Renaissance of a Renaissance Mass,” an article by Auxiliary Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music History Alanna Ropchock Tierno, Ph.D., was recently published in the journal Early Music History. Dr. Tierno also presented a paper, “To the Glory of Whom?: Josquin’s Missa de Beata Virgine and its Gloria in Catholic and Lutheran Ritual Contexts,” at the national American Musicological Society conference in November, in Rochester, New York.

Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Music Education Jeff Marlatt, Ph.D., presented his session “A Song of Ourselves: Assessing Music, Dance, and Theatre in High Education” at the 2017 Assessment Institute in Indianapolis, Indiana, in October. The institute is the nation’s oldest and largest event focused exclusively on outcomes assessment in higher education. More than 1,000 higher education professionals from around the world participated in the 2017 institute.

Auxiliary Adjunct Associate Professor of Jazz and Trumpet Craig Fraedrich, M.M., along with Trilogy and Friends, celebrated the release of their critically acclaimed CD “All Through the Night,” with an October concert in Winchester to benefit AIDS orphans and other at-risk children in South Africa through 25:40, a nonprofit organization dedicated to giving at-risk children in southern Africa a fighting chance to survive the devastating impacts of poverty, disease and violence. Featuring vocalist Christal Rheams and pianist Tony Nalker, the group Trilogy offers unique jazz perspectives on traditional tunes and other selections often associated with iconic artists such as Marian Anderson, Lena Horne and Billie Holiday. The evening included a silent auction for the additional benefit of the 25:40 mission in South Africa.

Assistant Professor of Cello Julian Schwarz, M.M., performed the world premiere of Lowell Liebermann’s Cello Concerto with the Toledo Symphony and Springfield Symphony (Massachusetts) in October, and made his debut with the Buffalo Philharmonic in November. A pedagogical piece he wrote about the Lalo Cello Concerto appeared in Strings Magazine in November. In early December, he gave masterclasses for the Oklahoma Youth Orchestras as well as performed a concerto with them as part of his ongoing recruitment efforts.

Professor of Saxophone Timothy Roberts, D.M.A., performed John Williams’ “Escapades,” from the movie “Catch Me If You Can,” with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in three concerts at the Morton Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas, and one performance at the Bravo! Vail music festival in Colorado earlier this year. At the beginning of October, he performed a recital at the Selmer Saxophone Recital Hall in Paris and taught two days of masterclasses at the Paris National Conservatoire and the Regional Conservatory in Versailles. 

Featured photo: Guys & Dolls at Shenandoah Conservatory, directed by Carolyn Coulson. Photo Credit: C. King Photography