Motifs: February 2022
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Stephanie Sheppard (IAA 62-65) was included in the winter show at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Massachusetts. Her photograph, "Emerging Calla Lily," was selected for inclusion in the museum's permanent collection.
David Glass (IAC/NMC 65-66, IAA 65-67, IAC St 69) is now in his 50th year of active volunteer involvement in organizations related to the study of The Urantia Book. His current activities include: Member, Urantia Society of Greater New York; Leadership Associate, Urantia Book Service Corps of New England; Area Coordinator, The Urantia Book Fellowship; online study group facilitator--Urantia Book Study Group for New Readers.
Michael Schwartz (IAC/NMC 70-73, 75-77) recently retired from the national accounting firm RSM US LLP and formed Continental Lease Advisors LLC, a boutique real estate consulting firm based in suburban Chicago. Michael also remains active musically as the drummer for The Sofa Kings, a local Chicago rock band which regularly plays at area bars and summer festivals.
St. Brigit Press put out a special edition of Holly Wren Spaulding's (IAC/NMC 83, IAA 91-92, IAC Fac 00-01) poetry chapbook, Fire, in summer 2021, with handmade paper and letterpress cover. In January 2022, Alice Greene & Co. published her latest poetry collection, Between Us. Spaulding is the founder and artistic director of Poetry Forge, based in Maine.
Kristin Caskey (IAC/NMC 85-86) is a producer on the Broadway revival of Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite, which will begin previews on Feb. 25 and open on March 28. The production stars real-life spouses Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick.
Ranardo-Domeico Grays (AS 88, IAC 89, IAA 89-90, IAC St 91), Founder/Artistic Director of VISIONS Contemporary Ballet, presented “In Truth and In Light,” a full-length dance concert of choreographic works by Grays, on Dec. 3-4, 2021 at The Flea Theater in New York City. The company was also presented by Take Root at Green Space in Long Island City on Jan. 21-22, 2022.
Garth Greenwell’s (IAA 94-96) debut novel What Belongs to You is being adapted into an opera for tenor and chamber orchestra by composer/librettist David T. Little. The work-in-progress was staged at Washington University in St. Louis on Feb. 11 with Grammy Award-winning tenor Karim Sulayman as the soloist. Alarm Will Sound—which features alumni Stefan Freund (IAC 92) and John Orfe (IAC 88-93) and former faculty member Michael Harley (IAC St 95, IAC Fac 15)—performed the score.
César Alvarez (IAA 97-99) won the Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre, which is awarded annually by the Kleban Foundation to honor the most promising musical theatre lyricist. Alvarez, who is currently an assistant professor of music at Dartmouth College, will receive a $100,000 cash prize as the recipient of the award.
Anna Kotyza (IAC 12, IAA 13-15) was recently hired as an assistant producer at Dreamworks Animation.
Kate Hamann (IAA 16-18) was featured in the Young Composers Showcase at the Jazz Education Network Conference in Dallas, Texas in January 2022. Hamann’s original composition “Her Colors”—which features Hamann on trumpet and vocals—was included in the category for Instrumental Group with Solo Vocal. She is currently a senior at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.
James Bernard (IO 20-21, IAC 21) was selected as a semifinalist for the American Prize in Composition for his Piano Sonata No. 7 and his chamber music work, “Stratton Mountain Descent.” Bernard is a student at Juilliard Pre-College, where he studies composition with Dr. Manuel Sosa and violin with Khullip Jeung.
