Motifs: July/August 2019

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Larry Dittmar (IAC St 57-66, 75-94, 96-05) started a Western-style concert band in Meru, Kenya ten years ago. Since then, the band has grown into a fine performing ensemble at a secondary school. These band students have achieved higher scores on annual national academic tests, prompting the Kenyan government to add band, orchestra and choir to its school curriculum. In January, Dittmar will return to Kenya to work with the first class of Kenyans to be trained to teach these music classes at Meru University.

Larry Starr (IAC/NMC 59-65) retired from the University of Pennsylvania in 2013. He is now director of two doctoral degrees at Thomas Jefferson University; one in Strategic Leadership and the other in Complex Systems Leadership.

Linda Kaplan (IAC/NMC 63, 65-67, 69) and Rachel Kaplan (IAC 96-01) appeared on Dr. Oz on July 5, the fifth-biggest hungover day in America. The Kaplans spoke about their invention, H-PROOF, which helps prevent and mitigate hangovers. H-PROOF is the world's first doctor-developed chewable tablet that alleviates hangover symptoms—even without water. H-PROOF has also been featured by Yahoo!Finance and was the official hangover prevention partner for iHeart Media's Jingle Ball in New York City this December.

Michael Udow (IAC/NMC 63-66, IAA 65-67) published a guide to teaching percussion, “Percussion Pedagogy,” with Oxford University Press in July 2019. The book has been praised as "Profound, intellectual, insightful, and appropriate for a giant step into the pathways of superior teaching” by John H. Beck of the Eastman School of Music and “the definitive percussion pedagogy text” by Thomas Siwe of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

Christina Britton Conroy (Chris Czukor - IAC/NMC 66-67, 69, IAA 67-70, IAC St 70) was invited to lead an author’s panel on historical fiction at New York City’s Bryant Park on June 12, 2019. The invitation was extended as a result of the success of her four-book historical fiction series “Not From the Stars,” which was published in the United Kingdom.

Roselee Blooston (IAC/NMC 69, IAA 69-70) will publish her debut novel, “Trial By Family,” with Apprentice House Press, Loyola University MD, in October. Her first book, “Dying in Dubai: A Memoir of Marriage, Mourning, and the Middle East,” was published in 2016 and was a Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Winner.

Derek Weller (AS 79, IAC/NMC 80, IAA 80-82, UNIV 82, IAA Fac 88-19, IAC Fac 14-19) and five fellow Interlochen alumni—Kevin Neuhoff (IAA 72-73), Allen Whear (IAC/NMC 70-73, IAA 72-75, IAC St 74-76, IAC Fac 94), Eva Lymenstull (IAC 99-03, IAA 01-05), Tatiana Daubek (IAA 99-01), and Jordan Frazier (IAA 87-89)—played in the Carmel Bach Festival.

Myron Nettinga (IAA 84-85) is currently mixing the next Dreamworks Animation feature, Abominable, which is set for release in September.

Dr. William McClintock (AS 85, IAA 85-87) moderated a discussion between James Stephenson (IAC/NMC 79-84, 86, IAA 83-86, IAC Fac 04, 08) and Dr. Ben Halpern of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at the premiere of "Cocoon," a chamber music piece written in response to Stephenson's one-week residency with scientists at NCEAS.

Acquanetta Moore (IAA 89-90) published her first book of poetry, “Quiet Storm,” a collection of poems written over the past 20 years. It’s available on Amazon. Moore started writing at Interlochen Arts Academy in Mrs. Stevens English class.

Jennifer Arnold (IAC/NMC 89-91, 93-97) has been appointed the Director of Artistic Planning for Virginia’s Richmond Symphony.

Alice K. Dade (IAA 95-98), Associate Professor of Flute at the University of Missouri School of Music, will appear as a recurring guest star in Now Hear This, the first television series about classical music to air on American primetime TV since 1967. Her husband, conductor and violinist Scott Yoo, is the host of the show. The first season of Now Hear This will begin airing nationally in September of 2019 on PBS.