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Motifs: September 2024
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Phyllis Gold Berenson (IAC/NMC 53-56, 58; UNIV 59), Director of Ukraine Research, was recently honored as Volunteer of the Year by JewishGen.org. The Ukraine records project has transcribed 2.8 million genealogical records in the past two years. As Director, she works to further the organization's mission to acquire, preserve, transcribe, and provide cost-free access to Jewish genealogical records.
Laurie Anderson (IAC/NMC 62-63) released her latest album, Amelia, on Aug. 30, 2024. The hybrid genre album traces American pilot Amelia Earhart’s doomed final flight.
William “Bill” Bing (IAC/NMC 63, IAA 63-65) retired from playing trumpet professionally a few years ago. His career in Los Angeles included positions with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra. Bing also taught trumpet at several universities and served as Director of Bands at California Institute of Technology.
Duane Cadotte (AS 64) is a Vietnam veteran and Bronze Star recipient, having served in the Army from 1971-1974. Cadotte graduated from Oral Roberts University in 1980 as a music minor, and has continued to play his euphonium since 1974 in his church orchestra. He has also performed with the Annie Moses Band at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts.
Sheryl Szady (IAC St 71-79; IAA St 75-76; IAA Fac 76-82, 83-84; IAC Fac 80-84) was honored as one of advertising agency 6’s 100 Under 100 Exceptional Women in recognition of her advocacy for women in sports at the University of Michigan.
Vincent Covello (AS 85) released his latest album, Torchlights, on Aug. 2, 2024.
Garth Greenwell (IAA 94-96) released his third novel, Small Rain, through Farrar, Straus and Giroux on Sept. 3, 2024. The book was named one of TIME’s 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024; Greenwell was also recently profiled in Vulture ahead of the book’s release.
Jonathan Lombardo (IAC 95; IAA 96-00; IAC Fac 14-19, 21-24; IAA Fac 16) was recently appointed Lecturer of Music (Trombone) at State University of New York at Fredonia. Lombardo previously held the position in an interim capacity during the 2023-24 academic year. He has served as the principal trombonist of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra since 2005.
Anne-Marie Oomen (IAA Fac 97-14) received the Michigan Author Award from the Library of Michigan during an event on Sept. 7, 2024. Oomen has penned several Michigan Notable Book selections, including Pulling Down the Barn, House of Fields, The Lake Michigan Mermaid, ELEMENTAL: A Collection of Michigan Nonfiction, and As Long as I Know You: The Mom Book. Her most recent work, The Long Fields: Essays of Comfort and Home, was released in June 2023.
Los Angeles-based jazz trumpeter, composer, and producer Dan Rosenboom (IAC 99, IAA 99-00) and his Polarity Quintet performed at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles on Aug. 15. A full multi-camera concert film is available on the museum’s Hammer Channel website. Rosenboom is known as a prolific member of the Los Angeles creative music scene, having released more than 25 albums of original music as a solo artist and bandleader, and has supported over 60 artists across over 100 releases on his label, Orenda Records.
Michael Arden (IAC 99, IAA 99-01, IAC St 01) will be honored with a Muse Award during Prospect Musicals’ 25th Anniversary Gala on Sept. 30, 2024. The event will be co-hosted by acclaimed theatre artists Jay Armstrong Johnson and Jaygee Macapugay.
Farkhad Khudyev (IAC 01, IAA 01-04, IAC St 03-05) is one of five finalists for the position of music director with the Eugene Symphony. As part of the selection process, Khudyev will conduct the symphony in its Nov. 21 performance, which will feature Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.
Kara Huber (IAA 04-06, IAC St 06, IAC Fac 22-24, IAA Fac 22-) released an album of the complete solo piano works of Joan Tower. The recording presents the iconic American composer in a uniquely intimate setting and was recorded on campus by Michael Culler and produced by Mark Travis.
Kelly Campbell (IAA 05-06) is the producer of The Wake, a new short film from John Patrick Shanley starring Nicole Byer, PJ Adzima, and Dave Coleman. The film will premiere at the SoHo Film Festival on Tuesday, Sept. 17. Campbell would like to invite all Interlochen alumni to attend the premiere, as well as the pre-performance networking hour and post-show Q&A with Shanley.
Torsten Johnson (IAA 05-08, IAC St 13) is currently touring with the Tony Award-winning play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The show will run at the James M. Nederlander Theatre in Chicago through February before moving on to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
Emily Koch (IAC 06-07, IAA 07-09) will appear as Debra in the national tour of Kimberly Akimbo, which kicked off this month.
Dr. Sergio Muñoz Leiva (IAC 09, IAA 09-10) was appointed as Director of Chamber Music at College of the Holy Cross starting Fall 2024; he had served in the same role in an interim capacity since Fall 2022. Also since Fall 2022, Muñoz Leiva has served as Music Theory Instructor at Project STEP, a nonprofit organization that provides young string players from historically underrepresented groups in classical music with comprehensive music instruction. Muñoz Leiva performs as a freelancer on both modern and baroque viola with orchestral and chamber ensembles in Boston and New England.
Marike de Koker (IAA 14-17) received her master’s degree in Vocal Performance and Impact Entrepreneurship from The New School, where she was awarded the Alsop Entrepreneurship Award. On Sept. 15, de Koker will partner with the Àkójọpọ̀ Music Foundation to launch a nonprofit e-commerce marketplace for Pan-African art music. The site, akojopo.com, will offer digital sheet music and interpretive resources; lessons and workshops; a Pan-African art music blog; and community directories. Through the site, de Koker hopes to build a digital platform that will put Pan-African music in the spotlight.
Bowen Ha (IAA 17-19) will join the San Francisco Symphony as fourth chair bass this September. Ha’s first program with the symphony, “Music from Studio Ghibli,” runs Sept. 5-8.
Jonah Cohen (IAC 19, IAA 20-22) received a 2024 Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award in recognition of his leadership of the Nowbeat Project. The Nowbeat Project, which Cohen founded while at Interlochen, offers young composers from around the world opportunities for mentorship, networking, and performance through virtual showcase concerts on YouTube. Since the project launched, the project has recorded 180 minutes of new music by student composers from 17 U.S. states and five countries.
Oren Safdie (IAA Fac 21-22, IAA Parent) will release his film The Man Who Saved the Internet with a Sunflower next year. The drama recently won the Best of Show at IndieFest and the Audience Best Feature at LA's Dances with Films Festival. Another of Safdie’s films, Lunch Hour, is currently in production. Safdie’s play Survival of the Unfit made its North American premiere at the Great Barrington Public Theatre this summer; it will move to New York City next year. His one-man show Beyond Ken Dryden was nominated for Best Production at the St. Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival, and will open in Toronto next May.
