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Motifs: March/April 2019
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David Glass (IAC/NMC 65-66, IAA 65-67, IAC St 69) relocated from Dallas, Texas to Madison, Connecticut in 2016, where he has been active in two local poetry groups—the Madison Poetry Corner group and the Guilford Poets Guild. Since January 2018, he has organized and led a new poetry group in Clinton, Connecticut. At all three groups, David continues to select and share some of his favorite poems and presents his own original poetry in live readings.
Roger Thomas (IAA 67-69) received the Boston Design Week Lifetime Achievement Award. Thomas is Executive Vice President of Design for Wynn Design & Development, and Principal at The Roger Thomas Collection. He is currently directing the design of the Encore Boston Harbor.
Cate Caplin (IAC/NMC 69-71) made her off-Broadway directorial debut at 59E59 Theatre in March with a play called I Carry Your Heart. Cate will also be returning to Interlochen to direct and choreograph the new Golden Age Revue program at Interlochen Arts Camp. Fred Love will collaborate with her as Musical Director.
Neal Goren (IAC/NMC 69-72, IAA 72-73) has founded a new opera company, Catapult Opera, which will make its premiere in 2020 at Montclair State University. Goren’s company was featured in The New York Times.
Rick Mizell (IAC St 71-73, 75-77, IAA St 76-77), Senior Music Producer for Disney Parks Live Entertainment, is retiring after 37 years as a musician, arranger, orchestrator, conductor, and producer. He leaves behind a legacy of work for the Walt Disney World parks, the Disney Cruise Line and the Tokyo parks, having produced shows and recordings in world-renowned studios from Los Angeles to London. He and his wife Bonnie are looking forward to spending more time with grandchildren in Orlando as well as their home in Interlochen.
Sheryl Szady (IAC St 71-84, IAA Fac 75-84) was featured in a Michigan Daily series honoring exemplary female players, coaches, and teams from the University of Michigan.
Mark Cudek (IAC Fac 74-04, ICCA Fac 05-18) is the Chair of the Historical Performance Dept. at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, and has just been promoted to full professor.
Rick Robinson (AS 77-78, IAA 78-81) had two orchestral premieres of his compositions this season. “Elegy” (2009) premiered at Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh on Feb. 13, performed by the Colour of Music Festival Orchestra under the direction of Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra Conductor Dr. Leslie B. Dunner. Another composition “Highland Park, MI: City of Trees” had its orchestral premiere on April 6, performed by the Michigan Philharmonic under the direction of Nan Washburn.
Phill Lewis (IAC/NMC 81-82, IAA 82-84) appeared on an episode of his father's podcast, Fly on the Wall with Ambassador Delano Lewis. In the episode, Phill chats with his father about Interlochen and the role it had in shaping his career as an actor. Phill is best known for his work on the Disney Channel show The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
Internationally recognized pianist David William Phillips (AS 84) will perform in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium on Oct. 19, 2019.
Katherine Factor (IAC/NMC 87-91, IAA 91-93, IAA Fac 09) is a writer, editor, and educator. Her first children's book, “Choose Your Own Adventure SPIES: Mata Hari,” is forthcoming from ChooseCo on May 1, 2019. She can be found at KFactorwrites.com.
Kit Burke-Smith (IAC/NMC 87-93, IAA 92-95) participated in the ACC American Craft Show St. Paul in April as part of their Hip Pop Emerging Artists program, and showed her jewelry at Craft Boston later that same month. Her work can be seen at kitburkesmith.com.
Derek Frank (IAC/NMC 89-90, IAA 90-91) is currently playing bass with Gwen Stefani in her "Just a Girl" Las Vegas Residency. The show, which is at Planet Hollywood's Zappos Theater, started in June 2018 and is scheduled to run through November 2019.
Matthew Odell (IAC 97) released his debut album, “Connections: The Music of Olivier Messiaen and his Students,” with Albany Records in February. He currently teaches at The Juilliard School.
Caitlin Abraham (IAA 97-99) and Barbara Marineau (IAC/NMC 66) are featured in the new Broadway-bound musical, Marie, Dancing Still, which will premiere at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre.
Michael Wayne (IAC 97, IAA 97-99) will assume the position of Professor of Clarinet at Eastman School of Music in the fall of 2019. He has been second clarinet in the Boston Symphony Orchestra for the past eleven years.
Andrew Keenan-Bolger (AS 99, 01-02) and Dan Amboyer (IAC 95-98, IAA 99-02) will appear on the Cape Playhouse’s 93rd season. Keenan-Bolger will star as Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, while Amboyer is cast as Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest.
Harpist Jacqueline Pollauf (IAC 01) has recently published “Exercises in Harmonics” through Oakway Studios, her own publishing company. This is the second of Pollauf’s major pedagogical publications, following “Pedal Exercises for Harp” in 2016. The book works through a series of incremental exercises devoted to harmonics, including playing harmonics in all keys, playing harmonics and natural notes together, and playing multiple harmonics simultaneously. "Exercises in Harmonics" is available at amazon.com and harpinsideout.com.
Michael Alfera (IAA 02-05) is heading into his fifth year as the artistic director of the L.A. Choral Lab, a new-music choral ensemble he founded in 2014. In 2018, he graduated first in his class from Southwestern Law School, and he recently began work and as a Judicial Law Clerk for the Superior Court of Los Angeles.
Rad Pereira (formerly Rebeca Radoszkowicz [IAC 03, IAA 05-08, IAC St 08]) was 2017 Public Artist in Residence of New York City, working with LGBQTAI+ foster youth. In February 2019, they spoke at the 63rd United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. They are currently performing as Electra in The Oresteia at Shakespeare Theatre in DC. Their organization, You Are Here, is heading into its third year of community healing through Art. Rad is based in Brooklyn.
Tove Danovich (IAA 04-08) had an article, “How A Seed Bank Helps Preserve Cherokee Culture Through Traditional Foods,” published by National Public Radio.
Tyler Collins (IAA 05-07) has been living and working in Scotland for the past 12 years. Collins recently produced 11 advertisements, and appeared in the Amazon Prime film Where Do We Go From Here? for which he also wrote the score. He also toured with the musical Sunshine on Leith throughout the United Kingdom.
Olivia Lilley (IAC 05, IAA 06-07) was featured in the Chicago Reader for her work as artistic director of Prop Thtr.
Michael Ferrara (IAC 07-08, IAA 08-09) is the conductor and music director of the New American Songbook Orchestra, an ensemble with the mission of rejuvenating American vocal and instrumental music and promoting true American ideals. The orchestra made its premiere performance on March 17.
