Scenes from

Alumni Reunion S ome 100 Music, Theatre & Dance alums, family,

friends, and faculty, gathered together on Friday, October 3, 2008 at Pierpont Commons on the

University’s North Campus for the School’s annual reunion dinner and awards festivities. The evening began in Pierpont’s East Room with dinner, introductory remarks by Dean Christopher Kendall, and the chance for alumni to catch up with each other.

After dinner, the group moved next door to the new Stamps Auditorium for the awards festivities where they were welcomed by Alumni Society Chair Michael Mark. Those in attendance were treated to a performance by percussionist and faculty member Joseph Gramley, who warmed the crowd with a solo marimba number based on an African song, a solo for snare drum, and a work by Philip Glass for amplified table. Gramley was joined on stage by Daniel Karas (BM ‘06, MM ‘08) in a spectacular rendition of two works by jazz pianist Chick Corea, Spain and Armando’s Rhumba, on vibes and marimba.

Dean Kendall hosted the awards ceremonies for this year’s recipients, six in all: Hall of Fame winners Jerry Bilik, BM ‘55, MM ‘61 (music ed and composition) and Cynthia Phelps, BM ‘83, MM ‘84 (viola); Paul Boylan Award recipient Carey Bell, BA ‘97 (clarinet and composition); and Emerging Artist Awards in dance, Leyya Tawil, BDA ‘97 (dance), music, Michael Fabiano, BM ‘05 (voice), and theatre, Christopher Jamros, BFA ‘99 (theatre design and production).

For “dessert,” the group had the unexpected pleasure of hearing violist Rebecca Albers, lecturer at SMTD, accompanied by Yi-Fang Huang, in a performance of the first movement of Bilik’s Three Movements for Viola and Piano.

Above: Joe Gramley performs; below: scenes from the dinner

All photos, both pages, by Jude Walton

2008

Left: Returning members of the class of ‘58, l-r: Joan Gassaway Berndt, Fred Ormand, Janet Ruffner Evans, Willis Patterson, and Susan Fries

At the end of the evening, Mr. Bilik hit the piano, with Professor Emeritus George Shirley and Michael Fabiano leading the group in The Victors and The Yellow and Blue.

Earlier in the day, at the business meeting of the Alumni Society Board of Governors, the results of this year’s election were announced. Naomi Oliphant, incumbant, will continue on the board for three more years. Kathleen Conlin, Ph.D. ‘84 in theatre, Samantha Shelton, MFA ‘94 in dance, and Phyllis Kaplan, BM ‘60, MM ‘63, in music literature, and Ph.D. ‘77 in music education, will join the board roster in January 2009.

Later in the afternoon, alumni from SMTD and other schools and colleges on campus in town for Homecoming Weekend gathered in the McIntosh

Theatre at the E.V. Moore Building to join voices in the first ever Alumni Sing. The incomparable Jerry Blackstone, Director of Choral Activities at SMTD, led the group through warm ups and spot rehearsals, all building to a final sing-through of Mozart’s Requiem. The event was so well received we hope to repeat it for next year’s Homecoming activities, scheduled for September 25-27, 2009.

Alumni award winners, counter clockwise from bottom left: Leyya Tawil; Jerry Bilik, after intro-duction by Dean Kendall; clarinetist Carey Bell with Professor Fred Ormand; Chris Jamros; and Michael Fabiano, center front in crowd shot