Motifs: April 2026
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Paul T. Jackson (IAC St 56-58, 62; IAA St 62) has been in retirement since 1996. He has played timpani in three concert bands and two orchestras, and has played drums in a jazz group. He has served as editor and writer for a writers’ association for 23 years (consisting of around 22-40 writers) and has worked for two publications, helping over 186 authors publish their works. As of December 2025, he has published his autobiography The Trescott Files: Between the Lines and Notes…
Guillermo Figueroa (IAC/NMC 67-70), Music Director of The Santa Fe Symphony, conducted the ensemble in two glorious works from the 19th century on April 12. The concert featured Beethoven’s 1st Symphony, featuring elegant strings and rich winds. Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote: Fantastic Variations on a Theme of Knightly Character, performed by GRAMMY® award-winning cellist David Finckel, concluded the program. Strauss’ work was inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’ ageless novel. Strauss gave the cello the role of the knight, Don Quixote de la Mancha, providing musical lines that evoke nobility and a rueful grace as the knight travels through the battles and challenges that enrich his fantasy life.
Sho-mei Pelletier (IAC/NMC 70), a third-generation Interlochen alumna, premiered her composition “3 Family Portraits for DWIGHT SHAMBLEY” on March 8 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The composition honors Dwight E. Shambley, a 48-year member of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, virtuoso bassist, educator, and founder of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra Young Strings scholarship program.
F. Hudson Miller (IAA 72-76) has been elected President of the IATSE Local 700, The Motion Picture Editors Guild. With nearly 8000 members, the Guild is the national union for post-production film workers and is one of the largest locals in the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). Prior to his election as president, Miller served as Vice President of the MPEG. He is the first sound editor to be elected president in the Guild’s nearly ninety-year history.
Yolanda Kondonassis (IAA 78-82) has released her new album Terra Infirma, featuring world premiere recordings of works by composer Reena Esmail and performances by Kondonassis and Interlochen Arts Academy student musicians. The album also features violinist Vijay Gupta, conductor Andrew Grams, and choral director Carter Smith. Cultural Attaché selected the album as a “Top Pick,” and NPR featured it as a top new classical album on New Music Friday. The composition and performance process will be explored in a documentary, The Terra Infirma Project.
Jewel (IAA 90-92) released her new single, "Upon Meeting the Goddess of Love", on April 16. The song, which features a stripped-down arrangement reminiscent of "Pieces of You", previews her upcoming album due later this year.
Bridget Kibbey (AS 93) has recently been named associate professor of harp at the Eastman School of Music. She will begin her work at Eastman in fall 2026.
Elena Peteva (IAA 95-97) hosted a solo exhibition, Material and Immaterial, from February 19 - March 20 at Rhode Island College’s Bannister Gallery. Her work explores creation, existence, death and rebirth through the mediums of paper and charcoal. Peteva was profiled by Boston Globe art critic Cate McQuaid in a Substack article; she also gave a YouTube interview with Bannister Gallery.
Obadiah Baker (IAC 98, IAA 99-01) produced and starred in Missy, a new documentary which premiered at the Oscar-qualifying Cleveland International Film Festival on Tuesday, April 14 at Playhouse Square. The film centers on a gifted soprano who loses her father to COVID-19 and processes her grief through turning his poetry into an original orchestral work. Missy features opera soprano Michelle Johnson, tenor Jamon Maple, the Budapest Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Chorale, and music composed by Baker. The film is currently in competition for the Academy Awards' Oscar shortlist.
Genevieve Craig (White) (IAA 99-01), assistant principal at Newcastle High School, was recently named the 2026 Oklahoma Association of Secondary Principals (OASSP) Assistant Principal of the Year. She joined fellow state nominees in Washington, D.C. in April, when the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) announced the National High School Assistant Principal of the Year.
Jacqueline Pollauf (IAC 01) has published Choral Repertoire: Harp Parts, a compilation of complete harp parts from choral music, including works by Brahms, Fauré, and Lili Boulanger, among others. Each part includes harp-specific information and a textual introduction.
Travis Reuter (IAC 03) played classical and electric guitars on the 2022 GRAMMY®-nominated album "…dreaming in lions…" from Arturo O‘Farrill released on Blue Note Records. He released his new album Quintet Music in 2024 featuring Mark Shim, Peter Schlamb, Harish Raghavan, and Tyshawn Sorey. He also received the 2024 Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant funded through the Doris Duke Foundation.
Sarah Pidgeon (IAC 05, 07-12; IAA 12-14) is earning widespread acclaim for her portrayal of “Bessette Kennedy” in the new FX limited series Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, which first aired February 12. Lauded as “the clear breakout of the series” by USA Today and “absolutely enchanting” by Variety, the actress spoke of her Michigan roots and Interlochen experiences in a recent interview with Live with Kelly and Mark. Previously, Pidgeon earned a 2024 Tony nomination as best featured actress in a play for her role in Stereophonic. She has had roles in the Amazon Prime Video series The Wilds, Hulu's Tiny Beautiful Things, and the 2025 film I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Josh Jones (IAC 07, IAC St 15-16), an internationally acclaimed soloist and Principal Percussionist of the Grant Park Orchestra, was recognized with the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the highest honor bestowed by the Sphinx Organization. The award recognizes extraordinary leaders in the classical music field who are transforming lives while addressing the systemic obstacles within Black and Latino communities.
Ryan Greiner (IAC 12, IAA 12-13), 5-12 band director at Mediapolis Community Schools, has been named the inaugural recipient of the Southeast Iowa Bandmasters Association (SEIBA) Outstanding Young Teacher Award.
Artist, producer, and songwriter DEZI (IAA 12-14) released her debut album Lemonade and Cyanide on April 3.
Gavin Leahy (IAC 14-19) portrayed “Damian” in La Mirada Theatre’s regional production of Mean Girls.
Frankie Lehr (IAC 16-17, IAA 18-21) authored and performs the lead role in the play Cookie, a five-act tragicomedy set in a timeless cabaret at The Tank in New York City. The story follows a fading vaudevillian named Cookie Jackson, surviving on applause, performing manic routines for an audience even as their private world fills with pills, paranoia, and a sentient puppet determined to expose a buried crime.
Oren Safdie (IAC Fac 21, 24-25), a critically acclaimed playwright, is presenting his coming-of-age play Gratitude at Soulpepper Theatre’s RBC Finance Studio from July 2 - July 12 as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival. Bringing Safdie’s words to stage will be Maya Ousachi (IAA 21), Hudson Orfe (IAA 18-22), Quinlan Welch (IAC 23, IAA 23-25), and Isaac Silvers (IAC 23-24, IAA 24-25). Safdie directs this remount after successful productions in Montreal and New York.
Ally Waddell (IAA 22-24), a sophomore student at USC, launched FemMtec, an organization creating spaces for women in music production to meet, collaborate and be heard while providing off-campus tours and sponsoring guest artist appearances.
Assyl Rassulkyzy (Assyl Ospan) (IAA 23-25) was selected as a winner of PEN America’s Dau Short Story Prize for her story “Girl Name that Starts With B,” published in The Adroit Journal. Rassulkyzy has been invited to attend the PEN America Literary Awards in NYC, an event that brings together top writers, publishers, editors, and agents for networking.
Muse, the Interlochen-born musical comedy celebrating Shakespeare’s most well-known works with an absurdist twist, will take the stage at the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe from August 7-31 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Muse was written by Hanna Andreassen (Hanna Andréa) (IAA 23-25), with additional writing by Annabelle Benham (IAC 22-23, IAA 23-25), Sabrina Bianco (IAA 23-25), Riley Dungan (IAA 23-25), Rion Emery (IAC 18-19, 21-22; IAA 23-25), Julian McCoy (IAA 23-25), London McKenzie (IAC 21, IAA 22-25), Zoe Niemkiewicz (IAC 19, 21-23; IAA 23-25), Maddie Silva (IAA 23-25), Sophia Stine (IAA 23-24), and Tiernan Tajalli (IAA 23-25) while they were students at Interlochen Arts Academy. Instructor of Musical Theatre (Voice) Lisa Sanderson and Theatre Arts Instructor Laura Mittelstaedt provided vital support for the production, which originally premiered at the Clark Theatre at Lincoln Center on March 8, 2025. On March 13, 2026, the show’s EP was released on popular streaming platforms and a virtual casting call was opened. Plans are in the works for future productions of Muse, with updates forthcoming on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
Freshman Arts Academy student Celine Choe (IAC 25, IAA 25-present) developed and released MusicLogia, an app designed to foster connection and mindful practice for musicians of all kinds. The app offers a structured space for students and teachers to easily share their practice reflections by scanning each other’s QR codes. MusicLogia was launched with the support of Kara Huber, Marjorie Wood Drackett Piano Chair at Interlochen Center for the Arts.