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Motifs: January 2024
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Kay Emerick Regester (IAC/NMC 58, 61-62; IAA 62-64) remained musical—mostly voice—throughout her adulthood, during which she participated in choirs. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan, then received a Ph.D. in Psychology from Ohio University. She moved to Ventura, California, where she maintained a private practice in forensic psychology. She is now semi-retired after a 40-year career. Regester has also been an avid birder for 30 years; she has practiced birding all over the U.S. and done some overseas birding. Her favorite Michigan bird is the cerulean warbler.
Cate Caplin (IAC/NMC 69-71) directed the music video for “Confide in Me” by Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester.
Eric Schweikert (IAC/NMC 76-80, IAA 80-82) won a national audition to become principal timpanist of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.
Composer Adam R. Levin (NMC 77, UNIV 78) is a member and public relations director of the Long Island Composers Alliance (New York). Levin was appointed the Alliance's president in January.
Kirsten Agresta-Copely (AS 81, 83-84) was recently nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album for her album Aquamarine. Agresta-Copely, who studied piano at Interlochen, is a New York City-based harpist and composer who has made music for heads of state, in blockbuster movie soundtracks, alongside Billboard 100 artists, and on the world’s most recognized stages.
Anthony Rapp (IAC 85-86) and his partner welcomed their second child on Nov. 25, 2023.
Marshall Gilkes (IAC 94, IAA 95-96) released his latest album, LifeSongs, on Jan. 26, 2024. The album features the WDR Big Band of Cologne, Germany.
Dustin Tucker (IAA 94-98, IAC St 09) is currently starring as Francis Henshall in the Good Theater’s (Portland, Maine) production of One Man, Two Guvnors. Tucker also recently appeared in the Golden Globe Award- and Academy Award-nominated films The Holdovers and American Fiction.
Kevin Sanders (IAC 97-98, IAA 97-98) was announced as the new dean of the Baylor University School of Music in December. Sanders will begin his new appointment on July 1, 2024.
Stoll Vaughan (IAA 97-98) will release his fifth album, Dream in Color, on Feb. 23, 2024.
Anne-Marie Oomen (IAA Fac 97-14) was selected as the recipient of the Library of Michigan’s 2023-24 Michigan Author Award. Her sixth essay collection, The Long Fields: Essays, was released by Cornerstone Press in June 2023.
Maya Erskine (IAC 98, 02) stars as Jane Smith in the Prime Video series Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The series, which premieres Feb. 2, reimagines the 2005 spy movie of the same name. Erskine is also writing and starring opposite Nicole Kidman on HBO’s forthcoming adaptation of the novel The Perfect Nanny.
Hannah Ross (IAC 02-04, 07) and Lia Uribe (IAC Fac 18) have been selected to participate in Sphinx LEAD as part of the program’s sixth cohort. Ross and Uribe will spend the next two years engaging in networking and mentorship opportunities and attending leadership retreats at top institutions nationwide.
Jason (Jin Suk) Yu (IAC 04, IAA 04-07) joined the Cleveland Orchestra as assistant principal second violin (the James and Donna Reid Chair) on Jan. 8, 2024. Yu previously served as a member of the New York Philharmonic violin section.
Charlotte Gruman (IAC 06-11, IAA 11-15) was one of ten Chicago-based artists selected as a 2023 3Arts Awardee. As a recipient of the award, Gruman will receive a $30,000 unrestricted grant to support her work in cultural accessibility. Gruman currently works as an accessibility consultant who creates accessible performance protocols and sensory-friendly spaces for museums, theatres, libraries, festivals, and other venues.
Betty Who (IAC 07, IAA 07-10) made her Broadway debut as Persephone in the Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown in September 2023. The Australian pop artist stars opposite Tony Award nominee Phillip Boykin in Anaïs Mitchell’s jazz-infused retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.
Andrew Richardson (IAA 10-13) made his professional stage debut as Sky Masterson in Nicholas Hynter’s production of Guys & Dolls at the Bridge Theatre in London, U.K. Richardson received an Evening Standard Theatre Award nomination for Best Emerging Talent for his portrayal of Masterson. The production, which received the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Musical, runs through Aug. 31, 2024.
Kendra Sobania (IAC 10, 12-14; IAA 13-14) was selected as the recipient of The Walter and Peggy Grauman Fellowship in Classical Music. The fellowship program, which is presented by the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, grants a $15,000 award to advance the career of an exceptionally talented Los Angeles-based piano or string musician as they transition from formal education to the professional music world.
Hadley Robinson (IAA 12-14) appeared in two films released during the holiday season: Anyone But You and The Boys in the Boat. Robinson appeared as Halle in Anyone But You, a romantic comedy based on Shakespeare’s play As You Like It. Fellow alumnus Dermot Mulroney (IAC/NMC 79) also appeared in the Dec. 22 release. George Clooney’s biographical sports drama The Boys in the Boat featured Robinson as Joyce Simdars.
Mary Grace Ellerbee (IAC 14, IAC St 21-23) currently serves as Associate Conductor/Keys 2 for the second national tour of Pretty Woman: The Musical. In 2022-2023, she made her national tour debut as Keys 2 on the sixth North American tour of Cats. Ellerbee also just released an EP titled “Quatre Chansons Cadiennes.” The EP, which features the first Cajun French art song ever written, is part of Ellerbee’s project Gumbo De Musique: The Cajun French Art Song Project.
Former Arts Academy roommates Jillian Michelle Smith (IAC 15, 17; IAA 18-19) and Florence Bannigan (IAA 18-20) imagined a Barbie-themed concert while attending the Academy. In 2022, Smith produced a concert of songs from the Barbie movies at New York City’s Tony Award-honored venue 54 Below. Smith and Bannigan have since presented three encore performances featuring Broadway performers and fellow Interlochen alumni. This June, Smith and Bannigan will bring the show to Crazy Coqs on London’s West End—an enduring testament to the global Interlochen experience.
Samantha Shelton (IAC 18), who performs under the name Lenox Monroe, released her debut single on Oct. 18, 2023. Titled “Growing Up Sucks,” the song offers a light-hearted commentary on the struggles of adolescence.
Chandler Currier (IAC 19, IAA 20-21) was appointed Principal Tuba of the Nashville Symphony in November 2023.
Najee Greenlee (IAC 19, IAA 19-21, IAC St 22) was recently selected to participate in the 2023-24 Performance Today Young Artists in Residence Program. As a selectee, Greenlee will record performances and interviews with host Fred Child for broadcast on Performance Today and will participate in outreach opportunities to elementary and middle school students. He is currently in his second year at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.
Tadao Tomokiyo (IO 20, IAC 21-22) made his Carnegie Hall debut as part of InterHarmony International Music Festival’s showcase A Flower Blooms in Snow. Tomokiyo performed Franz Schubert’s trio “Auf dem Strom” with two other emerging artists during the Jan. 25 performance.
Keira Cromwell (IAC 22) won the grand prize in the 2023 Quad City Symphony Youth Ensembles Concerto Competition. As the winner of the competition, Cromwell will perform Édouard Lalo’s Cello Concerto during the Quad City Symphony Orchestra’s April 28 concert at the Adler Theatre in Davenport, Iowa.
Cellist Sonya Moomaw (IAC 22) won third place in junior division of the 27th Annual Sphinx Competition.
Julia Zhang (IO 22-23) had her original story, “The First Chickens and Ducks in Space,” published in the summer 2023 edition of Magic Dragon. Published quarterly, Magic Dragon encourages creative expression in young children by publishing writing and artwork by artists age 12 and under.
