Motifs: June 2020

June 3, 2020

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Evy Sussman (IAC/NMC 53-54, 57, IAC St 74-78) had her life changed by Interlochen three times. First, as a junior camper, it "gave" her the cello through the Music Talent Exploration class; she still plays to this day. Later, as a high school student, Sussman met her first husband. In the 1970s, Sussman joined the Camp staff as a craft instructor, working under the guidance of “Tex” Fuchs—who had taught her during her camper days. As a result of her work, Sussman discovered her passion for crafting, working at a craft business in Northport and serving for 25 years as Craft Supervisor at Shady Trails Camp. Interlochen has enriched her life beyond measure.

Kenneth Fischer (IAC/NMC 55, 57-58, 60-62, IAC St 66) is the co-author of the forthcoming book “Everybody In, Nobody Out: Inspiring Community at Michigan’s University Musical Society.” Interlochen Center for the Arts president Trey Devey read an advance copy of the book in early February, and shared this review: “Ken Fischer is the standard-bearer of inclusive leadership. His story is uplifting and offers powerful lessons for us all. I hope the next generation of leaders both inside and outside the arts take inspiration from his remarkable journey.” The book is available for pre-order from University of Michigan Press Great Lakes and will be released on Sept. 1, 2020.

Deborah K. Shepherd (IAA 62-64 - née Kronenberg) was selected as a winner of the Center for Interfaith Relations’ 2020 Sacred Essay Contest. Her award-winning essay, a COVID-19 themed piece titled “Snow Day, Maine, 2020,” is published on the Center’s website. Her first novel will be published in April 2021. She lives in Maine with her husband, Henry Wyatt (IAC/NMC 62, IAA 62-65), an Interlochen Arts Academy classmate with whom she reconnected after the Academy’s Charter Class 25th Reunion.

Cynthia Glovinsky (IAA 64-66, IAC/NMC 64-65, Univ 66) is pleased to announce that her Interlochen memoir, “Music, Lakes, and Blue Corduroy,” will be published by Thunder Bay Press. This book covers the three summers and two winters when Glovinsky was a camper in the High School Girls and University Women divisions and Arts Academy student. Her purpose in writing the book was to give readers an inside view of the Interlochen experience during the years when the Academy was new, Dr. Maddy was still alive, and Thor Johnson was the orchestra conductor. The book is narrated by a succession of her past selves and reads more like a novel than a history. The book should be in bookstores by early spring of 2021. She has pledged to give a significant portion of any royalties she makes from it to the Interlochen scholarship fund.

Jacqueline Cliff-Kim (IAA 71-74, IAC St 74) retired from Abbott Laboratories (Diagnostic Division/Abbott Molecular Division) in October 2017 after a successful career in product development, technical product support, research and development, quality auditing, and medical writing. Medical devices and assays in the field of transfusion diagnostics (Hepatitis, HIV, Chagas, HTLV) and various molecular assays were her primary focus.

Danielle Allen (IAC/NMC 87) was selected as the recipient of the Library of Congress’ 2020 John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity. Allen will collaborate with the Library on an initiative to engage schools, universities, political leaders, and the American public in efforts to promote civic engagement, which she calls “our common purpose.”

Tom Kitt (IAC 90) won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations for his score to the musical Jagged Little Pill.

Jennifer Herrold’s (IAA 93-95, IAC St 06) paintings create an unnatural narrative or an accumulation of short occurrences beyond a decorative surface. They capture when a bird or airplane was in the sky or when a curler fell at the salon—caught in midair. If these objects were animated, the birds would fly by, the plane would continue on to its destination, the curler would fall, but the rest of the painting would remain relatively still. People, animals and objects appear by some dictation of timing. As a visual artist, she dictates the migration of the birds, the flight pattern of the airplane, the time of day—when they appeared within the picture frame. She does not stray from the form we know represents a bird, an airplane, an ordinary object, but often their treatment and tension together tells a story that does not exist in nature.

Our Lady J (IAA 94-96) is a writer and producer on the FX series Pose. The show’s second season is now available to stream on Netflix.

Sydney James Harcourt (AS 94, 97, IAA 94-97) will reprise his role in the Broadway hit Hamilton when it comes to Disney+ this July. The musical is scheduled to be released on the streaming platform on July 3.

Ottessa Moshfegh (IAC 96-97) will release her new novel, “Death in Her Hands,” through Penguin Press on June 23. The novel is available for pre-order on Amazon.

Santino Fontana (IAC 99) recorded the audiobook narration for Suzanne Collins’ new Hunger Games prequel, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.”

John Early (AS 99-01) stars in the third season of Search Party, which returns to HBO Max on June 25. Early also plays Russell Schnabble, a recurring character on At Home with Amy Sedaris.

Mary Holland (IAA 01-03) voices the droid AD-3 on the new Star Wars Kids YouTube series Jedi Temple Challenge.

Kit Williamson (IAA 02-04) is adapting Lev Rosen’s new young adult novel, “Camp,” into a feature-length film for HBO Max. The book was released on May 26, 2020.

Charlie Carver (IAA 04-07) received the Gamechanger Award from the LGBTQ+ educational charity GLSEN. Carver will appear in the Netflix adaptation of the play The Boys in the Band, which is due to be released later in 2020. He has also joined the cast of the forthcoming feature film, The Batman.

Will (IAC 06) and Aaron Eisenberg (IAC 05) released their debut feature, Good Boy, on Hulu on June 12.

Genevieve Welch (IAC 15) received the 2020 Emerging Conductor scholarship from the Gena Branscombe Project. Michaela Gleason (IAC 12, IAA 12-14) was the runner-up for the award.

Shane Bagwell (IAA 15-17) and John Stanton (IAA 10-11) worked on the indie film The Wretched, which spent six weeks as the U.S.’s number-one movie. Bagwell served as the film’s second assistant camera.

Pedro Resendez’s (IAC 17-19, IAA 18-19) practice is a reaction to the social problem that he believes defines the Mexican race: failed Mestizaje. He believes Mexicans are still fighting to overcome this idea of separation through class and race and are still soaked in the residue of the stories of conquest and success. Resendez’s work portrays his roots, his dreams, and his beliefs, giving the audience a gateway into his traditions and story while condemning the social problems of his everyday environment. He is creating a personal visual archive of what it means to be part of a culture that relies on the union of races to thrive, and hopes that his work inspires viewers to change their beliefs and behavior about class, breaking the barrier that separates us from others. His work can be viewed on his website.