Motifs: November 2025
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Paul Jackson (IAC St 56-58, IAA St 62) has been enjoying retirement since 1996, after serving at Interlochen as a stage manager for Kresge Auditorium and as an NMC counselor. For 22 years, he has edited publications for a writers association and contributed work to Public Libraries Online. Jackson also assists with research for the members of the Music Library Association and Association for Recorded Sound Collections. For the past 17 years, he has been a timpanist with three bands, two orchestras, and a jazz group; he has also sung in major church choirs. He is now 90 years old.
Meryl Krieger (IAC 80-82, IAA 83-84, IAC St 85) is actively involved with Project 440, a Philadelphia nonprofit that teaches entrepreneurial and leadership skills along with career and life skills to high school students interested in the arts. She joined the board more than six years ago and served as secretary for four years. Through Project 440, students have gotten involved in advocacy and started music education, performing, and community service nonprofits. Krieger also serves as Senior Learning Designer of Arts and Sciences Online Learning for the University of Pennsylvania, where she helped build the online Bachelor of Applied Arts & Sciences program.
Michael Delp (IAA Fac 84-10, IAA St 12-13) authored The Mad Angler Poems, a collection of poetry about trout fishing which now serves as the inspiration for all the estate bourbon and whiskey distilled at the Ironfish Distillery in Thompsonville, Michigan, bottled under the Mad Angler label.
Sam Boase-Miller (IAA-03-05), an award-winning teacher and musician, composed the soundtrack to Good Boy, a paranormal horror film about a dog who can see supernatural forces. Boase-Miller, who studied cello at Arts Academy, composed the film’s score using cello and experimental instruments including the “Celloscillator,” an eight-string spinning zither that he designed and built alongside his stepfather, Conrad Kaufman. Good Boy was released nationwide to theaters on October 3, distributed by Independent Film Company and Shudder. Boase-Miller currently serves as coordinator of the audio technology department at Northwestern Michigan College.
Sarah Szwed (IAC 05, IAA 05-09) completed the defense of her thesis “Bacteriophage Endolysins: Anti-Infectives and Lysidiagnostics for the Post-Antibiotic Era” in pursuit of her Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from Rockefeller University in New York City. She is part of the Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program at Weill Cornell, Rockefeller University, and Memorial Sloan Kettering. A magna cum laude graduate of Barnard College, where she earned honors in biochemistry and dance, Szwed also completed a master’s degree in international biology at Universität Düsseldorf. Her research has focused on Alzheimer’s-related proteins, advancing cancer and regenerative medicine discovery, exploring Huntington’s disease, and psychiatric biomarkers.
Alex Weiss (IAC 06-07, IAC St 09-15), lead singer and songwriter with the band Blaze Francisco, was featured in a recent article in SPIN Magazine. The Los Angeles-based alternative rock band was highlighted as one of 5 Artists from A Diamond Heart Production You Need to Know Right Now.
Eddie Min (IAC 10-12, 14-16; IAA 15-17; IAC St 21) debuted Different Kind of Normal, a new rock opera created by the Liverpool-based musician and performed by his band, Tripwire. The dystopian psychological thriller follows five university students during the COVID-19 pandemic as they grapple with isolation, identity, and mental health issues. The show ran October 24-26 at the Hope Street Theatre in Liverpool, England.
Sophia Janevic (IAC 17) and Molly Long (IAC 17) performed on violins as part of a string quartet with the rapper ian at Lollapalooza this past summer. Long is a graduate student at University of Chicago and Janevic is a staff member there. The two met at Interlochen Arts Camp at age 17, kept in touch over the years, and reconnected at UChicago. The coincidence prompted them to form a string quartet together.
Asha Reynolds-Stewart (IAC 23-25) will portray the “Mouse General” in Hyde Park School of Dance's production of The Nutcracker. Reynolds-Stewart, who portrayed “Clara” in last year’s production, credits Interlochen’s emphasis on classical ballet, hip hop, and character work with helping her develop the versatility needed to play a variety of roles.
