Curtis Overtones Fall 2017_BluelineChanges_2

NOTATIONS
NOTATIONS
ALUMNI
1950s
Last November JAMES VAIL
(Organ ’51) conducted his new choral
group, the Laudamus Te Singers,
in Fauré’s Requiem at St. Bede’s
Church in Mar Vista, Calif. In June
at Pacific Palisades Presbyterian
Church, he led the same group in
Mendelssohn’s Elijah from the
organ console—something he first
did in 1949 as assistant to his Curtis
teacher, Alexander McCurdy, at First
Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia.
FRANCES STEINER (Cello ’56) will
lead the Chamber Orchestra of the
South Bay in Palos Verdes, Calif.
in an October concert featuring
DMITRI LEVKOVICH (Composition ’99)
performing the Saint-Säens Piano
Concerto No. 2 and in a November
performance featuring STEPHEN
WAARTS (Violin ’16) in Prokofiev’s
Violin Concerto No. 2.
JOSÉ SEREBRIER
(Composition
’58) conducted
the RTE National
Orchestra of
Ireland on a tour
of China in July.
In October, he
José Serebrier tours with the
English Chamber
Orchestra in Mexico. Also this fall,
he will conduct the Russian National
Orchestra before leading the National
Symphony of Costa Rica on tour to
China in December and January.
Alumni may share news of
recent professional activities and
personal milestones by e-mail
to alumnirelations@curtis.edu
or by post to the Office of
Alumni and Parent Relations,
Curtis Institute of Music, 1726
Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19103.
Notes are edited for length,
clarity, and frequency.
1960s
In April the American Guild of
Organists held their fourteenth
annual Endowment Fund Distinguished
Artist Award Recital and Gala Benefit
in honor of JOAN LIPPINCOTT (Organ
’60) at the Princeton University
Chapel, where she served as
organist for seven years following
her 37-year tenure on the faculty
of Westminster Choir College.
Ken Cowan, Cherry Rhodes, and
Alan Morrison
CHERRY RHODES (Organ ’64) recently
performed with ALAN MORRISON
(Organ ’91, Accompanying ’93)
and KEN COWAN (Organ ’97) for
the 25th anniversary of the organ
in Spivey Hall at Clayton State
University (Ga.), where Alan is
currently organist in residence.
In August
LAURIE
SOKOLOFF
(Flute ’66)
received the
National Flute
Laurie Sokoloff Association’s
Lifetime Achievement
Award at the National Flute
Association Convention in Minneapolis.
A. DOUGLAS WAUCHOPE’s (Trombone
’66) Quintet for Piano and Brass was
premiered on May 16 at Old South
Union Church in Weymouth, Mass., by
its dedicatee, Louis Stewart, and four
members of the Atlantic Symphony.
1970s
In June Curtis alumni OSCEOLA DAVIS
(Opera ’72), SHEILA HARRIS JACKSON
(Voice ’83), GREGORY HOPKINS (Voice
’84), DAVID LOFTON (Accompanying
’84), and KEVIN SHORT (Opera ’86)
were among the performers at a
centenary tribute to SYLVIA OLDEN
LEE, who served on Curtis’s Vocal
Studies faculty from 1970 to 1990.
Ms. Lee, who died in 2004, would
have been 100 years old on June 29,
the date of the performance at
Carnegie Hall.
THOMAS McANINCH (Horn ’78)
was diagnosed with ALS last spring.
In February CHIN KIM (Violin ’79) was
a substitute soloist in Tchaikovsky’s
Violin Concerto with the Ureuk Symphony
Orchestra in Merkin Concert
Hall, appearing on one day’s notice.
Chin spent the summer at the Green
Mountain Chamber Music Festival
and the Summit Music Festival.
MARK LUDWIG (Viola ’79, Viola ’80),
director of the Terezin Music
Foundation and a Fulbright scholar
in the Czech Republic, led a tour
group in Prague in May as part
of a collaborative relationship
with the Prague Spring Festival.
1980s
IRA LEVIN (Piano ’82, Conducting ’85)
made his New York City Opera debut
in March, conducting Respighi’s
La campana sommersa. He conducted
Wagner’s complete Ring in Sofia and
Moscow over the summer. Ira has
been named principal conductor
of the Sofia Opera in Bulgaria.
Paavo Järvi
PAAVO JÄRVI
(Conducting ’88)
was appointed
chief conductor
and music
director of the
Tonhalle-Orchester
Zürich for
a five-year term
beginning in the
2019–20 season. He made his debut
at Teatro alla Scala in May, conducting
Don Giovanni.
MIERA KIM (Violin ’89) and her
husband, cellist Carey Bostian, are
in their second season as directors
of Red Cedar Chamber Music, based
in Iowa. Red Cedar’s rural outreach
concerts have been funded by the
NEA for 13 consecutive seasons.
1990s
After concluding
his tenure as
music director
of the New York
Philharmonic
in June,
ALAN GILBERT
(Conducting ’92)
was announced
Alan Gilbert
as chief conductor
of Hamburg’s NDR Elbphilharmonie
Orchestra, beginning in Summer 2019.
He previously served as the ensemble’s
principal guest conductor from 2004
to 2015.
In June DANIEL McDOUGALL
(Double Bass ’93) was appointed
interim associate dean of student
and academic affairs at Curtis.
In May ELIZABETH OSTLING (Flute
’94) graduated summa cum laude
from Gordon-Conwell Theological
Seminary with a master’s degree
in spiritual formation. Her studies
centered on Christian piety in various
eras of church history, lived out by
individuals such as the Puritan
missionary Jonathan Edwards and
the composers Hildegard of Bingen
and Olivier Messiaen.
HILARY HAHN (Violin ’99) will
perform the Serenade for Violin,
Strings, and Harp by LEONARD
BERNSTEIN (Conducting ’41) with
the Philadelphia Orchestra under
YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUIN in December,
as part of the orchestra’s celebration
of the Bernstein centenary.
32 OVERTONES FALL 2017