Oakland University’s Department of Music, Theatre and Dance will present the 12th annual MaTilDa Awards banquet to honor outstanding contributions from MTD students, alumni and community partners.
This red carpet event will take place at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 11 at the Royal Park Hotel in downtown Rochester. The evening includes special performances, dinner, entertainment and more. The public is welcome.
Tickets are $20 for students and $40 for all others. To purchase tickets, click here or call the MTD office at (248) 370-2030. Sponsorship opportunities are available.
For more information on Oakland University’s music, theatre and dance programs and performances, visit the MTD website at oakland.edu/mtd or Facebook page.
The 2011 honorees are:
• Domonique Barnes
Outstanding Student in Music Education
At OU, she performed in Wind Symphony, Brass Ensemble, Brass Band, Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble, Pep Band, and University Chorus. In 2009, she won MENC's Professional Achievement Award and in 2010 she won the MMEA’s Summer Workshop Scholarship. Very active in the MTD community, Barnes served on the board of CMENC Chapter 95 from 2007 - 2010. She helped plan social and educational events including the MTD Bonfire and was published in Michigan Music Education Journal. Barnes graduated from OU with a Bachelor's of Music degree in Instrumental/General Music Education in December 2010, and currently teaches general music for South Lyon Community schools as a long-term guest teacher.
• Kryssy Becker
Outstanding Student Service Award -Theatre
While at OU, she appeared in "Dear Edwina," "Little Women," "When the Lights Go Down," "Follies," "Brenda Bly: Teen Detective," "After the Fall," "Eclipsed," "Twelfth Night," and "Trojan Women," as well as many productions with the Avondale Theatre Company. She also directed several theatrical fundraisers to raise money for the Actors 'n' Techies student organization, including the original rock musicals "When the Lights Go Down" and "Young Man's Blues," as well as a Halloween event, "Varner Haunted Tours." She expects to graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre in April 2011 and will start work for Walt Disney World in June 2011.
• Jeffery Block
Gittlen Theatre Award
Block worked on the design and technical production of many shows at OU, including "Percussion Pops," "Oakland Dance Theatre," "After the Fall," "Young Man's Blues," "Dear Edwina," "Musical Theatre Workshop," "Learned Ladies of Park Avenue," "Violet," "Songs For a New World," "The Little Prince," "Follies," "Bloody Bess," "Trojan Women," "Sons of Ulster," "Marching Towards the Somme," "And The World Goes 'Round," and "Five Women Wearing the Same Dress," and more productions in the community. He is working on his BFA in Theatre, Design and Technology.
• Alex Carter
Distinguished Musicianship Award
Carter has been principal trumpet in Oakland's Wind Symphony since 2007, lead trumpet in Jazz Band since 2008, and an Oakland Symphony Orchestra member since 2007. He was a Concerto Competition winner in 2010 and Soprano Cornet soloist with the Oakland University Brass Band. His other affiliations include principal trumpet with Blue Lake International Youth Orchestra since 2007 and most recently, principal trumpet/mentor with the Detroit Civic Orchestra. Alex is a trumpet performance major and expects to graduate in 2011.
• Natalie Christina Cochran
Outstanding Student in Voice Performance
Cochran holds a B.M. in voice from the University of Michigan, which she completed in the spring of 2008. Her studies included two summers in Italy singing with opera programs, studying language and music. In January 2010, she won the David Daniels Young Artist Award and performed live with the Pontiac-Oakland Symphony. In the summer of 2010, she spent two months in northern Michigan singing with the Bay View Music Festival where she performed in concerts, masterclasses, and "The Magic Flute." She has participated in master classes with coaches and teachers such as: Donna Brunsma, George Shirley, Timothy Noble, and Timothy Cheek. Cochran is currently in the final year of her master's program in voice at OU.
• Matthew Eastwood
Outstanding Performance in Instrumental Performance
Eastwood plays with the Oakland University Wind Symphony, Oakland University Brass Band, Motor City Brass Band, and has competed in the Oakland Brass Band MTNA Solo Competition. He majors in Euphonium Performance and expects to graduate in 2012.
• Domonique D. Evans
Gittlen Achievement Award in Musical Theatre
At OU, Evans has appeared in "Bells Are Ringing," "Company," "Violet," "Nightmare on Elm Street," "Bloody Bess," "Brenda Bly: Teen Detective," "Drat! The Cat!," and "Steel Pier." He expects to graduate with a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre in April 2011 and will spend the summer working at Weathervane Playhouse.
• Man Ling Kwok
Joyce Adelson Piano Ensemble Award
Jennifer Scott Memorial Award
Kwok has studied at the Hong Kong Institute of Education and Bowling Green State University. At OU, she is a postgraduate student of Piano Pedagogy.
• Kimberly Marie Maes
Joyce Adelson Piano Ensemble Award
Maes majored in piano performance at OU. She works part-time at Beaumont Hospital of Troy, where she has performed at last minute weddings in the chapel, memorial services for employees who have passed away, fund-raising events, and at the Silent Witness Ceremony, which recognizes the victims of domestic violence. She also plays piano at Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church in Troy and for weddings and funerals upon request. She will complete her master's in piano pedagogy in April 2011 and plans to teach piano.
• Kristen Manor
Maggie Allessee Distinguished Dance Student Award
While at OU, Manor danced with Eisenhower Dance Ensemble since 2009, Patterson Rhythm Pace since 2011, Oakland Repertory Dance Company since 2008, and Oakland Dance Theater since 2007. Manor has trained with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Donald McKayle, and Randy Duncan, and has performed works by Michael Foley, Laurie Eisenhower, Gregory Patterson, Ali Woerner, and Thayer Jonutz. Manor expects to graduate in April 2011 and hopes to find a job with a professional company.
• David Meese
Gittlen Achievement Award in Acting
While at OU, Meese appeared in "After the Fall," "The Good Doctor," "Violet," and "Sons of Ulster." He will perform next in the 2011 Senior Showcase in New York City in May and expects to graduate in April 2011 with a BFA in acting.
• Missy Moffitt
Outstanding Student in Dance
Moffitt began training at the age of three years old and has a background in jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, modern, hip-hop, and contemporary. She has won numerous awards in dance and was a member of Karen's School Of Dance, Dance Sations for six years. Moffitt has been performing as a member of Oakland Dance Theater for four years, has attended many dance conventions, and has worked with a variety of choreographers from around the world. She expects to complete her B.A. in dance in 2011 and plans to open a dance studio.
• Gina Smothers
Gittlen Achievement Award in Theatre Design and Technology
Smothers is a sophomore, majoring in Theatre Design and Technology, and she has served as a props designer, as backstage crew for "Bells Are Ringing," "Les Miserables," "Grease," and as scenic artist for "After the Fall." She expects to graduate with a B.F.A. in 2013.
• Emily Sorensen
Pat and Mercedes Nicosia Meadow Brook Estate Award
While at OU, Sorenson has appeared in "After The Fall," "Trojan Women," "Halloween Live!," "Girls Gone Rock Wild," "The Theatre Will Rock," and "Follies." She has also performed in many productions in the community.
• Quincy Stewart III
Outstanding Student in Jazz
Stewart began playing trumpet in Elementary School and later learned piano, guitar, and bass by playing in neighborhood bands. In church, he learned the organ and how to sing. He formed and wrote for a jazz group, The Ujima Jazz Ensemble, won the 1983 Eastern Michigan University Jazz Competition and played the Montreux International Jazz Festival (Switzerland) the following year. After eleven years playing throughout the nation, Stewart produced his first album, Pathological, and started school bands, including those at Detroit Academy for Arts and Sciences and Pontiac Academy for Excellence. Stewart played in Symphonic Band at OU and the Jazz Band. He will student teach in the fall and plans to start a performing arts school in Pontiac and keep playing, performing and writing.
• Meghan Tappen
Outstanding Student in Music Education
Tappen plays oboe and piano and has experience with both orchestral and band performances, including engagements with the Warren Symphony Orchestra, Oakland University Wind Symphony, Oakland University Chamber Ensemble, Oakland University String Orchestra, Detroit Civic Orchestra, and Oakland Youth Orchestra. She has a music studio where she teaches private piano and oboe lessons. Tappen has taught music at Sequoyah Elementary, Waterford Kettering High School, and Pontiac Academy of Excellence. She graduated from OU with honors in December 2010, with her B.M. in music education, with an emphasis on instrumental/general music. She is currently a long term substitute in instrumental music at Heritage Junior High.
• Lindsay Terrell
Outstanding Student Service Award - Music
Terrell sang the role of the mother in "Amahl and the Night Visitors," has performed in selected scenes from "The Magic Flute," and "Cosi fan tutte," and is a member of the Oakland Chorale. She has also had roles in "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and "Little Shop of Horrors." Lindsay is a junior majoring in vocal performance and expects to graduate in December 2012.
• Alexandra Zetye
Outstanding Student in Piano Performance
Zetye has won first place in the Dorothy K. Roosevelt Piano Competition and the Rosamund Haeberle Piano Award. She performed as a soloist with the Oakland Symphony Orchestra in January 2011 and was a winner in MTD’s 2011 Concerto Competition. Zetye is pursuing a double major in piano performance and engineering biology with a pre-med concentration.
Alumni Awards
• Barbara Bland, Music
Bland made her opera debut with Michigan Opera Theatre as Annina in "La Traviata" and has sung several other roles with MOT including, Mercedes in "Carmen," Flora in "La Traviata," Second Lady in "The Magic Flute," Anoush’s Mother in "Anoush," and Kate in "Madama Butterfly." She has been featured as a soloist with the Warren, Pontiac-Oakland, Macomb, and Royal Oak Symphonies, and the Musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Bland has performed in the Professional Artist Series at OU and has been a guest on the TV program, "Time Out for Opera." She has also enjoyed musical theatre roles in "South Pacific," "Little Mary Sunshine," and "Anything Goes." Bland received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and master’s degree from OU, both in vocal performance. She was selected as a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions (Detroit District – 1995) and a winner of the Michigan Opera Theatre’s Young Artists Apprentice Awards, 1996-97. Bland is a voice instructor and lecturer at OU.
• Joe Bailey, Theatre
After graduating from OU, Bailey has appeared in the original Off-Broadway and Los Angeles productions of Ronnie Larsen's hit play "10 Naked Men." He also directed the New York City and Los Angeles premieres of Brad Fraser's "Poor Super Man." After touring the country directing and performing in a variety of plays, Bailey returned to the Detroit area in 2003 and co-founded the Who Wants Cake? theatre company. In 2007, he opened the doors of The Ringwald Theatre in Ferndale with the other members of Who Wants Cake? They have produced more than 40 shows since May 2007, and look forward to growing and working with the finest talent the Detroit area has to offer.
• Melanie King, Dance
King is a professional modern dance artist whose work has taken her to Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. She has had the opportunity to dance for Courage Group-SF, Company Chaddick, Eisenhower Dance Ensemble, Joel Hall Dancers, and the Creative Studies Tap Ensemble. King graduated from OU with a B.F.A. in dance and received her master's degree in performance and choreography from the UC-Irvine in June 2009. She worked as rehearsal assistant to Donald McKayle, performed in William Forsythe’s "Artifact," and danced in Yvonne Rainer's "Pedagogical Vaudeville." In 2009 she traveled to Istanbul, Turkey to participate in Danse Kamera Istanbul as a performer and assistant choreographer to Loretta Livingston for a project, "Surface." King’s choreography has been presented at the American College Dance Festival, Laguna Beach Dance Festival, and the INDO/US Conference in Irvine, CA. King is a lecturer in the dance department at Loyola Marymount University’s Pilates Wellness Lab and is on the dance faculty at Long Beach City College and MiraCosta College, while continuing her Pilates practice as a trainer at Angel City Body Kinetics. She also performs with String Theory and presents her own work throughout Los Angeles.
Community Award: Dan McDougall and Michele Tocco, TerpTheatre
• Dan McDougall first encountered sign language as a teen, while playing the role of Hubbell – a Deaf character in the musical "Runaways." He began interpreting on stage in 1986 and has shadow interpreted more than 100 theatre productions. McDougall has toured nationally with a comedian, and occasionally acts without interpreting. He has enjoyed a varied career in the nonprofit sector, including positions at Deaf CAN!, the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, and City Connect Detroit. A graduate of the sign language studies program at Madonna University, McDougall is a nationally certified interpreter with a broad range of off-stage interpreting experience. He recently returned to Madonna University as the chairperson the Sign Language Studies Department. He has presented at local, state, and national conferences.
• Michele Tocco received her B.A. in sign language studies from Madonna University in 1992 and holds an NIC: Master Certificate from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. She has specialized in theatrical interpreting since 1996. Her first play was "Alice in Wonderland" at Wild Swan Theater. Since then, she has performed in more than 85 plays – including more than 20 productions for Oakland's MTD. In 2009, Tocco’s work in OU’s production of "Trojan Women" was recognized with a Special Commendation for Distinguished Achievement in Integrated Sign Language by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. She is regularly called upon to give local and national workshops as well as teach theatrical interpreting skills at the university level. By day, Tocco works as a video relay interpreter at Sorenson Communications and also specializes in working with and interpreting for the Deaf-Blind community.