Our mission? To keep you up-to-date with what members of our MTD family have been up to recently.
Allison Hunt and
Katie Hardy, both recent OU musical theatre alumnae, were nominated in the Best Actress in a Musical category by the Rogue Critic's Gallery Awards for 2011. Allison was nominated for the role of Blue Girl in
Shout! The Mod Musical, which was the final production of Meadow Brook Theatre’s season. Katie Hardy (who played Green Girl in
Shout!) was nominated for the role of Jo in
Little Women at the Encore Musical Theatre in Dexter, Michigan. Katie Hardy won the award and ever generous spirited, Allison wrote “Yay go Oakland!:)” when she heard of Katie’s win. We see many such awards in the future of both these actors. The Rogue Critic attends musicals and plays in Michigan and blogs reviews.
Read more here.
David Daniels, who is an emeritus faculty member, sent us intriguing news about
Bob Milne, BA in Music ‘76. Dr. Daniels writes, “I heard a podcast on Radiolab devoted to Bob Milne, an OU grad and expert pianist specializing in ragtime. At OU he enlivened my theory classes by submitting each new assignment ̶ from secondary dominants to augmented sixth-chords ̶ as a delightful original composition in ragtime style.” The podcast relates how Kerstin Betterman, a Penn State neuroscientist, was amazed by Bob's claim that he could hear four different compositions in his head simultaneously. She put him in an MRI and tested his mental tracking of four music pieces against actual CDs of the four works. When she stopped the CDs and checked Bob he was accurate to the precise note. You can hear this fascinating
20-minute podcast here. David says, “It is absolutely amazing,” and it really is. You can read more about Bob Milne
on his website including information on his three-day interview which is archived at the Library of Congress.
Current faculty member
Kerro Knox 3 was in Los Angeles this summer, where he directed
Herringbone at the Underground Theatre. The production featured OU alumnus
Joey Bybee, BFA in Musical Theatre ’09, in a one-man musical that told the story of a family's dream to make it in Hollywood, after their 8-year-old son mysteriously becomes a tap dancing prodigy. Bybee, alone on the stage except for a piano player, played 11 different roles, as many as six onstage at the same time. Read more about the
Underground Theater here.
Music student
Laura Palmieri reported on her summer travels in detail. She spent five weeks in Bern, Switzerland at the HarpMasters International Harp Program, courtesy of a Hollingsworth Scholarship. She writes, “Being able to study abroad this summer was an incredibly rewarding learning experience. I never for one moment took for granted my time there, because I knew I was so fortunate to have had this opportunity. What I have learned over in Europe about new ideas in music, harp technique and sound production has helped make a difference in my performance as a harpist. I was able to learn from my participation in daily master classes and from hearing others play the harp. “I am so grateful to have a world-class harp teacher like
Kerstin Allvin at Oakland University. She has greatly helped prepare me for my future in music and this experience in Europe. Kerstin Allvin has so much knowledge about the European harp techniques and musical ideas that I felt confident and more prepared being a part of an international group of harpists. I was one of the few selected to represent the U.S. to perform for the final international concert which was a great honor indeed. It was so wonderful to make friends with harpists from all over the world.”
Among the teachers Laura worked with in Switzerland were Milda Agazarian, - Professor of Harp at the Russian Music Academy and the Moscow Special Gnessin School and College; Isabelle Moretti, Professor of Harp at the National Superior Conservatory of Paris for Music; and Skaila Kanga, Professor of Harp at the Royal Academy of Music (England). Read more about
Harp Masters International here. Laura has the final word: “I want to express my sincere gratitude to
Mr. Hollingsworth, his sister
Louise Bachtold, and also every faculty member at Oakland University for helping music students like me have this great opportunity. It really was a life-changing experience for me and one that I will always remember.”
Our faculty touch many young lives and most often their influence and dedication is recognized in private conversation, but it is wonderful to see their work acknowledged in a public forum. We are pleased to announce that
Mark Stone, our World Music Coordinator, recently received a new award called the Academic Excellence Recognition Award with the following citation: "This award is established to recognize faculty members whose strong and sustained productivity, high performance and continued efforts toward scholarship or other creative endeavor are notable by not only their peers, but by the administrative structures that support them." Congratulations Mark!
Photo: Laura Palmieri plays at HarpMaster's concert. 