MaTilDa Awards to honor students, alumni and community partners

Oakland University’s Department of Music, Theatre and Dance will present the 13th 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 16, 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.

Alumni Achievement Award in Dance 

Alumni Achievement Award in Theatre

Outstanding Student in Dance

Sullivan is a senior and will graduate with a double major in dance and Spanish Language and Literature. She has performed as a member of the Oakland Dance Theater and has worked with many choreographers including Laurie Eisenhower, Sean Hoskins, Alicia Cutaia and Rebecca Crimmins. This past summer, she studied abroad in Spain and experienced the impact of the arts throughout the region. 

Jacob Decker Dance Award

A native of Monroe, Mich., Gagne will be graduating from OU with a BFA in dance. She has performed as a member of the Oakland Dance Theater and the OU Repertory Dance Company, and is currently an apprentice with the Eisenhower Dance Ensemble. In previous years, she has attended Bates Dance Festival in Lewiston, Maine, and Axis Dance Company's Physically Integrated Summer Intensive in Oakland, Calif., as a Maggie Allesee Scholarship recipient.

Jacob Decker Dance Award

Metzger is a senior and will be graduating with a BFA in dance. Metzger has performed with the Oakland Dance Theatre, OU Repertory Company, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, and Patterson Rhythm Pace Dance Company. She has also performed works by Greg Patterson, Ali Roller Woerner, Luis Piedra, Laurie Eisenhower, Debbie Blunden-Diggs, Ray Mercer, Thayer Jonutz, Alex Springer, Xan Burely, and Daniel Gwirtzman.

Maggie Allesee Distinguished Dance Student Award

MacMaster is a senior at Oakland University earning a BFA in dance. MacMaster's interest in dance, music and anthropology lead to a study in West Africa in the summer of 2011 as a Maggie Allesee scholar. Recently awarded the Maggie Allesee Dance Award for Outstanding Choreography, MacMaster will be presenting her choreography for adjudication at American College Dance Festival and in the Chimera Project's FRESH BLOOD Festival for Emerging Choreographers in Toronto. 

Pat and Mercedes Nicosia Meadow Brook Estate Award

Keen’s most notable performances at OU have included diverse roles in “Grey Gardens,” “The Dining Room,” “Little Women,” “Follies”, and “Far From Manly!” Lauren has also shared her choreographic skills, most recently in “Grey Gardens” and Music Theatre Workshop’s “We’ve Got Dancing To Do.” Beyond OU, Lauren has spent the past three summers as a faculty assistant and assistant choreographer at the Broadway Theatre Project in Tampa, working with acclaimed artists such as Ben Vareen, Terrence Mann, Christopher D’Amboise, Debra McWaters, Frank Wildhorn, Donna McKechnie and Neil Patrick Harris.  

Gittlen Achievement Award in Musical Theatre

McCaw is a senior from Holland, Mich. Her acting credits at Oakland include Violet in “Violet,” Marmee in “Little Women,” Jenny in “Company,” Mrs. Noah/others in “Pageant Play,” Olive in “The Women of Lockerbie,” and most recently Edith Bouvier Beale/"Little" Edie Beale in “Grey Gardens.” This past November, she was chosen to sing the national anthem before the CNBC Republican primary debate held on the campus of Oakland University.

Gittlen Achievement Award in Theatre Design and Technology, MTD Award

Block is a senior majoring in theatre design and technology. His designs have been used in more than 50 shows including “Percussion Pops,”  “Cosi Fan Tutte” and “Little Mary Sunshine.” This summer, he worked for Team Imagination Inc., a lighting company that provides services for various television programs, from game shows to reality TV.

Gittlen Achievement Award in Acting

A senior, Knox will graduate from OU with a BFA in acting and a minor in English. She is a member of the Honors College and completed a thesis based on her research from the Classical Theatre Summer in Greece program. After performing “Shakespeare in the Park” locally this summer, Lauren intends to move to Seattle or New York to pursue a career in acting and writing. 

Gittlen Theatre Award

Rohloff is a junior in Oakland University’s musical theatre program. In January, he won “Best Partner,” accompanying fellow OU student Allie McCaw in the Irene Ryan Scholarship Competition during the American College Theatre Festival. This past summer, he made his professional debut at the Round Barn Theatre in Nappanee, Indiana, and will be a part of Porthouse Theatre’s 2012 company, based in Kent, Ohio.

Distinguished Musicianship Award

Trewhella graduated from Oakland in December 2011 with a Bachelor’s degree in music education. While at OU, she served as principal clarinetist in the Oakland University Wind Symphony for three years and second clarinetist of the Oakland Symphony Orchestra for two years. In 2010, Megan was winner of the Oakland University Wind Symphony Concerto Competition, and winner of the Oakland University MaTilDa award in Chamber Music for her work with the Trio Con Brio. Megan was also a finalist in the 2011 David Daniels Young Artist Concerto Competition.

Outstanding Student in Voice Performance

Outstanding Student in Voice Performance

Grogan played the role of Depina in Oakland University's “Cosi Fan Tutte” this January. Last year, the senior received the Stanley Hollingsworth Fund, which allowed her to attend the Bel Canto Institute in Florence, Italy. While there, she was the winner of the Performance Award, and the Orchestral Award. Through these honors, she studied in New York with Metropolitan Opera coach Jane Klaviter, who prepared her for her featured concert with the Vermont Philharmonic last October. She has also won the David Daniels Young Artist Concerto Competition.  

Outstanding Student in Piano Performance, Joyce Adelson Piano Ensemble Award

Lanjiabao is a freshman majoring in piano performance. She is a winner of competitions held in Germany, China and the U.S. She also won first place in the Hershey Symphony Orchestra's 2010 Young Artist Competition and Performed at prestigious Kennedy Center for the performing Art in D.C.

Joyce Adelson Piano Ensemble Award

Joyce Adelson Piano Ensemble Award

Ali is a senior majoring in biology/pre-med and minoring in political science. He is a member of the Oakland Symphony Orchestra and participates in chamber ensembles and community orchestras in the Metro Detroit area. He is also a founding member and principal violinist in the Oakland University Chamber Orchestra.

Outstanding Student in Instrumental Performance

Holmes is the principal clarinetist in the Oakland Wind Symphony. She has also performed in Oakland University's clarinet ensemble, in the Oakland University production of Mozart’s opera "Cosi Fan Tutte,” and has participated in the Oakland Symphony Orchestra Concerto competition. She majors in music education and expects to graduate in December 2012.

Outstanding Student in Instrumental Performance, Outstanding Student in Chamber Music

Turchyn is a music performance major under the direction of Dr. Kenneth Kroesche. He performs in many of OU's ensembles, including Oakland University’s Brass Band, Jazz Band, Wind Symphony, tuba quartet and the Oakland Symphony Orchestra. Aside from ensembles, he also participates in many solo competitions. He was a winner in the Wind Symphony concerto competition last year and a winner in this year’s orchestral concerto competition.

Outstanding Student in Chamber Music

Eastwood has performed with the Oakland Symphony Orchestra, Oakland University Wind Symphony, Oakland University Brass Band, Motor City Brass Band and Five Lakes Silver Band. He has participated in the NABBA solo competition, Leonard Falcone Competition, MTNA Solo and Chamber competitions, and concerto competitions at Oakland.

Outstanding Student in Chamber Music

Outstanding Student in Chamber Music

Outstanding Student in Music Education

Outstanding Student in Music Education

Ellsworth holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in flute performance and pedagogy from Brigham Young University and recently completed her post baccalaureate certification in music education from Oakland University. She teaches K-8 General Music at Eagle Creek Academy in Oakland Township, and also teaches flute and voice at the Rochester Conservatory of Music. An active freelance musician, she plays flute and piccolo with the Macomb Symphony, and has appeared as a caroler at Meadow Brook Theatre’s production of “A Christmas Carol” for the past five years.

Outstanding Student in Jazz

Jennifer Scott Memorial Award

A piano performance major, Komer is the winner of this year’s Oakland Symphony Orchestra concerto competition and will serve as a supplemental instruction leader for freshman music theory beginning this fall. He is also the principal pianist at his church and regularly serves as an accompaniment at regional music events. 

Outstanding Student Service Award – Music

Perlaki is a senior majoring in instrumental music education and percussion performance with a minor in world music. She has participated in various ensembles, including the Wind Symphony, Percussion Ensemble, Percussion Pops, African Ensemble, Steel Band, Golden Grizzlies Athletic Band, and Oakland Symphony Orchestra. In November 2011, she had the honor of performing as a part of a 50-member marimba orchestra at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention to commemorate the organization's 50th anniversary. She also served as administrator of the Oakland University Cooperative Orchestra Library.

Outstanding Student Service Award – Theatre

A junior majoring in theatre design and technology, Neville is the new president of the Actors 'n' Techies student organization, MTD box office manager, and a costume shop staff member.