Alumni Notes
Honored with a 2024 Hall of Fame award from the SMTD Alumni Board, Rachel Childers (BM ’03, MM ’06, horn) is an active music educator and community arts performer and collaborator. She has played French horn in the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 2011.
David Newton (BM ’16, percussion), Jameson Eisele (BFA ’15, performing arts technology), and Patterson McKinney (BM ’15, MM ’17, percussion) launched Sly Pup Productions – a multimedia production company – in 2016. In the Winter 2023 Michigan Muse, Eisele and Newton share how they helped SMTD meet a surging demand for video recording and livestreaming since the pandemic.
George Stoffan (BM ’93, clarinet) performed recitals and master classes at the Academy of Music in Zagreb, Croatia on November 13 and at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, Hungary on November 15. He also presented on his work at the International Clarinet Association conference in Denver last summer. (6/2024)
Void Patrol, the jazz quartet of Payton MacDonald (BFA ’97, jazz, percussion), played packed shows in New York City, Philadelphia, and Quebec’s FIMAV festival. Their debut received four stars in Downbeat and accolades from critics. The quartet includes MacDonald, Elliott Sharp, Billy Martin, and Colin Stetson (BFA ’97, jazz & contemporary improvisation). (6/2024)
Brian Horner (BM ’99, saxophone) is co-author of Playing & Teaching the Saxophone: A Modern Approach, published by Oxford University Press in October 2023 and rising to become a #1 new release and top 10 bestseller among music titles on Amazon.
In October 2023, Stuart Bogie (BMA ’97, clarinet) released Morningside, an album produced/mixed by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy. The album premiered at Les Rencontres d’Arles in the Théâtre Antique. He is working on projects with drummer Joe Russo, the dance company Pilobolus, and the conceptual artist Jill Magid, and recently recorded with Logic. (6/2024)
Carey Bell (BM ’97, clarinet, composition), San Francisco Symphony principal clarinetist and San Francisco Conservatory of Music professor, toured with the SFS in Paris, Luxembourg, and Hamburg in March 2023. Bell performed Copland’s Clarinet Concerto with the Eugene Symphony in May, and performed the West Coast premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s kinema in November 2023.
Two-time GRAMMY Award winner Joseph Gramley (BM ’92, percussion) has been named chair of the percussion department at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. Gramley performed and toured with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in May. He also continues to perform, tour, and record with The Knights and to teach at Juilliard. (9/2023)
Michigan-based Travis Cook (BM ’08, trombone, music education) is director of bands at Plymouth Christian Academy; director of music at Covenant Baptist Church; bandleader / lead trombone of the Swing Syndicate Big Band; and music director / trombonist of the Cuivré Brass Quintet. He was also recently appointed music director of the Troy Metro Symphony Orchestra. (9/2023)
Lisa (Hocking) Allely (BM ’05, euphonium) was promoted to senior teacher with the Queensland Department of Education (Australia). She has lived in Australia since 2008; she teaches instrumental music and conducts bands in four state schools in the Brisbane region. She is also a proud member of the Queensland Wind Orchestra, a community-based ensemble. (9/2023)
Nicole Patrick (BM ’16, percussion; BFA ’16, jazz & contemporary improvisation) is premiering the role of “The Rockstar” in the Blue Man Group World Tour. The role includes playing percussion and electronics. (9/2023)
Andreas Oeste (MM ’16, oboe, chamber music; DMA ’19, oboe) is the newly appointed chair of the Fernand Gillet-Hugo Fox Competition for Oboe.
(9/2023)