Michigan Muse Winter 2025 > Student Updates
Student Updates
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Tomilade Akinyelu (center) with Shiane Sullivan (left) and Myah Durham at the BTN Monologue Competition
Tomilade Akinyelu (BFA ’27, theatre & drama), who is pursuing a BA in communications & media in addition to her SMTD degree, earned second place in the Black Theatre Network’s (BTN) 4th annual StudentQuest Monologue Competition. The competition was part of BTN’s 38th annual conference, “Centering Blackness: Nurturing the Creative Spirit.” The competition was open to undergraduate students who identify as Black/African American. Participants submitted two contrasting monologues from contemporary plays by writers of African descent. After the preliminary and semifinal rounds, the competition culminated in a live, final showcase in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in July. Akinyelu performed monologues from The Story by Tracey Scott Wilson and If Pretty Hurts, Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka by Tori Sampson.
Angela Bonello singing with the AIMS Festival Orchestra. Photo: Gerald Hirl
Angela Bonello (MM ’26, voice) spent the summer studying and performing at the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria. While living in that beautiful town, she participated in voice lessons, coachings, acting classes, acting coachings, diction coachings, German classes, and a master class with Melanie Diener. Her favorite performance opportunity was singing the aria “Lied der Oculi” (Edmund Eysler) with the AIMS Festival Orchestra for the German Operetta Concert, with conductor Alfred Eschwé. Bonello was a semifinalist in the Meistersinger Vocal Competition and loved performing in the AIMS Artists in Recital, the American Spirituals Concerts, and in the chorus for the Die Zauberflöte orchestra concert.
Winners of 2024 EXCEL Lab Awards
On April 23, 2024, the EXCEL Lab – SMTD’s center for performing arts entrepreneurship, leadership, and career services – announced the winners of the EXCEL Prize, the Throm Family Innovation Award, and Impact Awards, all of which come with funding as well as ongoing mentorship. The EXCEL Prize was awarded to Allyson Cohen (MM ’25, violin) for her Concert Music Outreach Collective (CMOC), a non-profit organization seeking to increase access to live chamber music performances for underserved communities and to promote compositions by diverse composers. The Throm Family Innovation Award – a new award made possible by a gift from Carrie and Peter Throm and the Throm Family Innovation Fund – was awarded to Kiana June Weber (BM ’13, violin; BM ’24, music education; grad. cert. ’24, arts entrepreneurship & leadership) for Fiddle Club, an immersive online classroom that uses gamification and community engagement to bring high-quality folk music education to classical musicians, music teachers, and adult amateur musicians. An Impact Award went to Cortez Hill (BTA ’24) and his collaborator Andrew Otchere (BFA ’23, theatre & drama) of o-PONG! Productions, which creates and supports film projects that provide underrepresented people a launchpad. An Impact Award also went to Stephen Riesen (MM ’25, voice) and his collaborator Lee Alexander (BFA ’21, musical theatre) of Vibrascope Records, a music label that aims to bring together a community of artists and listeners, to break down barriers between genres, and to connect artists to promotional resources.
Allyson Cohen (left), Lee Alexander, Stephen Riesen, Cortez Hill, and Kiana June Weber, April 2024. Photo credit: Chris Boyes
Kiana Cook in her solo work, “Searchin’ for My Halo.” Photo: Kirk Donaldson
Kiana Cook (MFA ’26, dance) performed at various events on campus including at the 2023 DEI Summit, which featured a student rap cypher (rappers performing in a circle). In January 2024, she conducted a dance workshop, “The Noise Came from Here,” at the International Association of Blacks in Dance Conference in Memphis, Tennessee. She was also able to conduct dance research in New Orleans through the course “Kongo to Congo Square” (instructed by Robin Wilson and Biza Sompa), in Jamaica with the support of the Boyce Grant from the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center, and in South Africa through pursuing a certificate from the Center for World Performance Studies. She also presented a solo work, “Searchin’ for My Halo.”
Corinne Galligan (PhD ’25, music education) presented a paper at the American Educational Research Association 2024 Annual Meeting in April. In May, she gave a lightning talk at the Biennial Colloquium for Instrumental Music Teacher Educators. In September she presented research at both the Stanford Neurodiversity Summit and the Biennial National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Music Research and Teacher Education Conference. In October, she presented practitioner sessions via the Michigan Music Educators Association online professional development series and the Wisconsin State Music Conference.
Dorian Hall. Photo: Kerrytown Concert House
In February, Dorian Hall (MM ’05, DMA ’26, voice) made his Toledo Opera debut as the Duke of Verona in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette. Making his Adrian Symphony debut under the baton of Maestro Bruce Kiesling in May 2025, he will appear as a soloist in Haydn’s Paukenmesse and Copland’s Lincoln Portrait. With a nation presently at the crossroads of democracy, Hall’s essay, “Verdi’s Unintended Truth: Horns of Justice in Aida and for Whom Do They Sound Then and Now,” is currently under peer review by the Opera Quarterly Journal (Oxford University Press). Hall is a recent recipient of the Julian and Vera McIntosh Memorial Fellowship.
Samuel Hsieh (right) and the other co-founders of East Zodiac, Sean Penzo (left) and Vanna Tsiknias
East Zodiac, founded in 2022, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization created by Samuel Hsieh (SM ’25, clarinet; MM ’25, chamber music) to highlight Asian American composers and their music. Each year, East Zodiac commissions works by Asian composers based on the Chinese Zodiac Calendar. In addition to commissioning, the organization hosts premiere concerts and participates in community and educational events to advance its mission. In 2024, East Zodiac was selected by the SMTD EXCELerator program, receiving mentoring and financial support. As the organization continues to grow, it aims to promote Asian culture and provide opportunities for musicians to explore diverse musical perspectives.
Faculty, staff, and student DEI award winners: Paola Savvidou (left), Nicole Keller, Brandon Monzon, Grant Johnson, Victoria Vourkoutiotis, and Carter Van Erp. Photo: Chris Boyes
Awards and Grants Honor Students for Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Each year, the SMTD Office for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) presents awards to students, as well as faculty and staff, to recognize contributions toward the advancement of DEI principles in service, scholarship, musicianship, artistry, or advocacy. The following students received a 2024 DEI Award: Grant Johnson (MM ’24, percussion) received the Breaking Ground Award, which supports new projects, initiatives, or performances that demonstrate a commitment to DEI. Carter Van Erp (BTA ’25, performing arts management) and Victoria Vourkoutiotis (BFA ’25, theatre & drama) received the Belonging Award, which highlights ongoing efforts to support and cultivate inclusive, equitable, and safe spaces.
The DEI office also offers Diversity and Inclusion Grants (DIGS) to applicants seeking funding for projects and initiatives. Numerous students received grants in 2024: Emma Beachy (PhD ’25, musicology), Kiana Cook (MFA ’26, dance), Daniel Fecteau (MM ’27, music education), Corrine Galligan (PhD ’25, music education), Catherine Goode (DMA ’27, voice), Cinderella Ksebati (BM ’22, voice, music education; MM ’24, voice), Ryan Lofland (BM ’26, tuba, music education), Sreya Muthukumar (MFA ’25, dance), Lukas Nepomuceno (BM ’26, performing arts technology), Andrew Smith (DMA ’25, voice), Annabella Vidrio (BFA ’26, dance), Bethany Worrell (DMA ’24, voice), and Daiyao Zhong (DMA ’27, voice). The student organization Color Cabaret, including grant project lead Cortez Hill (BTA ’25), also earned a grant.
Molly Jones editing audio at Atlantic Center for the Arts. Photo: Sadie Woods
Molly Jones (BFA ’11, PhD ’28, performing arts technology) continues to pursue machine learning for musical applications while performing as a jazz saxophonist. In summer 2024, she toured the Midwest with Chicago-based microplastique, gave a series of talks about music and AI at Chicago Public Libraries, and participated in the FluCoMa Workshop, learning tools that integrate machine learning into common sound synthesis programming languages like Max/MSP and SuperCollider. She is currently composing a piece called “Whether Station,” which sonifies weather data and involves training machine-learning models (SARIMA, LSTMs) to predict seasonal weather patterns. She received three grants this year to support her initiative, Chicago Creative Machines.
In April and May 2024, Katherine Kiessling (BFA ’25, dance) served as a choreographic collaborator and assistant rehearsal director for Vim Vigor Dance Company‘s commissioned work Don’t Let Me Down at the Iceland University of the Arts. In July, she assisted Vim Vigor again at the b12 festival for contemporary dance in Berlin for the performance project Countdown and participated in the workshop “bodytalk.” In August, she performed in Unfolding Olana with the company Site-Specific Dances at the David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center at the Pocantico Center, as part of the Culpeper Summer Performance Series. Additionally, Kiessling, who is also pursuing a degree in computer science, completed a software engineering internship with Aunalytics from May to August 2024.
Reese Leif. Photo: MK Patteson
Reese Leif (BTA ’25, performing arts management) did a summer internship in 2024 with the Muny, the largest outdoor summer theatre in the United States. After working hands-on with the seven productions in the Muny’s 106th season and serving as a key member of the John Legend: A Night of Songs and Stories planning team, Leif left St. Louis with a reinvigorated love for musical theatre, development, event planning, and corporate partnerships. She plans to implement the foundational skills she acquired during the summer in her work throughout her senior year, both academically and cocurricularly.
Ryan Lofland at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, April 2024
Ryan Lofland (BM ’26, tuba, music education) received first place in the Creative Project Award, one of the 2023–24 Pamela J. MacKintosh Undergraduate Research Awards sponsored by the University of Michigan Library. One of only seven undergraduate students across U-M to receive a MacKintosh research award, Lofland was honored for his study “Accommodations for Instrumental Music Students Who Are Deaf/Hard of Hearing,” and he was awarded a grant toward his studies. Lofland was also selected to present his research at the 2024 National Conference on Undergraduate Research in Long Beach, California, in April.
A production of for colored girls produced by Reese Leif and Basement Arts
Mental Health Microgrants Support Awareness-Raising Projects
SMTD Mental Health Awareness Microgrants provide financial support and mentorship for student-led projects that use the performing arts to increase awareness of mental health issues. During the 2023–24 academic year, six projects earned microgrants, which are supported by the Wellness Program, the U-M Eisenberg Family Depression Center, and the EXCEL Lab. Mikeila McQueston (DMA ’27, composition) composed and hosted the premiere of Ditties for a Struggling Soprano, a cabaret-style song cycle highlighting mental health topics. Nathan Goldberg (BFA ’24, theatre & drama) led and acted in a performance of Every Little Thing, exploring themes of depression, resilience, and human connection. Rory Hunt (BFA ’26, theatre & drama) directed a short film based on the Greek myth of Iphis and Ianthe, examining the mental health aspects of a romantic relationship as a transgender person. Reese Leif (BTA ’25) and student theatre organization Basement Arts produced for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, a choreopoem that explores social conditions under which Black women experience mental illness. Julian Grey (PhD, musicology) created and directed Living Loud, a short film focused on gender euphoria. Sasha Gusikhin (BM ’25, voice) and the NeuroScience Collective produced and directed All in Your Head, a four-movement multimodal work that explores the trial-and-error mental health treatment system, the science of depression, and the inner landscapes of the brain.
Nhi Luong
Pianist Nhi Luong (MM ’20, piano, chamber music; DMA ’25, piano), a student of Christopher Harding, performed a European tour of cities in Sicily, Rome, London, and Salzburg during May 2024. She also gave performances in Detroit and in Maine, where she was the soloist and working pianist for the Prokofiev Concerto No. 3 at the Conductors Retreat at Medomak, directed by Kenneth Kiesler. She also competed in the quarterfinals of the Cleveland International Competition in July and the Leeds International Piano Competition (England) in September.
Mikeila McQueston. Photo: Franklin Green
Mikeila McQueston (DMA ’26, composition) became the inaugural pedagogy intern for the Composition Workshop at the 2024 Women Composers Festival of Hartford (WCFH). In addition to gaining valuable teaching and mentoring experience during the workshop, McQueston also presented her music in a public master class with U-M alumna and WCFH composer-in-residence Kirsten Volness.
Emelia Piane
Emelia Piane (BFA ’25, performing arts technology) was one of two US students who earned the 2024 Hedy Lamarr Achievement Award for Emerging Leaders in Entertainment Technology. This award, given by the Digital Entertainment Group, honors female college students in the fields of entertainment and technology and includes a financial prize to help honorees complete their education.
Kayti Sanchez (BFA ’26, theatre & drama: design & production) recently completed her internship with Bethany Joy Costumes, a Broadway shop in New York City, where she worked as a stitcher and shopper. She learned so much while being there and looked forward to applying those new skills this academic year. She assisted on the Department of Musical Theatre production of Twelfth Night and will design the Department of Theatre & Drama production of A Few Good Men.
U-M Percussion Participates in International Musical Relay
On June 21, 2024, U-M Percussion took part in a worldwide musical relay titled “Pulsations” (French for “heartbeats”) to celebrate what is variously known as Make Music Day, World Music Day, or, in France, Fête de la Musique. Broadcast live online, “Pulsations” was a partnership of the Paris 2024 Cultural Olympiad, the Arab World Institute, and the Make Music Alliance. Taking turns on the broadcast, bands from around the world each performed a 10-minute set, and each set was connected to the next by a “heartbeat” rhythm composed by renowned French-Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf. Prior to that day, when Doug Perkins, director of percussion, was asked to record the heartbeat rhythm that would connect each of the performances, he and two students, James Koo (MM ’24, percussion) and Xin Yi Chong (MM ’24, DMA ’27, percussion) immediately went into Kevreson Rehearsal Hall to record some tracks. They edited, mixed, and sent the tracks that afternoon. The four-hour broadcast on June 21, which started in New Zealand and traveled through 24 countries, concluded at the Arab World Institute in Paris, where Ibrahim Maalouf performed a final, hour-long set.
James Koo (left), Doug Perkins, and Xin Yi Chong in Hill Auditorium
Alexander Scott conducting the US Air Force Band, Washington, DC
In April 2024, Alexander Scott (DMA ’25, wind/band conducting) presented at the North Central College Band Directors National Association conference (“AWSO… What?”). In May, at the Instrumental Music Teacher Educators Colloquium, he presented a research poster (“Strategies for Pre-Service Music Teachers to Become More Successful in Error Detection: A Literature Review”) and a presentation (“A Phenomenological Study into the Perceived Effect on Making Connections between Aural Skills Usage and Skill in Error Detection in the Undergraduate Conducting Class”). In June, he was accepted by the National Band Association Young Conductor Program to conduct the US Air Force Band. In July, Scott presented at the IGEB conference in Valencia, Spain (“Walther Lampe and the Serenade für fünfzehn Blasinstrumente, Op. 7″).
Corazon Szell (second from right) with the North Ingalls Band. Photo: Lauren Donatoni
Corazon Szell (BM ’25, jazz & contemporary improvisation) has had the pleasure to lead and manage the North Ingalls Band, an indie folk-groove group formed in August 2023. The band consists of close friends and talented musicians Liam Charron (BFA ’25, jazz & contemplative studies), Eric Bressler (BM ’25, trumpet, music education), SC Klein (BFA ’25, jazz studies), Andres Soto (BM ’25, jazz & contemporary improvisation), Em Spencer (BM ’25, jazz & contemporary improvisation), and U-M alum Jack Harris. Over the past year, the band has been fortunate to play 13 live shows for family and friends all around Ann Arbor, from North Star Lounge (a band favorite), to the front porch of their very own Soto. A performance highlight was being able to share their music during the 2024 Ann Arbor Art Fair on the Ark stage. They are currently working on their debut album and will have a number of shows throughout the 2024–25 school year.
Zhihao Tang at the Shanghai Concert Hall
Zhihao Tang (BM ’28, voice) gave a solo performance of “Le femmine d’Italia” in an ancient theatre and “Non T’amo Più” in a park in Bologna, Italy, both accompanied by a pianist. Tang also gave an unaccompanied solo performance of “Katyusha” in Chinese at the Shanghai Concert Hall.
Molly Weisberg at Smetana Hall in Prague
Molly Weisberg (BM ’26, trumpet) attended the Prague Summer Nights: Young Artists Music Festival in Czechia during summer 2024. Throughout the month-long program, she performed in three orchestra concerts, two operas, and a chamber music concert. Weisberg played in the world-renowned Smetana Hall, performing Dvořák 9 and the world premiere of Iryna Aleksiychuk’s Go with the Wind. Weisberg also performed in the operas Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni in the Estates Theatre, where Mozart premiered Don Giovanni in 1787. Aside from these performances, she was mentored by musicians from the Czech Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Weisberg enjoyed her time connecting with musicians and directors from around the world.
The 2024 Briggs Competition Brings Chamber Music to the Fore
The annual Briggs Competition, created to encourage the excellence of chamber music performance at SMTD and to provide performance opportunities for small ensembles, was held April 13, 2024, showcasing the school’s diverse and dynamic chamber music community. Named in honor of its benefactors, Dale and Nancy Briggs, the competition offers cash prizes to the winning ensembles. First prize went to Trio Con Fuoco: Chihwan Kim (DMA ’27, violin), Youngeun Lee (DMA ’27, cello), and Jinzhao Xu (DMA ’27, piano). Grasshopper Trio won second prize and consists of Nathan Landers (BM ’24, clarinet), Ben Deighton (BM ’24, cello), and Aleks Shameti (BM ’25, piano). Tying for third prize were the Vento Quintet – Adria Cafferillo (BM ’25, flute, music education), Owen Chen (BM ’24, oboe), Nathan Landers, Eddie Martinez (BM ’24, bassoon), and Andy Gonzalez (BM ’25, French horn) – and the Liminal Quartet, a saxophone ensemble with Leo Schlaifer (MM ’24), Nick Napier (MM ’24), Noah Stoker (MM ’25), and Matt Dardick (MM ’24). The Liminal Quartet also won the Michigan Composition Prize, given for best performance of a piece written by a U-M composer; they performed what we carry, by Nicole Knorr. Honorable mentions went to the Mia Quartet and the Renaissance Quartet.
Trio Con Fuoco: Chihwan Kim (left), Jinzhao Xu, and Youngeun Lee. Photo: Elisa Schulz