Faculty News

2008

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, has been commissioned to choreograph a new contemporary ballet for the dance repertoire of California’s Riverside Ballet. She has also been hired to teach the training intensive this summer for the ChivaGirls, the professional Major League Soccer dance team at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA.

Returning for its third annual summer concert, Orange County's critically acclaimed Backhausdance is pleased to announce "Backhausdance Deconstructed", an evening of company repertory and new work hosted by Artistic Director Jennifer Backhaus (’94), adjunct professor of dance, at the Waltmar Theatre.  This informal concert will include new works choreographed by Backhausdance company dancers, many of whom are Chapman alumni, and an in-depth breakdown and performance of Backhausdance's newest work, Arrive.  Hosted by Jennifer Backhaus, “Backhausdance Deconstructed” offers the audience a backstage view of the process and meaning behind repertory. 

The Chapman Conservatory Guitar Ensemble, under the direction of Jeff Cogan, associate professor of music, will be in New Mexico July 9-14.  They will perform a concert in Corrales and will attend a festival in Santa Fe.  Ensemble members include Joseph Zamudio, Henry Allen, Daniel De Arakal, and Patrick Shiroishi.  The ensemble is performing works by George Gershwin, Gabriel Faure, Georges Bizet, Johann Sebastian Bach, Isaais Savio, Joaquin Rodrigo, John Duarte, Roland Dyens, and Manuel Ponce.

Robin Kish, instructor of dance, will be attending the 2008 International Association for Dance Medicine and Science Conference in Cleveland, where she will be presenting her study “Bridging the Gap Between Dance Science Research and the Reality of Teaching in a Private Studio” and teaching a movement session, “Dancers and Pinky Balls:  The Perfect Combination”.

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, designed the lighting for Saint Louis Ballet’s production of The Sleeping Beauty with choreography by Artistic Director Gen Horiuchi. He also recently received rave reviews for his lighting of the world premiere musical Return, directed by five-time Tony nominee Donald McKayle, at the Edgemar Theatre in Los Angeles.

Liz Maxwell, assistant professor of dance, presented a workshop titled “Teaching Modern Dance Repertory through the Somatic Lens” at SUNY Brockport for the Invention-In Conference on Dance, Somatics & Movement Analysis.  She also premiered a somatically-based performance piece using song, spoken word and dance created with New York artists Bill Young and Mio Morales.

Shakespeare Orange County, under the creative direction of Thomas Bradac, professor of theatre, will be performing Henry V at the Festival Amphitheatre in Garden Grove July 10-26.  The cast of Henry V features Professor Michael Nehring, theatre department senior secretary Bonnie Walker, and theatre operations staff member Craig Brown.  David Denman of The Office plays the title role.

Jeff Cogan, assistant professor of music, performed a concert and lecture on the master French guitar builder and luthier Daniel Friederich for the Eastfield College Guitar Festival in Dallas, TX.  Previously, Professor Cogan was in Dallas to adjudicate a competition hosted at the University of Texas at Dallas. 

Liz Maxwell, assistant professor of dance, reconstructed the choreography of Laura Dean's work "Sky Light" for Pomona College.  Professor Maxwell was also recently accepted into the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association, which requires 150 hours of hands-on work and entitles her to be a Registered Somatic Movement Educator.

Bass-baritone Peter Atherton, assistant professor of music, has been invited to perform the role of Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte for Operafestival di Roma this summer.  This will be Dr. Atherton’s seventh consecutive season with the festival.  Three Chapman Conservatory of Music students, Ashley Faatoalia, Troy Guthrie and Charles Vickery, have also been invited to participate in the program this summer.  In addition, Dr. Atherton will serve as a member of the Opera Academy voice faculty.

Micol Hebron, assistant professor of art, will be presenting a talk with the artist collective LA Art Girls at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles on May 10th at 1:30pm. Micol and the LA Art Girls will be discussing their piece Overflow with artists Suzane Lacy and Peter Kirby as part of Trade Talks, an ongoing examination of recent recreations of works by artist Allan Kaprow. More information can be found at http://www.moca.org/kaprow/index.php/trade-talk/75/.
The talk is free and open to the public.

Assistant professor Daniel Alfred Wachs, Director of Instrumental Studies in the Conservatory of Music, led a lecture-demonstration on Mozart’s Piano Concertos with the Chapman String Quartet at the March 6 Town & Gown Lunch at the Forum Series. More recently, Maestro Wachs was invited to lead the Pacific Symphony in a rehearsal of Shostakovich’s Ninth Symphony. 

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, has been commissioned to choreograph an original contemporary modern dance for Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri.  She was also selected to adjudicate the Miss Dance USA competition and solo pageant which included dancers from across the nation at the Irvine Hilton Hotel and the Bren Events Center in Irvine, California.

“The Club”, a work choreographed by Dale Merrill, chair of the Department of Dance and associate dean of the College of Performing Arts, to the music of Johnny Otis and his Orchestra, will be re-created by the Washington Contemporary Ballet in Tacoma, WA in May.

Micol Hebron, assistant professor of art, will be presenting a performance art piece titled “Overflow” with her artist collective, the LA Art Girls, at the Getty Center in Los Angeles April 26-27. The performance is a reinvention of Allan Kaprow's 1967 piece "Fluids", in which participants create an architectural structure out of 23,000 pounds of ice blocks, and will feature several Chapman art students. "Overflow" is part of the performance program that is being presented in conjunction with the Allan Kaprow retrospective currently on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.  Visitors to the Getty may witness the performance for free throughout both days, 10am-4pm. 

Michael Nehring, professor of theatre, will be re-creating the role of Earl Butz, Nixon’s Secretary of Agriculture, in Matthew McCray's (’98) play Fencerow to Fencerow for the Center Theatre Group.  The play was cast through the Taper Casting Office and will be showcased in a performance for the executives of the Center Theatre Group, including Artistic Director Michael Ritchie, on May 3.  Professor Nehring will also be performing in a new work as part of the ASCAP/Disney Musical Theatre Workshop.  The workshop is held in New York and Los Angeles as a showcase for young composers and is directed by Stephen Schwartz, composer of Wicked, Pippin, and Godspell.  He will be playing the role of Quigly, a craggy drive-in movie owner.  The musical will be performed, reader's theatre style, for Mr. Schwartz and Disney executives as well as a sold-out audience. 

Dr. Vera Ivanova, assistant professor of music, was awarded the André Chevillion-Yvonne Bonnaud Composition Prize under the aegis of the Fondation de France at the 8th International Piano Competition at Orléans (France) for her piano composition, "Aftertouch," performed at the competition by Daniela Mineva (Bulgaria/USA).  The competition is held under the high patronage of the French Ministry of Culture and is an official member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions.

Dr. Baron Kelly, assistant professor of theatre, has been commissioned by Executive Producer Ewa Puszczynska of Opus Films in Lodz, Poland to write a treatment for a film script based on the life of Ira Aldridge.  While in Poland, Professor Kelly has been lecturing at Roman Polanski’s former institute, the National School for Film, Television and Theatre and he will next be teaching acting at the Yermelova Theatre in Moscow.  He has also been cast to play Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night in the Southern California Shakespeare Festival this fall.

David Kiddie, assistant professor of art, is currently showing his work in “Pedagogic Clay 2008” at the Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion at Orange Coast College.  The show includes work by thirty prominent ceramists who also contribute to the field as ceramics teachers.  The show runs through May 2.  Professor Kiddie will also participate as a panelist in a discussion about current issues in ceramics education.

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, has been contracted by GilmoreGroup Architects in New York to design the lighting, audio, and video for COMEX’s flagship store in Las Vegas. COMEX specializes in working with architects and interior designers to provide clients with an interactive environment to view finishes and paint samples.

Peter Atherton, director of Opera Chapman and assistant professor of music, presented a series of master classes, lessons and improvisational workshops for the Voice and Opera Department at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA.

Orange County Youth Symphony Orchestra (OCYSO) announces the appointment of Daniel Alfred Wachs, assistant professor of music, as Music Director & Conductor.  Professor Wachs will be succeeding Professor Emeritus John Koshak. Celebrating its 38th season, Orange County’s official youth orchestra has been in residence at Chapman for over 30 years.  Over three-quarters of a million fifth graders have heard and watched three thousand OCYSO musicians perform in the Orchestra’s Chapman Memorial Auditorium series and at the Segerstrom Concert Hall.

Micol Hebron, assistant professor of art, will be giving a lecture on her work at Brigham Young University on March 27th. She will also be a member of the jury at the Central Utah Art Center's annual show on March 28th. This month Professor Hebron is showing her artwork in Pix, an exhibition at the Torrance Art Museum (www.torranceartmuseum.com), and in HEF, an exhibition at Jail Gallery in Los Angeles (www.thejailgallery.com). Both exhibitions open on March 29th with receptions that are open to the public.

Robert Becker, newly appointed director of strings in the Conservatory of Music, recently performed Schubert’s Octet as part of the Distinguished Guest Artist Series at Azusa Pacific University.   In other news, the American String Teachers Association presented Professor Becker as soloist, master teacher and pedagogy instructor for the 2008 ASTA Viola Fest in Las Vegas.  As an invited guest commentator for the Mellon Foundation, he will be speaking at events on April 1 about the future of music education in our community, schools, and orchestras. Continuing his role as Principal Viola for the Pacific Symphony and Opera Pacific, he can be seen often at the new Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.  He is also the founder of the Viola Workout in Colorado for teacher training of viola and chamber music, an event that will take place this year from June 15-29.

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, has been commissioned by the Center of Creative Arts in St. Louis, Missouri to choreograph a new contemporary ballet for its resident ballet company, Ballet Eclectica.  Her new ballet will premiere in the Founders’ Theatre in a mixed bill featuring choreographic works by Trinette Singleton of the Joffrey Ballet, Kate Skarpetowska, a former member of Parsons Dance Company and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre’s Antonio Douthit and Kirvin Boyd.

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, is the lighting designer for the Los Angeles premiere of the musical The Immigrant at the Colony Theatre.  A Young European Jew, fleeing the pogroms of Czarist Russia in 1909, gets off the boat at Galveston and pushes his banana cart into the tiny Baptist town of Hamilton, Texas.  He is the author’s grandfather, and what follows is his story, a uniquely American saga of struggle, faith, hope, and ultimate triumph over adversity.

Dr. Baron Kelly, assistant professor of theatre, has been enlisted to teach a master class in acting at the National Academy of Finland for the month of June.

The work of Carolyn Castaño, adjunct professor of art, will be featured in the April 2008 issue of Dwell magazine.  This work will be featured in the upcoming exhibition at LACMA, Phantom Sightings: Art After the Chicano Movement, scheduled to run April to September 2008.

Backhausdance, the acclaimed dance company led by artistic director Jennifer Backhaus (’94), adjunct professor of dance, was featured in the Celebrate Dance 2008 festival at the Alex Theatre in Glendale.  The festival included Los Angeles premieres by eight different companies. 

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, Assistant Professor of Dance, was hired as an adjudicator and master class teacher for the national dance organization RAW.  Rough Artistic Works is a dance convention that was held in Boise, Idaho at the Nampa Civic Center.  She was also selected as an adjudicator for the USA Collegiate Nationals Dance Competition held at the Cashman Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Assistant Professor Daniel Alfred Wachs, Director of Instrumental Studies at the Conservatory of Music, has been invited to conduct the 2008 Capistrano Valley High School Honor Orchestra, featuring over 70 of Southern California’s most talented string players. The program will include Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings.

Eric Chimenti, assistant professor of art and graphic design program head, won a Gold Award for total public relations program in the Admission Marketing Report competition for the College of Performing Arts collateral package.  This prestigious national competition honors exceptional quality, creativity, and message effectiveness in the field of admissions marketing and advertising.

Jennifer Backhaus (’94), adjunct professor of dance, is the Program Director of West Coast Dance Academy in Mission Viejo, home of her company, Backhausdance.  Celebrating its fifth anniversary, Orange County's critically acclaimed Backhausdance is pleased to announce Backhausdance at the Barclay March 21-22 at 8:00pm, an evening of company repertory at the Irvine Barclay Theatre.  Performing three new works, and audience favorite "Sitting on January", Backhausdance brings to the stage the athleticism and grace that has propelled Orange County's premiere dance company into the forefront of modern dance since its inception in 2003. Tickets are $20-$30. Read more about Backhausdance at www.backhausdance.org.

Dr. Sean Heim, assistant professor of music, has recently been awarded a Subito Grant by the American Composers Forum - Los Angeles.  Professor Heim was chosen by an independent panel and was awarded the grant in support of his current recording project featuring several of his most recent compositions.  He will be traveling and working with ensembles and performing artists from three continents to complete work on the CD which will be released on Capstone Records next year.

Robin Kish, instructor of dance, was recently appointed as a board member and committee chairman of the Performing Arts Medicine Association, where she works with dancers, musicians, educators and members of the medical field.  Her cooperative work with Charles Maa (‘07) titled “Current Breakdancing Injury Trends” was published in the journal Medical Problems of Performing Artists v22 n4 in December 2007.  She is also at work on a research project titled "Dance Observation and Music as Interventions with Elderly Residents", a collaborative work with psychologist Dr. Kara Cross.  This project will be presented at the California Psychological Association Convention in April 2008.  In addition to work in the dance field, Professor Kish was recently asked to participate in an advisory board for a pharmaceutical company that develops rescue medication for patients with epilepsy.

Liz Maxwell, assistant professor of dance, will be attending the tenth annual National Dance Education Organization conference, titled “Focus on Dance Education: The Dance of Personal and Public Change”, in Towson, MD in June.  She will be leading a workshop called “Dancing Our Dreams:  Uncovering and Exploring Emotional Landscapes”, about the relation of movement practice to personal change. 

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, has been asked to design the lighting for Saint Louis Ballet’s Master Works Series in March. The evening of dance will include Serenade by choreographer George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust, Circle of Fifths by choreographer Christopher d' Amboise, and a world premiere new work by choreographer and Artistic Director Gen Horiuchi.

Dr. Liliana Leopardi, assistant professor in the department of art history, was invited speaker at the College Art Association annual meeting in Dallas, TX.  She delivered a paper on the construction of masculinity in the Renaissance titled "Come le imagini scolpite nelle pietre si dica havere effett Constructing Masculinity through the Magical Power of Images on Carved Gems".

Eric Chimenti, assistant professor of art and head of the graphic design program, along with sophomore BFA Graphic Design student Alison Conners, produced two membership (student and educator) brochures for AIGA, the largest professional graphic design organization in America.  The idea for the brochures came out of sessions and conversations that Professor Chimenti, Education Chair for the Orange County Chapter of AIGA, had this past June at the National Conference and retreat in Miami Beach. The AIGA national office in New York City will post the brochures on the national website and distribute them to their 52 chapters nationwide.

John Benitz, assistant professor of theatre, presented "Acting for the Screen:  A Workshop" at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival at Cal State Los Angeles.  This national theater conference involves more than 600 institutions and works to improve the quality of U.S. college theater.

Dr. Grace Fong, director of keyboard studies in the Conservatory of Music, has just been named a finalist for the prestigious Classical Fellowship Awards of the American Pianists Association. The Classical Fellowship Awards are held every three years in Indianapolis, Indiana, and participation in the national competition is by nomination only. This seven-month long competition is comprised of the Premiere Series and Discovery Week, in which each of the five finalists play solo recitals, solo with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra as well as the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, perform with the Pacifica Quartet, and perform a Lieder recital with professional singers. In addition, the finalists will participate in the Concerto Curriculum residency with a local high school. The recipient of the award will receive a cash prize, representation on a CD, promotional materials, and the opportunity to play concerts and recitals both nationally and internationally through APA's PianoFest program.  Dr. Fong will head to Indiana in the 2009 season for this concert series.

Roger Lebow, adjunct professor of cello in the Conservatory of Music, performed with fellow cellists Trevor Handy, Armen Ksajikian, and Dane Little in a concert titled From Chaconne to Tritonis: Sonatas and Transcriptions by Great Keyboard Masters at the Zipper Concert Hall at the Colburn School of the Performing Arts in Los Angeles. 

Micol Hebron, assistant professor of art, will be screening a video art piece at Lust for LACE, the annual Valentine's Day Benefit Bash and 30th Anniversary for Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions on February 14th. Over 30 artists will be presenting videos and performances.

Dr. Grace Fong, director of keyboard studies in the Conservatory of Music, recently performed with the principal cellist of the Seattle Symphony at the Seattle Town Hall Chamber Series, as well as in Cleveland with pianist Sergei Babayan, premiering Mikhail Pletnev's transcription of Prokofiev's Cinderella Suite to acclaim. Next, Dr. Fong will tour with her piano trio, the Selvaggi Trio, and this summer she will be performing at the Sitka Summer Music Festival in Alaska as well as serving on the faculty of the Montecito Summer Festival. Highlights of the 08-09 season for Dr. Fong will include a debut with the Polish Chamber Orchestra in Dortmund, Germany, and a performance at the Liszt Academy in Budapest.

This January, David Washburn, adjunct trumpet faculty member in the Conservatory of Music, performed Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2 with the Saint Louis Symphony, which he will also be performing later this year with the California Philharmonic and at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.  In March, Mr. Washburn will perform the Albinoni and Torelli Concertos with the Knox-Galesburg Symphony.  In addition, you can hear him as the principal trumpet on the soundtrack to the upcoming film The Spiderwick Chronicles.

During the winter break, Conservatory of Music adjunct percussion faculty member Nick Terry first performed with Los Angeles' premier contemporary music ensemble, XTET, as part of the famed Monday Evening Concert series at Zipper Hall, and later with Ensemble Green at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music.  In addition, he was invited to perform as part of the Lucerne Festival in Lucerne, Switzerland for the fifth consecutive year.  This four-week residency features numerous concerts of cutting-edge European contemporary music.

Eric Chimenti, assistant professor of art and head of the graphic design program, and Kristen Entringer, a freshman BFA Graphic Design student, worked together to produce an illustration for a client of Parath Chandra (‘99).  Mr. Chandra is the principal of Design Coalesence and will be using the illustration in a brochure for a new Urgent Care facility in South Orange County.

Daniel Alfred Wachs, assistant professor and director of instrumental studies at the Conservatory of Music, performed a recital with renowned tenor William Burden in Florida before making his conducting debut in the Orange County Performing Artscenter's Segerstrom Concert Hall in his capacity as music director designate of Orange County Youth Symphony Orchestra.  Professor Wachs then returned to Florida as guest piano soloist with the Boca Raton Symphony.  He also took the Chapman Chamber Orchestra on a tour of Southern California before leaving for a two-week residency with the National Orchestra of France in Paris.  Next he will be leading the Chapman Chamber Orchestra and members of the Pacific Symphony in Portraits of the American Frontier in Memorial Hall.

Micol Hebron, assistant professor of art, will be traveling to Glasgow, Scotland in February, where she will perform in the National Review of Live Art and moderate a panel discussion on contemporary performance art in the United States.

X-Tra, a magazine co-founded by Stephen Berens, assistant professor of art, was recently awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Grant for 2008. The grant, part of the Access to Artistic Excellence in the Visual Arts, was one of only four given to organizations in California and the only award given to a Los Angeles-based organization in this category. The grant will be used to support the reviews section of the magazine.

Eric Chimenti, assistant professor of art and head of the graphic design program, earned his Bachelor’s degree from Biola University. This year Biola’s art department is celebrating their 35th anniversary with a series of juried alumni shows.  Six examples of Professor Chimenti’s design work were selected for one of these exhibitions, running from January 28th through February 21st. The opening reception is Tuesday, February 5th from 7 to 9 pm.

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, has been asked to serve as the theatre consultant for the renovation of the historic Founder’s Theatre at the Center of Contemporary Art in St. Louis, Missouri. The building was originally the B'Nai Amoona Synogogue, designed in 1950 by the internationally recognized architect Eric Mendelsohn, and is currently recognized in the National Register of Historic Places. Don has been asked to design the architectural lighting, theatrical lighting, dimming system, control booth, rigging system, and audio/video layout for the theatre.

Keith Bangs, adjunct professor of theatre, has just finished a stint as technical coordinator for the upcoming production of Oklahoma at the Linkleter Theater in North San Diego County. Currently, he is working on a project for the San Francisco Ballet titled DANCE-IT (Dance & Information Technology.) DANCE-IT is a networked participatory media exhibit using embodied interaction to engage and educate the community about movement and dance. Moving beyond the "fourth wall", the observer becomes the participant and the exhibit's dance space is their stage.  Participants interact with and influence the behaviors of the digital media content presented in the exhibit. Their movement choices become a permanent part of the exhibition. Mr. Bangs will be installing the exhibit in San Francisco's City Hall, where it will be on display for six weeks before it travels south for an appearance in the lobby of the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Dr. Baron Kelly, assistant professor of theatre, is the topic of three biographical contributions in the eight-volume African American National Biography, edited by Henry Louis Gates and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, published January 16, 2008 from Oxford University Press.  The work presents African-American history through the lives of the people.

Eric Chimenti, assistant professor of art and head of the graphic design program, is again working with the Minnesota-based corporation TPAC Underwriters, which currently does business in twenty-five of the fifty states. Last year Professor Chimenti was selected and hired to design a new logo that better represented this $30 million a year corporation. This year he is working on the visual look of a healthcare plan that is expected to be better than a PPO.

Adjunct professor of dance Jennifer Backhaus (’94) has been named Academy Director of the West Coast Dance Academy in Mission Viejo.  Her company, Backhausdance, is now the company in residence at WCDA.  Backhausdance members will be teaching classes and rehearsing in the new space, increasing the visibility of concert dance and offering high quality training in contemporary and classical dance forms in south Orange County.

2007

Chapman University's Conservatory of Music has entered into a groundbreaking partnership with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, one of the most respected arts organizations in California, for a concert that will be part of the prestigious 2008 American Composers Festival in February.  The concert will feature the Chapman Chamber Orchestra, conducted by music director Daniel Alfred Wachs, with principal members of PSO in a concert titled "Portraits of the American Frontier", to be performed in Memorial Hall on Monday, Feb. 11.  The University Choir, under the direction of Joseph Modica, assistant professor of music, as well as newly appointed director of keyboard studies Dr. Grace Fong will also perform.  The program will include a screening of the historic 1936 documentary film The Plow That Broke the Plains-a government-financed project describing the environmental disasters of the '30s, including the "Dust Bowl"-with original music by Virgil Thompson. 

Representatives from the Kennedy Center/American College Theater Festival have selected the Department of Theatre’s fall production of The Tempest as a regional finalist for festival honors. The students have been invited to present the production in the festival competition at California State University, Los Angeles in February.  The winning production will move on to the national festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.  The Tempest, directed by Thomas Bradac, associate professor of theatre, was selected from hundreds of collegiate productions representing the finest university theatre in Region VIII (California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Hawaii and American Samoa).  Other schools chosen to perform at the festival include University of California, Los Angeles, Northern Arizona University, and Fullerton College. 

Dr. Baron Kelly, assistant professor of theatre, has written a chapter titled “Ira Aldridge:  Prophet of Protest” for The Great Shakespearean Tragedian on the Bicentennial Anniversary of His Birth, a book edited by Krystyna Kujawska Courtney and Maria A. Lukowska which will be published by Peter Lang Publishing in early 2008.  The chapter is based on his research in Moscow and St. Petersburg last summer.

Michael Nehring, professor of theatre, has been cast in a workshop production co-sponsored by the Center Theatre Group (Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson Theatre) and Son of Semele Theatre Ensemble.  The play, currently titled Corn Play, was written by Matthew McCray (‘98) and will be developed through three workshop productions with professional actors and staff from the Center Theatre Group.  Nehring will be playing Earl "Rusty" Butz, Secretary of Agriculture in the Nixon administration.

Micol Hebron, assistant professor of art, has co-curated an art exhibition titled "Big Bang and Other Origins" opening at the David Salow Gallery in Los Angeles on December 1st, 2007, with an opening reception from 7 - 9pm. Further information can be found at www.davidsalowgallery.com.

Dr. Baron Kelly, assistant professor of theatre, will be busy in Europe while on leave for his Fulbright to Norway in 2008.  He has been invited to teach a course at the University of Helsinki, Finland in Multicultural Performance Studies.  He will also teach a course on acting at the Theatre Academy in Helsinki.

Dr. Sean Heim, assistant professor of music, has been selected by the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers as an ASCAP Plus award recipient.  Dr. Heim was chosen by an independent panel in recognition of the value of his original catalogue of compositions and recent performances.  It is his ninth consecutive year of recognition from the ASCAP awards committee.

Robin Kish, instructor of dance, was the faculty sponsor for students Amanda Esquivel and Angela Nafie for the 2007 Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research, held at California State University, Los Angeles on November 17.  The students made poster presentations on their dance science research under the guidance of Ms. Kish.  The conference welcomes students of all disciplines in a “celebration of undergraduate discovery” and will hopefully be hosted by Chapman in coming years. 

Dr. Baron Kelly, assistant professor of theatre, has been asked to participate in the nationally renowned Odyssey Project at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  Dr. Kelly will lead a workshop on the empowerment of the spoken text in various works of dramatic literature.  While in Wisconsin he will also lead a Shakespeare workshop at the Racine Correctional Facility for the nationally recognized Shakespeare Behind Bars program.  In this program, inmates at the Racine Correctional Facility are finding their lives are being changed by performing various works from Shakespeare.  The program has garnered national attention from a documentary on PBS and featured articles in the New York Times. 

David Kiddie, assistant professor of art, has some of his latest ceramic sculptures on display in “Orange County Contemporary Ceramics”, at the John Wayne Airport through February 18, 2008.  The show, featuring thirty ceramists, is in the Vi Smith Concourse Gallery in the Thomas F. Riley Terminal.  Kiddie’s work is directly under the bronze sculpture of John Wayne.

Dr. Baron Kelly, assistant professor of theatre, was invited for nine days to be a guest instructor at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland.  Dr. Kelly led classes on breath control for brass players.  Esa-Pekka Salonen, famed conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic, is a graduate of the Sibelius Academy.  Dr. Kelly also delivered a guest lecture on the dramaturgy of Ibsen at the University of Helsinki.

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, taught a master class for the California Dance Education Association.  The presentation included how to stay current in the contemporary commercial dance industry through movement and philosophy. 

Daniel Alfred Wachs, assistant professor of music, has been named music director designate of Orange County Youth Symphony Orchestra (OCYSO), succeeding professor emeritus John Koshak.  OCYSO has a 30-year affiliation with Chapman University and is the official youth orchestra of Orange County, performing both on the Chapman campus as well as at the Orange County Performing Artscenter.  Professor Wachs, who joined the Conservatory last year as director of instrumental studies and music director of Chapman University's orchestras, has recently served as assistant conductor of the Cincinnati Opera 06-07 season.  Last March, he guest conducted the Rotterdam Philharmonic, replacing Valery Gergiev.

Micol Hebron, assistant professor of art, exhibited twelve photographs and three videos at the Seoul International Print, Photography & Edition Work Art Fair in Seoul, South Korea.  She also authored a review of Vija Celmin's exhibition of drawings at the Hammer Museum, published in the July-September issue of Flash Art International magazine, v. XL no. 255.  In addition, she had a solo exhibition of sculpture and video art at Sabina Lee Gallery in Los Angeles.

Stephen Berens, assistant professor of art, was honored with a Certificate of Recognition from the City of Los Angeles for his work on X-TRA magazine at the October 12 Los Angeles City Council meeting.  X-TRA, a contemporary art journal co-founded by Prof. Berens, was recognized on its 10th anniversary for “serving as a significant civic resource and for its part in enhancing the quality of life for Los Angeles residents”. 

Wendy Salmond, Co-Chair of the Department of Art, spoke on "The Cultural Significance of the Russian Icon" at the Louisiana Art and Science Museum in Baton Rouge on October 7. The lecture coincided with the traveling exhibition "Tradition in Transition: Russian Icons in the Age of the Romanovs."  Professor Salmond was the guest curator of the exhibition, which was organized by Hillwood Museum and Gardens in Washington D.C. and is touring seven museum venues throughout the United States. 

Micol Hebron, assistant professor of art, and Stephen Berens, assistant professor of art, announced the publication of X-TRA volume 10, number 1.  Both professors are on the editorial board of X-TRA, which is the longest running contemporary art journal in Los Angeles.  With the help of a prestigious three-year grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation, the magazine was redesigned with four-color printing, which was unveiled at a launch for the magazine hosted by the Outpost for Contemporary in Los Angeles.

Dr. Baron Kelly, assistant professor of theatre, starred in a new play, The Root by Gary Richards, at the Ark Theatre Company in Los Angeles. The show was produced by television star Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond) and featured a cast of television and film veterans including Jim Hanna, Jon Manfrellotti, and Allan Wasserman.

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, designed the lighting for “Master Harold"…and the boys by Athol Fugard at the Colony Theatre in Burbank.  In this production, an ordinary rainy afternoon in 1950s South Africa turns into a profound and life-changing experience for young, white Harold and his beloved black servants.  The Colony Theatre calls the work “a stunning masterpiece, one of the most powerful coming-of-age plays ever written, and still timely, still compelling, still unbearably moving”. 

Dr. Baron Kelly, assistant professor of theatre, was the guest speaker at the MESEA (Multi Ethnic Studies in Europe and the Americas) Conference in Joennsu, Finland.  He was the subject of an Orange County Register article, "Chapman Professor Tackles Diversity". 

David Kiddie, assistant professor of art, presented a show titled “Combo Platter” at the Harris Gallery at the University of La Verne.  The show consisted of a series of sixteen large platters made in collaboration with adjunct faculty member Michael Reafsnyder.  It was accompanied by a catalog and essay written by Shana Nys Dambrot. 

Michael Nehring, professor of theatre, performed the lead role of Napoleon in a one-act version of the Ovation Award-winning production of Animal Farm, produced by Son of Semele Theatre Ensemble.  The production, which received glowing reviews and multiple awards when staged five years ago, was re-staged as part of the Western Arts Alliance Conference, held in Los Angeles for the first time in twenty years.  Professor Nehring also played the role of Prospero in The Tempest under an Actor's Equity guest artist union contract for the first production of Chapman's 2007-2008 theatre season. 

On Monday, August 13, a glowing review of the Shakespeare Orange County production Romeo and Juliet appeared in the Los Angeles Times.  The director, professor Michael Nehring, was praised for “judiciously trimming the text” and “launch[ing] it around the Festival Amphitheater as a rambunctious ode to puppy love that goes terribly awry on the streets of Verona.”  The Times also wrote that associate professor Tamiko Washington “owns the audience as the Nurse, her bawdy chortles returning with chilling hollowness in Act 2”. 

Robin Kish, instructor of dance, attended the seventeenth annual International Association for Dance Medicine and Science Conference this year in Canberra, Australia.  She taught a one-hour movement session titled "Brain Gym to Optimize Dance Technique and Performance Experiences". Approximately fifty people attended the session.  The participants included dance teachers, physical therapists, the director of the Australian Ballet Company, and doctors of various specialties.  The workshop was a huge success and Ms. Kish has been asked to present a similar workshop as a conference faculty member at the 2008 Performing Arts Medicine Association Conference.

Liz Maxwell, assistant professor of dance, presented "The Power of a Name", about the work of Warren Lamb, at the Motus Humanus conference, a Laban symposium, in Minneapolis.  In addition, she was commissioned to create an original piece of choreography for Allegheny College in Pennsylvania.  Professor Maxwell also was invited as a guest artist to set Laura Dean's Sky Light on a group of women from the University of Washington's Chamber Dance Company.

Robin Kish, instructor of dance, presented a paper titled “The Flip Flop Phenomenon” at an internationally attended annual symposium on Medical Problems of Musicians and Dancers in Aspen, Colorado.  Along with her own research, Robin mentored dance majors Angela Nafie, Charles Maa, and Amanda Esquivel, whose scholarly work was also presented at the conference.  In addition, the students were invited to perform “Behind the Portrait”, choreographed by Ms. Kish, at the Wheeler Opera House.  The performance was very well received and was a highlight of the conference, impressing the attendees that the dancers were artists as well as scholars.  Ms. Kish is now chairing a committee for the Performing Arts Medicine Association.

Robert Becker, director of strings in the Conservatory of Music, was the viola soloist at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for Mozart’s Symphonie Concertante for violin and viola. This work was choreographed by George Balanchine and performed by American Ballet Theatre.  He also appeared in the Piano Quartet of Gabriel Faure at the Samueli Theatre as part of the Pacific Symphony’s “Café Ludwig” Series.

John Benitz, assistant professor of theatre, was guest director of the play What I Heard About Iraq by Simon Levy at Western Washington University. Professor Benitz’s visit also included a panel appearance on the WWU’s Distinguished Lecture Series.