Faculty News

2011

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, has been commissioned to serve as the lighting designer and production consultant for the 3rd International Magic Festival in Athens, Greece, February 8-12, 2012. The production, playing at the 2,500 seat Badminton Theatre, will feature six of the world’s top magicians and jugglers. The acts include Jeff Hobson (winner of 2009 Stage Magician of the Year and Best Comedy Magic), Michael Holly, Glenn Singer, Arkadio, Michael Giles and David Kaplan.

Teren Shaffer, adjunct professor of music, was recognized with a National Opera Association Award, third place across the United States in its category, for a production of Janacek's Cunning Little Vixen that he assisted and conducted last year at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, has been commissioned to serve as the technical director and production coordinator for Festival Ballet Theatre’s production of The Nutcracker, December 10-24 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. Guest stars include: Gillian Murphy, Gennadi Saveliev, Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky from the American Ballet Theatre.  He has also been commissioned by renowned choreographer David Allan to serve as lighting designer for a production of The Nutcracker featuring Principal Dancers Sarah Van Patten and Pierre-François Vilanoba from the San Francisco Ballet.

Dr. Grace Fong, director of keyboard studies and assistant professor of music, has recently returned from her debut performance tour of Shanghai, Beijing, Changsha, and Hong Kong to great acclaim. She also presented master classes and private lessons at select universities and conservatories.  Upon returning, she performed a benefit recital for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Shakespeare Orange County, led by associate professor of theatre Thomas Bradac, has been chosen to bring their production of Venus and Adonis to the Prague Fringe Festival in 2012.  Originally adapted from Shakespeare’s first published work in 2002 with undergraduate students at Chapman University, the production was staged in the Studio Theatre and was a participant in the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival.  The following year, Shakespeare Orange County further refined the adaptation with several of the original cast members.  The current cast includes Chapman alumni Amanda Zarr (’04), Misha Bouvion (’04), Mike Fountain (’00) and professor Michael Nehring, and was adapted, produced and directed by Thomas Bradac.  Read more about the Prague Fringe Festival at http://www.fringe.cz.  In addition, Shakespeare Orange County won an OC Weekly “Best Of” award for 2011 (http://www.ocweekly.com/bestof/2011/award/best-reason-to-sit-under-the-stars-and-listen-to-gibberish-1143975/). 

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, was invited to teach a master class in Honolulu, Hawaii. She taught a contemporary jazz master class that included a commercial jazz combination and a lecture on the benefits of continuing dance in higher education.

Robin Kish, assistant professor of dance, mentored five students who attended the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science conference in Washington, D.C. from October 12-15, 2011.  Dance majors Jordan Krinke ('12), Monica Mordaunt ('12), Elyse Frelinger ('12), Ben McDermit ('12) and athletic training major Bridget Thomson ('11) were five of only twelve undergraduate students accepted to the conference.  Jordan Krinke (recipient of an Undergraduate Research Award from Chapman) tied for the President’s Award for Poster Excellence with her study "Dance Teaching Certifications: Why Teachers Choose Specific Certification Programs or None at All".  In addition to Jordan's award, all of the students received praise from seasoned researchers for their work and created a great deal of conversation regarding their topics. 

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, was commissioned by So You Think You Can Dance finalist Caitlynn Lawson to choreograph her solo for the “Dance for Your Life” portion of the competition. It is during the “Dance for Your Life” segment of Fox’s hit television series that the contestants perform a solo routine to determine if they will be eliminated or continue forward in the competition. Caitlynn used the choreography to successfully dance her way into being one of the top six finalists for Season 8.

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, has been commissioned to serve as the lighting designer and production coordinator for Festival Ballet Theatre’s production of Le Corsaire Suite & Mixed Repertoire on October 8-9 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. Guest stars Jose Manuel Carreño, former American Ballet Theatre principal dancer, and Jennifer Carlynn Kronenberg, Miami City Ballet principal dancer, will perform the famous grand pas de deux in Le Corsaire Suite, which features the best-loved passages from this romantic adventure. The program also includes George Balanchine’s captivating Valse-Fantaisie and two new works by choreographers Andrea Schermoly and Kerry Nicholls.

Louise Thomas, associate professor of music, performed on September 18 with Elizabeth Pitcairn, who plays the iconic "Red Violin". The performance was primarily to benefit UCLA's Medical School and was held at what was once the Beverly Hills estate of Elvis Presley, now the residence of Redken co-founder Paula Kent Meehan. The event was co-hosted by Candy Spelling and attended by tennis stars Andre Agassi and Stefanie Graf.

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, has been commissioned to serve as Lighting Designer for the production of Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell at The Laguna Playhouse. Starring Dee Dee Rescher and directed by Andrew Barnicle, this Tony Award-winning play is a hilarious, poignant and touching journey towards independence and self-discovery. Shirley Valentine runs from September 27 – October 23, 2011.  For more information, visit  http://www.lagunaplayhouse.com/onstage/2011/shirleyvalentine/.

Michael Nehring, professor of theatre, appeared in Stephanie Fleischmann's new play What the Moon Saw, or 'I Only Appear to Be Dead' , which translates Hans Christian Andersen tales to a post-9/11 world, with the Son of Semele ensemble in Los Angeles, of which he is a founding member.  The play was directed by alumnus Matthew McCray (’98) and also featured alumna Marissa Pistone  (‘10). 

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, was invited to judge the 2011 – 2012 Los Angeles Clippers Spirit Professional NBA Dance Team auditions. The panel of judges included the Los Angeles Clippers Entertainment Teams Director, the Los Angeles Clippers Director of Game Entertainment, administrators from the NBA and professional athletes. The auditions were conducted over a three-day period with a total of six rounds of eliminations. The process of elimination included competitions in technique, choreography, improv and interview. Well over two hundred dancers from across the nation competed for the 16 coveted spots.

Nick Terry, assistant professor of music, recorded four compositions with his ensemble, the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, this August at Skywalker Sound (a Lucasfilm Co.) on the classical music label Sono Luminus.  The recording, to be released in early 2012, is one of the very first 7.1 surround-sound recordings of percussion chamber music, and will be distributed internationally to over 60 countries via NAXOS, one of the world's largest classical music record labels.  Two of the four works were composed by Conservatory of Music faculty members Jeffrey Holmes and Dr. Sean Heim (the latter composer's work was commissioned by the esteemed FROMM Music Foundation).  The compositions will be played live at Zipper Hall in downtown Los Angeles on September 10 at 8pm.  Tickets are free to Chapman students (with valid ID), and $15 general admission.  For more information, visit www.lapercussionquartet.com.

Robin Kish, assistant professor of dance, presented on a professional panel titled “The Future in Dance and Music Medicine/Science” at the 29th annual symposium on Medical Problems of Performing Artists held July 21-24, 2011 in Snowmass, Colorado, sponsored by the international organization Performing Arts Medicine Association.  The panel included well established professionals in the field of dance and music medicine, including Sang-Hie Lee Ph.D., Ed.D., M.M. from the University of South Florida, Janice Plastino, Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine, and Bonnie Robson, M.D.  In addition, two undergraduate student projects mentored by Professor Kish were presented at this conference.  Rena Nishijima (’12) presented her study on “Genu varum and genu valgum among Asian dancers in comparision to non-Asian dancers” and Whitney Kofford (’12) presented her study on “Healthy eating knowledge and habits among college dance and music majors.”  Whitney’s study was the first to incorporate dance and music majors at Chapman in a study.  Professor Kish also co-organized, with Janice Plastino, the inaugural “Healthy Approaches in the Training of Dancers” conference at Chapman University in conjunction with Performing Arts Medicine Association on August 14.  Speakers included Nancy Kadel, M.D., an internationally recognized surgeon specializing in foot and ankle reconstruction in dancers, Chris Koutures M.D., FAAP, a pediatrician, sports medicine and performing arts specialist, and Desiree Robbins, a leading commercial industry teacher and choreographer.

Dr. Grace Fong, director of keyboard studies in the Conservatory of Music, recently returned from her performance as a soloist for An Evening in Olde Vienna with the Indianapolis Symphony, where music critic Tom Aldridge wrote:  “With K. 271 she shared one of Mozart's supreme compositions, possibly as Mozart himself might have played it (or wished it done). Every note audible with perfect phrasing, clean articulation and delicate nuance—seemingly effortless passage and octave work in the difficult final movement.. one sits back and goes, wow! Each time she has mesmerized with her essentially faultless playing.”  Next week, Oscar-nominated Mike Figgis' music video featuring Dr. Fong is premiering at the Royal Opera House, London, at the 2011 Deloitte Ignite Festival.

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, has been elected to the American College Dance Festival National Board of Directors Baja Region. Professor Okouchi-Guy also attended the American College Dance Festival hosted by the University of California, Long Beach. She taught a master class in commercial jazz and presented two pieces of her choreography that were performed in the Martha B. Knoebel Dance Theater.

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, was offered an amazing opportunity from dance icon and living legend Donald McKayle to create the first ever Chapman/UCI Dance Exchange. Mr. McKayle, Artistic Director of UCI Etudes Dance Ensemble, invited her to coproduce an evening of concert dance hosted at UCI. This Chapman/UCI coproduced concert showcased a select group of dancers from the dance departments of Chapman University and the University of California, Irvine. The highlight of the concert was the first ever collaborative endeavor combining Chapman University dancers with UCI dancers to perform Mr. McKayle’s masterpiece “Rocks and Gravel” from Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder. This masterpiece was performed by seven male dancers and one female dancer. Chapman students included Chris Babcock (’14), Christopher Carvalho (’14), Joe Chantry (’14), Derek Nemechek (’13) and DJ Ortiz (’12).

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, has been commissioned to serve as lighting designer for the production Carnival of Wonders at The Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The show will feature Master Magicians Kalin and Jinger (two-time Magicians of the Year) and comedy magician Jeff Hobson.

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, was selected by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs to serve as a Peer Panelist for Small and Mid-Sized Dance Organizations. This elite panel of dance professionals meets in the Cultural Affairs building in Los Angeles to discuss and provide their individual recommendations for the allocation of grants. Professor Okouchi-Guy was charged with reviewing all eligible proposals, discussing project worthiness, making comments and assigning numerical scores.  The Grants Administration Division awards approximately $3 million annually to nurture and support community service providers and community artists in Los Angeles.

Liz Maxwell, assistant professor of dance, recently spoke on a panel titled “Reconstruction by All Available Means” held in Seattle by the Dance Critics Association. Attending the conference were preeminent critics and dance historians from many publications, including the New York Times, Village Voice, Dance Magazine and others.  Professor Maxwell then traveled to New York to deliver a research paper written in conjunction with Professor Robin Kish. This conference was hosted by the Dance Kinesiology Teacher’s Group and was focused on sharing teaching tools and practices in Dance Science and Somatics. Their paper, “Curricular Programming to Facilitate Somatic and Anatomical Awareness in Higher Education”, discussed the rationale for and successes and challenges of creating space within the College of Performing Arts curriculum for effective collaborative programming between dance science and somatics. 

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, recently served as the Lighting Designer for Saint Louis Ballet's production of Romeo and Juliet at the Touhill Performing Arts Center in St. Louis, MO.  The production was choreographed by Artistic Director and former New York City Ballet soloist Gen Horiuchi. In May, he also served as Lighting Director for Saint Louis Ballet’s performance of Tribute, by choreographer Christopher d' Amboise, which was presented as part of the Spring To Dance Festival 2011 sponsored by Dance St. Louis. The festival featured performances by numerous dance companies including Saint Louis Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem and The Joffrey Ballet.

Tamiko Washington, associate professor of theatre, is the Artistic Director of OC-Centric, Orange County's new play festival.  Her inspiration to create the festival stems from the desire to support Orange County's playwrights with an emphasis on producing new plays.  The debut festival will include the following plays:  Do Hoosiers Go to Heaven? by Eric Eberwein, In Search of Reason by Gene Fiskin, The Myth of the Cubicle by Ken La Salle, and Sex, Love &  the Premature Evacuation by Joni Ravena.  The festival will feature Off-Broadway directors Ray Chao and Allison Mosier, Hunger Artists Theatre resident director Jill Johnson, and Professor Washington.  The festival dates are August 19, 20, 26 and 28 at 8pm, and August 21 and 28 at 2pm in the Studio Theatre in Moulton Hall.  Tickets are $15.  For ticket reservations and information, call (714) 902-5715.

Dr. Robert Frelly, associate professor of music, will be presented with a 2011 Annual Achievement Award by Arts Orange County at the 12th Annual Orange County Arts Awards in September at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.  In addition, following a two-year national search, Dr. Frelly has been selected as the new Music Director and Conductor of the La Mirada Symphony.  This professional orchestra presents eight concerts per season with an average attendance of 2000 people.   Dr. Frelly led the orchestra for five performances of the 2010-2011 season, and will now serve as the fourth music director in the organization’s 50-year history.

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, has been commissioned to serve as lighting designer for a new production titled “The Magic of Paris”, which will premiere at the Paris Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip this June. The production will feature magician Stephane Vanel (2001 World Champion and former star of the Crazy Horse Paris show at the MGM Grand) and will be directed by Joanie Spina (Choreographer and Artistic Consultant for David Copperfield and Casting Director for Franco Dragone’s “Kung Fu Panda” live show). The electrifying production is scheduled for an open-ended run and will showcase magic, illusions, dance, comedy and variety artists.

Dr. Grace Fong recently returned as soloist with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, and Arizona Central music critic Richard Nilson said of her performance: "The program opened with the Grieg, and it was immediately a revelation. Not only did Fong play the music as lovingly as you might expect a Chopin nocturne...Fong gave us rhythmic variation as the core of her interpretation…beauty of her phrasing and the depth of her expression."  This summer, Dr. Fong will also serve as a faculty member and performer at the Innsbrook Institute Summer Festival; she will be the soloist for "Evening in Olde Vienna" with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra; and she has been invited to record in Italy at the home of recording artist Sting.

Thomas Bradac, associate professor of theatre, was invited to be a guest speaker at Whittier College for an interdisciplinary seminar titled Los Angeles Integrated Arts on the topic of “Producing Non-Profit Theatre Including My Life in Art -- Specifically Shakespeare”.  Other speakers included representatives from the Getty Center, Los Angeles Opera and the Grammy Museum. 

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, was commissioned to serve as Lighting Designer and Production Coordinator for the Gala of the Stars Invitational Dance Festival, held at the Irvine Barclay Theatre on May 6th. The evening of dance featured performances by Danil Simkin (American Ballet Theatre), Lorena Feijoo (San Francisco Ballet), Vitor Luiz (San Francisco Ballet), Youth America Grand Prix award winners, and Festival Ballet Theatre.

Daniel Alfred Wachs, director of instrumental studies in the Conservatory of Music, has been elected to the Alumni Council at his alma mater, The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. 

Patrick Goeser, adjunct professor of music, has been chosen to receive the 2011 United States Presidential Scholars Program's Teacher Recognition Award.  Each Presidential Scholar is asked to select his or her most inspiring and unforgettable teacher, and Mr. Goeser was nominated by his private voice student Daniel McGrew.  He will receive recognition at the White House and a plaque as a memento of the honor in Washington D.C.  His trip to Washington will include a Teacher Recognition Dinner on June 19, Teacher Excellence Seminars and Reception on June 20, and performance by the U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Performing Arts, saluting the Scholars Class of 2011, on June 20 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall.

Tamiko Washington, associate professor of theatre, has founded a new independent theatre company, Actors Circle Ensemble (ACE).  Company members include BFA theatre performance students Casey Jay Adler (’11), Sean Burgos (’11) and Andre Stojka (’11).  ACE’s debut production will include two critically acclaimed one-acts: The Indian Wants the Bronx by Israel Horovitz and Tom & Jerry by Jim Geoghan.  The performances will take place at the Ivy Substation in Culver City, May 25-28 at 8:00 pm.  Actors Circle Ensemble seeks to inspire audiences to share and experience humanity through compelling storytelling and is dedicated to supporting this vision with a conviction to performing engaging moments on stage.  To learn more about ACE and purchase tickets, visit www.actorscircleensemble.com.

Assistant professor of dance Robin Kish was accepted to the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science conference in October 2011 in Washington, DC to present her study “Potential for noise induced hearing loss in dancers” as well as a study with Gary Galbraith, an MFA from Case Western Reserve and the Dancer Wellness Project, titled “A model for dance exposure data usage collected through an email based exposure tracking system”.  She will also be presenting on a panel discussion focused on the future of arts medicine at the 29th annual Medical Problems of Performing Artists symposium of the Performing Arts Medicine Association.

Over spring break, Daniel Alfred Wachs, director of instrumental studies in the Conservatory of Music, served as Artistic Advisor to the Pacific Northwest Chamber Orchestra in Washington state.

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, was recently commissioned to serve as the Technical Director and Lighting Designer for the Maple Youth Ballet production of Alice in Wonderland. The production, choreographed by former American Ballet Theatre soloist Charles Maple, debuted at the Irvine Barclay Theatre.

Dr. Grace Fong, director of keyboard studies in the Conservatory of Music, has recently returned from her third performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., this time sharing the stage with the National Symphony Orchestra.  In addition, a music video filmed by Oscar-nominated director Mike Figgis featuring Dr. Fong was premiered at the 2011 Barbados Music Festival. 

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, has been commissioned to serve as lighting designer for Saint Louis Ballet’s Tribute to New York. The evening of dance will include: "Allegro Brilliante" by choreographer George Balanchine (© The George Balanchine Trust), "Tribute" by choreographer Christopher d' Amboise, a solo performed by Sokvannara Sar (star of the celebrated film Dancing Across Borders), and "Romantique" by choreographer and Artistic Director Gen Horiuchi.

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, has been commissioned to serve as lighting designer and technical director for the Festival Ballet Theatre’s production of the full-length ballet Coppélia on March 26-27 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. The production will feature Megan Fairchild and Andrew Veyette of New York City Ballet.

Dr. Sean Heim, associate professor of music, and Nick Terry, assistant professor of music, recently returned from a performance tour of Taiwan and Hong Kong.  Invited to participate in a series of concerts titled A Confluence of Cultures, Heim and Terry joined composers and performers gathered from across the Pacific Rim in presenting concerts at the National Concert Hall (Taipei) and Red Square Gallery (Hong Kong).  Both sold-out performances featured music that explores the evocative, novel, and inspirational combination of Western & Eastern musical traditions.

Nick Terry, assistant professor of music, recently adjudicated and performed with his ensemble the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet at the Central California Day of Percussion, hosted by California State University Fresno, and presented by the Percussive Arts Society.  Throughout the day, Terry and his ensemble gave multiple performances (including Occasus by assistant professor of music Jeffrey Holmes) and group master classes for approximately 300 percussion enthusiasts.  Celebrating its 20th year, the Central California Day of Percussion is one of the oldest and largest percussion festivals in the western United States.

Dr. Grace Fong, director of keyboard studies in the Coservatory of Music, will be performing as a soloist with the Phoenix Symphony and giving a performance tour in Japan in the next few weeks. Of her recent performance on March 6 at the American Pianists Association's Grand Encounters Series in Indianapolis, Indiana, music critic Tom Aldridge raved: "Sunday afternoon’s IHC Basile Theater was nearly full for the American Pianists Association’s first Grand Encounter Series program of 2011. Even ISO conductor laureate Raymond Leppard was in attendance. And he surely couldn’t have been more gratified to be greeted by Grace Fong (she spoke, introducing us to the program before playing), the most startling pianistic talent to emerge as an APA Fellow (one of two in 2009) since the series relocated here from New York in the 1980s.  Of her appearances here since her Fellowship award — one a solo recital at Butler, another a concerto performance with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra — she has continued to mesmerize us with her uncanny control of all facets of keyboard technique and musicianship.  I’m always astonished to hear what Fong’s keyboard work gives to me: a perfect sense of touch, fingerwork, trilling, chordal exchanges and pedaling, unimpeded by technical challenges or tempo limits to make it through obstacles without slips. Moreover, Fong senses what the music needs and it just happens...bring Fong back." 

On March 10 and 11, 2011, the Monterey Symphony will present their annual Youth Concerts to 6,000 school children at the Steinbeck Institute of Art and Culture in Salinas.  These performances mark the 37th year of this tradition which benefits fourth and fifth graders in Monterey and San Benito Counties. The Monterey Symphony educates and entertains the students about orchestral history and the instruments used to present symphonic music.  This year’s program, titled “The Case of the Missing Pipe(s?)”, written and led by Daniel Alfred Wachs.

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, was selected by a panel of dance adjudicators to have her choreography presented in the Pasadena Dance Festival Concert at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Her piece, “Interference”, was chosen to close the professional concert that included the world-renowned Mark Morris Dance Group from New York and seven other professional dance companies from Southern California. The festival was a three-day event that included master classes, an Emerging Choreographers Showcase, a Student Concert and a Professional Concert. The Pasadena Dance Festival was sponsored in part by the Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission and the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division.

Daniel Alfred Wachs, director of instrumental studies in the Conservatory of Music, was invited by the music director of the Houston Symphony to serve as cover conductor February 11-13 for a program of music by French composer Maurice Ravel. The Houston Symphony is one of the nation’s oldest and most respected orchestras, with a history stretching back to 1913 and a list of conductors that includes Andre Previn and Sir John Barbirolli. 

John Benitz, assistant professor of theatre, stars in an upcoming episode of the Discovery Channel’s Kidnap and Rescue series titled “Proof of Life”.  Professor Benitz plays Thomas Hargrove, kidnapped for ransom and held for nearly a year before being released.  The episode was filmed in August and airs February 19 at 10:00pm.  Visit http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/kidnap-and-rescue/episodes.html to see a still shot of Professor Benitz in the role and find out more about the series. 

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, has been commissioned to serve as lighting designer and production consultant for the 2nd International Magic Festival in Athens, Greece. The production, playing at the 2,500 seat Badminton Theatre, will feature master magicians Kalin and Jinger, illusionist Raymond Crowe, magician George Saterial and comedian/juggler Michael Goudeau.

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, was selected to present her choreography in Ballet Etudes: 3rd Annual Invitational Winter Dance Concert and Choreographers’ Showcase at the Irvine Valley College Performing Arts Center in Irvine, CA. Her piece, “Interference”, a men’s quartet, was performed by dance majors Christopher Carvalho, Joe Chantry, Derek Nemechek, Daniel Ortiz and Chris Babcock (understudy). The Invitational included legendary iconic dance choreography from Les Sylphides by Michel Fokine and Dances for Isadora by José Limón. Alicia was also invited to serve as an adjudicator for the 2011 High School Dance Invitational in Irvine, CA. She served as a respondent for twenty-five new works choreographed by faculty, students and guest artists from local Southern California high school dance programs.

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, was recently commissioned by the Boston Celtics to serve as guest choreographer in Boston, Massachusetts for their professional NBA dance team the Celtics Dancers.

2010

Over the winter holiday, Dr. Grace Fong, director of keyboard studies in the Conservatory of Music, did a performance tour with Sony Classical artist Gilles Apap of France, hailed by the late, great Yehudi Menuhin as "a true violinist of the 21st century."  Dr. Fong was also a guest artist on Pink Martini's new album, which was internationally released in November and named the "pick of the week" in the New York Times, available at Starbucks nationwide, ITunes, and Amazon. Dr. Fong was also invited to adjudicate the Impressionist/Contemporary Music Festival Competition and the California Association of Professional Music Teachers Chamber Music Competition.

Daniel Alfred Wachs, director of instrumental studies in the Conservatory of Music, was invited to conduct the New York City Ballet production of The Nutcracker in three performances this month at Lincoln Center. Wachs also has a new CD available featuring him in concert with other orchestras as both conductor and piano soloist.

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, is preparing for a busy month of December. He will serve as Production Supervisor for Festival Ballet Theatre’s production of The Nutcracker at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. The production will feature American Ballet Theatre stars Gillian Murphy, Gennadi Saveliev, Irina Dvorovenko and Jose Manuel Carreño. He has also been commissioned by renowned choreographer David Allan to design a premiere production of The Nutcracker featuring New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Sterling Hyltin.

Liz Maxwell, assistant professor of dance, has published an article in the peer-reviewed International Journal of the Humanities Volume 8, Issue 8.  Her article titled “Decisions in Art Making: An Illustration Through Dance” is the culmination of her research presented at the Eighth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities at UCLA this past summer.

Liz Maxwell, assistant professor of dance, presented a paper in November as a part of the Working Group at the joint conference for Congress on Research in Dance and the American Society for Theatre Research held in Seattle, WA.  Her paper “The Relational Dialectic: Examining the Student/Teacher Dynamic Through Somatic Education” was a part of a larger discussion focused on the topic of performance as research.  The Working Group, formed four years ago, encourages interdisciplinary dialogue between artists and scholars and is grounded in what anthropologist Dwight Conquergood calls “performance as a way of knowing”. 

Daniel Alfred Wachs, director of instrumental studies in the Conservatory of Music, led the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg this month, and a writer for Dreh Punkt Kultur compared Wachs to no less than the famed Gustavo Dudamel.  A highlight of the concert performed by the Mozarteum in combination with the Salzburger Landesjugendorchester (Salzburg’s leading youth orchestra) was the world premiere of a work by internationally renowned composer Toshio Hosokawa.  The reviewer said Wachs was “an inspiring advocate, bringing out every detail of the score with precision.”  And under Wachs’ direction the closing piece in the concert apparently rocked the famed Festspielhaus, home of the Salzburg Summer Festival.  “The final work on the program was Leonard Bernstein’s “Symphonic Dances” from the musical West Side Story which the composer himself arranged. Engaging, rhythmically inspired, precise in its execution, the “Mambo” was equal to a performance by Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra!” wrote reviewer Horst Reischenböck.

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, recently served as lighting designer for the production The Magic of the Orient Express in Dallas, TX. The show featured Master Magicians Kalin and Jinger (two-time Magicians of the Year) and comedy magician John Cassidy.

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, was invited to conduct a seminar on “Working as a Professional Dancer and Choreographer” to the faculty and students in the Department of Dance at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Dr. Janice Park, instructor of piano in the Conservatory of Music, recently performed in two separate world premiere performances, one in Paraguay and one locally in Anaheim.  Dr. Park was invited by the National Symphony Orchestra of Paraguay to perform the piano solo movements of a world premiere ballet, commissioned by the government of Paraguay to celebrate the bicentennial of their country's independence.  The piece was written by brother and sister Paraguayan composers Nancy and Daniel Luzko.  In addition, Dr. Park was the featured pianist in a world premiere ensemble work with the Orange County Wind Symphony.  The piece, Luz al Mar Oscuro, was written by American composer Joseph Cristina, and the concert was held at the Servite Theatre in Anaheim.  This performance was part of the Music of Latin America concert and was presented with the support of Argentine Promotions Center of Los Angeles in celebration of Argentina’s bicentennial, which also is in 2010. 

Daniel Alfred Wachs, director of instrumental studies in the Conservatory of Music, has been invited to conduct at two celebrated music houses in coming months, including for the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center.  In early November Wachs will conduct the world premiere of a work by internationally-renowned composer Toshio Hosokawa with the Mozarteum Orchestra of Salzburg and the Salzburger Landesjugendorchester at the Festspielhaus, home of the famed Salzburg Summer Festival. Wachs will be in residence for two weeks as conductor for a project called “2Orchestras,” which features commissioned pieces that can be played both by the Mozarteum and youth orchestras.  The two-year-old “2Orchestras” project plans to commission several such works over the next few years. Last year’s piece by composer Kurt Schwertsik was performed at the Orange County Performing Arts Center by the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra and the Orange County Youth Symphony, which Wachs conducts. Based on the success of that performance, which received sparkling reviews from local music writers, the Mozarteum invited Wachs to conduct this year’s program in Salzburg, for which Hosokawa composed Dances imaginaire II. In December Wachs will guest conduct The New York City Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker, at Lincoln Center. The NYCB visit is a return engagement for Wachs, who was artist in residence there in 2003-2004, following his graduation from The Juilliard School. 

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, has been commissioned to serve as the lighting designer and production coordinator for the Festival Ballet Theatre’s production of Firebird & Mixed Repertoire on October 15-16 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre. This production features The Firebird choreographed by Nikolai Kabaniaev (Kirov Ballet), Intimate Conversations choreographed by Molly Lynch (Louisville Ballet), Oops! choreographed by Viktor Plotnikov (Boston Ballet) and Laurencia staged by Yuri Fateyev (Acting Director of the Mariinsky Ballet Company).

Dr. Grace Fong, director of keyboard studies, has recently returned from her performance with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and the review of her performance by Tom Aldridge of NUVO Weekly stated, “I can’t imagine more satisfaction at the opening of Indy’s classical-music season then hearing Grace Fong guesting with any series. A year ago, this 2009 American Pianists Association Fellow shared her near matchless talents as a recital soloist at Butler University. This time she appeared with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra in the IHC’s Basile Theater, playing the Schumann A Minor Piano Concerto. In both, her seemingly effortless touch in coaxing all the music inherent in her selections made two especially memorable evenings for this listener. Moreover, Robert Schumann was at the height of his musical inspiration with this concerto. Fong seems to evoke near perfection in revealing every note through a controlled legato, gliding over the most difficult passages as though child’s play…”

Laszlo Lak, instructor of music, has been invited by the Music Teachers Association, Long Beach Chapter, to present a lecture/recital on October 6, 2010, featuring the music of Franz Liszt. The lecture will focus on the various contributions to piano techniques and inventions by Liszt, followed by a recital of master pieces.

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, and Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, recently produced, along with long-time friend and industry colleague Lloyd Reese, a documentary film showcasing the 20th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards Gala at the Directors Guild of America in Hollywood, CA. The documentary will serve to educate and inspire the community while promoting arts education. Upon completion, the film will be submitted to documentary film festivals.

John Benitz, assistant professor of theatre, was cast in an episode of a new Discovery Channel series currently titled Hargrove. He appeared as the title character, Dr. Thomas Hargrove, a man who was captured by Columbian militants in 1994 and held hostage, under incredibly harsh conditions, in the Andes for 11 months. Hargrove kept, and smuggled out, a secret diary that became the book Long March to Freedom, which inspired the movie Proof of Life. The episode is planned to air in February.

Dr. Grace Fong, assistant professor and director of keyboard studies, has just returned from being faculty and guest performer at various music festivals, including the Innsbrook Institute Summer Festival in St. Louis, Mo., the Portland Chamber Summer Ensembles Festival, the Oregon Bach Festival, and a Festival of Music in Tuscany, Italy. This season, Dr. Fong has been invited to be soloist with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony, Tucson Symphony, and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and will be doing a performance tour in Japan. 

Chapman University Department of Theatre faculty members were very active at the annual Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) conference, held this year for the first time in Los Angeles.  The ATHE Conference brought together over 900 theatre educators and artists from around the world from August 3-6, 2010.  Department of Theatre Chair Dr. Nina LeNoir, who served as Vice President for Conference 2010 and was instrumental in planning and organizing this year’s conference, also presented during a panel on “Assessing The Student Actor: A Rubric for Defining Expectations When Teaching the Actor’s Art” and with fellow Theatre Assistant Professor John Benitz and several other theatre educators in a lively roundtable discussion titled “In a Multi-Media Marketplace, Are Our Traditional Acting Programs on a Path to Extinction?” 

Liz Maxwell, assistant professor of dance, will be presenting an interactive workshop at the Eighth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities.  Her presentation includes a paper discussing the ability to determine decision making style through movement behavior patterns.  Expounding on the work of Rudolf Laban and Warren Lamb, Professor Maxwell has applied these ideas to the creative process in a presentation titled “Decisions in Art Making: An Illustration Through Dance.” The conference will be held at UCLA at the end of June.

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, and Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, have been commissioned by the Operafestival di Roma as the lighting designer and the choreographer for the opera Die Fledermaus this July in Rome, Italy.  Both professors will be bringing several of their Chapman students to work on and perform in this full-length opera.  Professor Guy will be bringing technical theatre students Trevor Weil (‘12), Maisie Chan (‘12), Christine Wille (‘11), and Jenny Ludwig (‘11); and Professor Okouchi-Guy will be bringing dance majors Katy Grebing (‘10), Keely Misenhimer (‘12), Kylie Chilton (‘12), and Alexi Theador (‘13).  The Chapman students will have the opportunity to collaborate with other students from around the world and study with an international faculty of professional artists. The three week residency will culminate with performances to be held in the historic Palazzo della Sapienza.

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, was commissioned to serve as Lighting Designer and Production Coordinator for the Protégé & Stars Invitational Dance Festival, held at the Irvine Barclay Theatre on May 7th. The evening of dance featured performances by Ailey II, Houston Ballet II, Youth America Grand Prix, and Festival Ballet Theatre.

Nick Terry, assistant professor of music, recently performed at the Kyoto Laureate Symposium hosted by the University of San Diego.  Renowned as the "Nobel Prize of Japan", the Kyoto Prize this year was awarded to Maestro Pierre Boulez, whom Professor Terry has performed with on multiple occasions.

Dr. Grace Fong, director of keyboard studies in the Conservatory of Music, has been asked by the U.S. State Department to represent the United States in a performance with the Orkestra Filamonica of Montevideo, Uruguay, this summer. In addition, Dr. Fong will perform a solo recital at the official residence of the ambassador. These events will all be sponsored by the U.S. Embassy.  In addition, Dr. Fong just returned from a tour of performances, including: two solo recitals sponsored by the Chopin Foundation of the United States in Ft. Lauderdale and Coral Gables, Florida; a “Salzburg Soiree” concert for the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego; and collaborations with the Cleveland Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony orchestras. In the next month, Dr. Fong will continue performing concerts and giving master classes sponsored by Oregon Health and Science University and Portland State University, the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition at the San Diego Museum of Art, and the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene, Oregon.

Donald Guy, assistant professor of theatre, has been commissioned to serve as the Lighting Designer for Saint Louis Ballet's World Premiere production of Swan Lake at the Touhill Performing Arts Center in St. Louis, MO.  The production is choreographed by Artistic Director and former New York City ballet soloist Gen Horiuchi.

Dr. Robert Frelly, associate professor of music and director of music education, acted as the Staff Conductor for the National High School Honors Orchestra in Santa Clara, CA in February.  The National High School Honors Orchestra is comprised of the top 115 high school students representing 43 states. 

Liz Maxwell, assistant professor of dance, was invited as a guest artist to California State University, Long Beach to present her lecture-demonstration titled “The Power of a Name” to 100 students and faculty members.   Professor Maxwell created an interactive workshop, which along with a lecture and a performance of her solo Return, illuminated the connections between movement profiling systems derived from Rudolf Laban’s theories and the creative process. 

This April, Daniel Alfred Wachs, director of instrumental studies in the Conservatory of Music, guest conducted the Spartanburg Philharmonic Orchestra in South Carolina; was invited to lead the cello festival at Cal State Fullerton; gave a lecture-recital with the Chapman String Quartet on a Mozart piano concerto at the Covington, conducting from the keyboard; and flew to New York to hold master classes, discuss career development and hold an orchestra clinic at Hunter College in New York City.

Robin Kish, assistant professor of dance, will be presenting her research on “What Happened to the Left Leg?” to the 20th annual meeting of the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science, October 28-31, 2010.  The conference is in Birmingham, UK at the Birmingham Hippodrome, hosted by the University of Wolverhampton and Birmingham Royal Ballet.  In addition, Professor Kish’s advisees Elizabeth Nicks (’11) and Jacque Price (’11) will be presenting “Sleep Patterns in Collegiate Dancers” and Jenna Keiper (’10) will present “The Elephant in the Studi Performance Anxiety in College Dancers”.

Alicia Okouchi-Guy, assistant professor of dance, was invited to lecture on “Professional Careers in Dance” to the faculty and students in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. In addition, she recently taught a master class in contemporary jazz to the Department of Dance at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO.  While in Missouri, Professor Okouchi-Guy also arranged for a special audition for Katy Grebing (’10) for the St. Louis Ballet under the artistic direction of Gen Horiuchi, Balanchine protege and former principal dancer of the New York City Ballet.  

Robin Kish, assistant professor of dance, will be leading a panel presentation and presenting on the topic "Creation, Development, Pitfalls and Running of Arts Medicine Clinics" at the 28th annual symposium of Medical Problems of Performing Artists from July 29-August 1, 2010 in Snowmass, CO.  In addition, she will be presenting a workshop titled “Brain Gym™ to Optimize Technique, Performance, and Everyday Life”.  Professor Kish’s student, Toni Caligiuri (’10) will be also be presenting her paper "The Domino Effect".

Dr. Sean Heim, associate professor of music, recently had his compositions featured on Thomas Buckner’s longstanding series of new music, Interpretations, at Roulette in New York City.  Dr. Heim invited his mentor and friend, Chinary Ung, to share the concert and together they presented what was described as “an evening of challenging and deeply personal contemporary solo and chamber music from a distinguished and renowned elder composer and an acclaimed and equally commendable former protégé.”  Also joining Dr. Heim from Chapman was Dr. Paul Sherman, director of the Chapman Wind Symphony, multitalented oboist, and member of the Los Angeles based new music group, Ensemble Green, who will perform Dr. Heim’s work Holomovements on May 8 at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music.  For more information, visit http://www.ensemblegreen.com/performances.php.

Dr. Janice Park, instructor of piano in the Conservatory of Music, was invited by Detroit Chamber Winds & Strings to perform on March 26 in Detroit, MI. She performed chamber music as well as piano solo pieces to a sold-out audience.  In addition, six of Dr. Park’s students were prizewinners in a piano competition sponsored by the Music Teachers' Association of California  at Chapman University and were also selected to perform at the MTAC annual convention on July 2nd. Four of the winners are currently Chapman students:  Theresa Silveyra (’11), Hunter Schmidt (‘13), Evan Roth (‘13), and Brian Jenkins (‘10).

Dr. Robert Frelly, associate professor of music and director of music education, gave a presentation at the International Arts and Humanities Conference in Honolulu, HI titled Leadership in Music Education: Interactive Teaching Program, based on a project developed within the Conservatory of Music, in January 2010.  He was invited to present following a thorough peer-review process.  The conference was attended by over 2,000 researchers and university professors representing over 40 countries.

Two adjunct faculty members from the Chapman Conservatory of Music — mezzo-soprano and vocal instructor Kristina Driskill and pianist and keyboard instructor Mark Robson — earned a rave review in the Los Angeles Times’ CultureMonster blog for their performance of the “Hollywood Songbook” of emigre German Jewish composer Hanns Eisler this past Saturday. They performed at the Villa Aurora in Pacific Palisades, which hosted a day-long event devoted to Eisler. “A master of the swift stroke, (Eisler) could turn a tender song into a rant with a single acerbic note,” says the L.A. Times’ classical music critic, Mark Swed, in the review.  “Driskill, who recently appeared in Long Beach Opera’s Cunning Little Vixen, captured these mood swings with wonderfully angry, challenging, pouty, seductive, decadently dreamy expressivity. Great baritones — first Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and recently Matthias Goerne — have been these songs’ most important advocates. But Driskill found Medea-like theatrical subtleties they missed, while Robson hammered everything home on the piano brilliantly.   Were Driskill and Robson to add the remaining songs and find a strong director to stage them, they could be just the team we need to make the case for this curious but commanding composer.”