Alumni updates from around the world
The Ecuadorian composer Chia Patino, (BM’90, piano) has joined the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater and Dance as Associate Professor. Patiño completed her undergraduate degrees in composition and piano at the University of Louisville and holds a MM and a DMA in composition from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington, where she wrote and produced her opera Dreamwalker. She received her MFA in opera stage directing at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Recent engagements include the Seattle Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Opera Tenerife, Aspen Opera Theater and VocalARTS, Northern Lights Music Festival, Williamsburg Opera, and the Butler Opera Center at the University of Texas.
Zhiyi Wang, the 2023 School of Music Alumni of the Year, has joined the Leon Fleisher Academy as the director of the composition program. A former composition student of Professor Marc Satterwhite, Zhiyi flew to Shanghai in June to receive the “Most Popular Music Award” for his film score, The Volunteers: To the War, at the 21st China Movie Channel Media Awards. Over eight thousand media people in China voted out all category winners.
Congratulations to UofL Alumna and School of Music faculty member Amy Acklin, (BM’98), who served on the faculty at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute as a Conductor for the International Young Artists Wind Ensemble this past summer. This two-week residency concluded with a concert on the grounds of Tanglewood in Seiji Ozawa Hall on August 4th, featuring works by Husa, Milburn, Ito, and Manquez.
Murphy Lamb, (BA'21, piano) a native of Campbellsville, KY, has found a home in orchestra production since his time at UofL. As the Operations and Auditions Manager for the Louisville Orchestra, he oversees guest artist relationships, venue management, and production details for the orchestra’s performances at the Kentucky Center for the Arts. Additionally, he manages the audition process through which musicians from around the world become full-time members of the orchestra. His work has taken him from the depths of Mammoth Cave with Yo-Yo Ma to the mountains of Appalachia with Tessa Lark, providing him with ongoing opportunities to create and strengthen connections with his Kentucky community through the arts. He says "While at UofL, support from the Trustees’ Scholarship and the Brenda Kee and Lee Luvisi Piano Scholarships provided a strong foundation for his success, allowing him to complete his degree without debt. Receiving the Presser Scholarship in 2020 further prepared him for post-college life by funding ther purchase of a keyboard for practice and performance, which he has used almost every day since."
Do you have news to share with our music alumni community (marriage, travel, a birth, job change, career highlight, award)? Let us know by contacting Mark Kaczmarczyk, director of development. Be sure to include an updated pic!