Marisa Brook (BA, 2009, music minor) writes, “I earned a PhD in sociolinguistics in 2016, and am now fortunate to be an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, at least on a short-term contract. I love the city, my research, and my teaching. Spare time is limited, but I am still occasionally composing at the keyboard (or directly into Sibelius). I get an immense amount of pleasure out of playing with melody and chord progressions, constantly supported by the training in music theory, history, acoustics, performance, and even psychology that I received at Cornell. Hello to my fellow alumni; I hope everyone's doing well!”
Jonathan Champagne (BA, 2013, music minor) writes, “In 2019 I founded Silverside Productions and wrote/produced the short film ‘The Pigeon’ alongside fellow Cornell alum Owen Pataki ’10, who served as director. It features an original song, “Little Light,” written during my tenure as an undergrad and brought to life at Capital Studios with vocalist Maisy Kay. The film will premiere at the Manhattan Film Festival later this summer (2021). Additionally, my second short film, ‘Company Retreat,’ was produced in summer of 2020 and reunited me with fellow Cornell music alum Jeff Cox ‘13, who composed the score. Between the two films, I hosted and performed an outdoor, socially-distanced concert in my backyard and raised over $300 for Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital.”
Ian Chen (BA, 2011, music and biology) writes, “After Cornell I studied music composition at New York University, and have been working as a composer for film, TV, and video games in Los Angeles since 2012. Last year my soundtrack for video game Fantastic Creatures won the Best Score Award at the Independent Music Awards, and was nominated for Music of the Year Award at the Game Audio Networks Guild Awards. My works on Taiwanese TV series Green Door (2019) and Futmalls (2020) are available on Netflix, and the soundtracks are available on various music streaming services.”
Trevor DeClercq (BA, 1996, music) writes, “I recently received tenure and promotion at Middle Tennessee State University, where I am now associate professor of recording industry, coordinating the musicianship curriculum and teaching coursework in audio theory and music technology. I currently serve on the editorial boards of Music Theory Spectrum, the Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, Empirical Musicology Review, and Musicae Scientiae, and also served this past summer as Associate Editor for Music Theory Online.”
William Drabkin (BA, 1969, music and mathematics) writes, “I’m emeritus professor of music at the University of Southampton and recently completed ten years’ editorship of the journal Music Analysis. A project to translate the 4,000-page diary of the eminent Austrian theorist Heinrich Schenker was begun in 2011 and will be completed in 2022.”
Tyler Ehrlich (BA, 2014, music) writes, “I am currently serving as conductor of the Emory Wind Ensemble, director of bands at Decatur High School (Georgia), and associate conductor of the Atlanta Wind Symphony, a community band based in Atlanta. My partner and I adopted a three year old Yorkipoo, Milo, who has brought us tremendous love and snuggles.”
Eric Ganeles (BA, 1981, music) writes, “Last year, as COVID lockdown tightened, an artist friend of mine set a goal for himself of creating one new painting every other week and posting it on social media. As a songwriter, I decided to do the same by writing and recording a song at home every 2 weeks and posting it on Bandcamp. I figured this could be a great way to share my music and to capture thoughts and feelings of that time. The result is 3 collections of new songs: CORONASONGS 1, CORONASONGS 2, and CORONASONGS 3. Each can be found at https://ericganeles.bandcamp.com/.”
Joshua Groffman (BA, 2007, music) writes, “I started in Fall 2020 as associate professor and chair of the music department at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, Connecticut.”
Julia Hillabrant (BA, 2008, music and biology) writes, “Musically speaking, I got a master’s degree in piano performance, gigged around Boston here and there, and sang in fellow alum Joe Gregorio’s Ensemble Companio for a few years. I now live in Houston and work in Mission Control at NASA (also ended up getting a masters in mechanical engineering), and plan on joining some local ensembles once the Covid situation has calmed down.”
James Hober (BA, 1982, music) writes, “I have been teaching guitar privately and at the Los Angeles Music and Art School for over 35 years. The past year all my teaching has been online. I hope to resume in person teaching soon. I recently released a book of my classical guitar compositions entitled Curiosities for Classical Guitar. Both the Cornell and UCLA music libraries have copies. If you would like a copy, please contact me.”
Patricia Hurley (BA, 1959, music) writes, “I was a band director for 38 years before retiring in 2005. Since then I have been teaching trumpet at the Community Music School in Centerbrook, CT, which I had founded in 1983. (We have been able to keep the school open since September observing strict pandemic protocols). In 2009, I founded and continue to direct a New Horizons Band at the school. Part of an international organization founded by Roy Ernst at the Eastman School, where I did my graduate work, New Horizons is an international organization with over 250 chapters. (I presented a talk as part of a panel for my 60th Cornell reunion about New Horizons). I also continue to freelance on trumpet.”
Solveig Imsdahl (BA, 2013, music and pre-med) competed at Olympic trials in rowing in March after they were postponed by a year due to Covid.
Lauren Jacobs (BAs, 2015 and 2019, music minor) writes, “After graduating from undergraduate with a music minor and many exciting performing opportunities with the department, I continued my education at the vet school. I am now a small animal and exotics veterinarian in the greater Philadelphia area. I joined a church that has a choir, praise team, and hand bell choir. Even with the restrictions set by the pandemic, we have been able to meld music videos together to jam and present to the congregation.”
Seth Kibel (BA, 1996, music) continues to concertize in the virtual world, playing and lecturing on jazz, swing, klezmer and more for audiences around the country.
Courtney Koelbel (BA, 2015, music minor) writes, “After graduating in 2015, I spent an extra year at Cornell, working for Facilities Engineering and the Campus Sustainability Office, and continuing to play with the Cornell Symphony Orchestra. I went on to get my J.D. from University of Virginia School of Law in 2019, where I traded in one CSO for another, the Cavalier Symphony Orchestra. After graduating from UVA and taking the Bar Exam, I started as a fellow with the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. I have now been hired on full-time as a counsel for the subcommittee.”
David S. Lefkowitz (BA, 1986/87, music and philosophy) writes, “In 2020 I composed a set of ten preludes and fugues for piano solo. Each is dedicated to a different pianist, including one for Cornell DMA pianist Thomas Feng. The world premiere of two of them will take place digitally the weekend of March 6, by pianists Stefano Greco (Italy) and David Kaplan (Los Angeles). This set will form the core of a new CD of works inspired by Bach, together with a solo violin partita composed in 2018. I have also recently had premieres by the Russian String Orchestra, the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, and the Sibelius Piano Trio. I am professor of composition and theory at UCLA, where I was recently the chair of the division of composition.”
Greg Monte (BA, 2012, music minor) writes, “I release house music as the artist ‘warner case.’ Recently, I was called a ‘new-generation star’ by Billboard and have released tunes through Spinnin' Deep, Kitsuné, Ultra Records, and Potion Records with Kyle Watson, Jean Tonique, The Magician, and more. I am now managed by Romain Cloiseau, co-founder of Unity Group and Thomas LeFrançois, CEO of Allo Floride, both industry vets. I was recently featured as one of fifteen artists hand-picked by The Magician to contribute original singles to his Magic Tap 100, the one hundredth installment of his famed Magic Tape series, which was released on vinyl and cassette in additional to standard DSPs. Also, I got married.”
Marilyn Lipton Okonow (BA, 1978, music) writes, “For the past 13 years, I have been leading a singing group for people with Parkinson’s and their caregivers. I am also President of the Board of the Vilna Shul/Boston’s Center for Jewish Culture, and in 2020 composed music and lyrics for the 100th Anniversary of the Vilna, entitled “What Will Our Children Say?”
Jeremy Miller (BA, 2019, music minor) writes, “I wrote some My Little Pony fan music that got featured on one of the prominent MLP blogs.”
Charles Morgan (BA, 2020, music and biological sciences) writes, “After graduating from Cornell, I started a PhD in neuroscience at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. I am researching therapeutics for hearing loss.”
Adam G. Perl (BA, 1967, music) writes, “I retired two years ago after running my antique business in Ithaca since 1979. I sang with the Cayuga Vocal Ensemble for 40 years. In 2008, I joined the Savage Club of Ithaca, an offshoot of the Cornell Glee Club, and have been their choral director ever since. The Savage Club has sung at Cornell Reunions since 1929. Pre-pandemic, my wife and I enjoyed travel, both domestic and foreign. We have three wonderful children and triplet grandchildren who are four years old. I am a Cornell Glee Club alum and was one of the fortunate 44 who went on a three-month concert tour to 10 countries in Asia in 1966.”
Michael Puterbaugh (BA, 1999, music) writes, “After 5 years leading the software engineering organization at CollegeHumor Media, I joined the digital team at A+E Networks in October 2020. It’s an exciting time for the streaming video business, and my Brooklyn home office is well stocked with musical instruments for moments when I have—or need—inspiration.”
Jack Reep (BA, 2013, music minor) will graduate with an MD from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in May 2021 and just completed residency interviews for internal medicine. While at NJMS, he founded and directed the NJMS Vocal Chords Jazz Ensemble, with numerous live performances at NJMS events and a repertoire of over 50 standards, originals, and re-arrangements. Since the pandemic lockdown began in March 2020, Jack has been involved at NJMS with the arranging and production of “virtual ensemble” music videos, including NJMS’s video for “Stand By Me.” In the summer of 2018, he also founded the Center Connect Quartet, which created two original albums of jazz. Jack continues to be open-minded for personal artistic growth and for how music will intersect with his life as a physician.
Milo Reynolds-Dominguez (BA, 2020, music) writes, “Since graduating, I've applied to law school and started working for the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra as their administrative assistant. Musically, I have written most of an EP for my new band, Pet Names—so keep an eye out for it this spring!”
Joshua Sadinsky (BA, 2019, music and German) writes, “Hello! I am honored to be studying piano and composition with Vicki Ray and Michael Pisaro at the California Institute of the Arts. CalArts has exposed me to a ton of awesome music/dance from around the world including Ghana, India, and Indonesia. I will graduate with my MFA this May, and have been selected as a semi-finalist for the Fulbright grant in Taiwan. If I am selected, I’ll get to study field recording in Taiwan! My website is joshuasadinsky.com.”
Matt Testa (BA, 2003, music and psychology) is the archivist for the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where he manages special collections related to local performing arts history.
Recently, Dara Taylor (BA, 2009, music and psychology) has scored the Michael Shannon thriller Echo Boomers, the Netflix series Bookmarks, and co-scored the Kristen Wiig comedy Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar.
Melody Xie (BA, 2012, music minor) writes, “I’ve been working at a hedge fund! I have also done music stuff on the side.”
