PSU Magazine Spring 1990

Judy Patton*, faculty member, is well known as a dancer and choreographer. She was rec ipient of an Oregon Arts Commi ssion Indi vidual Arti sts Fellow– ship . She was also co-founder of Portland Dance Theater and fom1er director of The Company We Keep. Her own Judy Patton and Company dancers have been perfonning si nce 1988. Kayla Scrivner, student and celebrated dancer, is a member of the Cuban Dance Ensemble and a member of Judy Patton and Company. She is working with Carolyn Altman in the Young Audiences Program of Oregon. Minh Tran* ('89 BS & Dance Certificate) has been ca lled a promising choreog– rapher and a dancer of extraordinary ability. Hi s student dance thes is won rave rev iews , and his performances pl ay to sold-out hall s. Tran is currently a member of Oslund & Co ./Dance. Music Bruce Browne*, professor of music , is a nationally recognized conductor. He has been director of PSU's Chamber Cho ir, director of Portland 's Choral Cross-Ti es , and the Portl and Symphonic Cho ir. Hi s PSU Chamber Choir was in vited as the onl y U. S . choir to sing at the presti gious Sov iet choral festiva l in Tall in , Estonia, in June 1990. Salvador Brotons*, fac ulty member, is an award-winning composer. Twenty-five of hi s pieces have been published by major publishers in Catalonia , England , France , Spain and the U. S . Hi s opera "Jederman," commi ssioned by Florida State Uni versity and WFSU-TV, wi ll premiere in June 1990. He is arti stic director of Virtuosi Della Rosa, conductor of the PSU Orchestra , Oregon Sinfonietta and the Mittleman Jewi sh Commun ity Orchestra. Ruth Dobson, fac ulty member, has sung with Oregon Symphony Orchestra , West Coast Chamber Orchestra and at the Peter Britt Festi val. She is director of PSU's Opera Workshop, producing full -length opera productions for over 10 years, and has been the vo ice instructor for many award-winning opera students. The Florestan 7No is gaining an inrernational reputation with pianist Harold Gra_\\ violinist Carol Sindel/ and cellist Hamilton Cheifetz, all PSU music faculty members. Florestan Trio is a chamber music trio ga ining nati onal and internati onal repute. It is made up of PSU music professors. Ce llist Hamilton Cheifetz * studied with Janos Starker, won a Piatigorsky Prize at Tanglewood , and has toured throughout the U.S. and Canada. He is a Chamber Music Northwest regul ar. Violinist Carol Sindell was a student of Jascha Heifetz and made her New York debut in 1974 in Carnegie Reci tal Hall. Piani st Harold Gray was reci pient of a Rockefeller Foundation G rant . He has been associated with music festi vals around the country and with the New Marlborough Chamber Pl ayers in Massachusetts. Both Sindell and Gray were recent guest solo ists with the Oregon Symphony during Mervyn's Symphony Sunday concerts. Bryan Johanson ('75 BS), professor, is a prominent c lass ical guitarist in the Northwest. He is also gaining a national reputation as a composer. The Oregon Symphony will premiere hi s Symphony No. 2 during its 1990-9 1 season. Johanson is the guid ing force behi nd PSU's Guitar Recital Series . Mary Kogen , fac ulty member, teaches music pedagogy (methods of teaching) at PSU and trave ls the Northwest providing ex pert instruction fo r music instructors. She is considered the " pi ano teachers' teacher.,. Nina Lowry*, fac ulty member, was declared an "Unsung Hero" by The Oregonian for her wheeling and dealing in scheduling the best perfo rmers for PSU's Pi ano Rec ital Series* . Lowry's efforts have brought to Portl and such greats as Van C liburn winner Alexse i Sultanov, contemporary piani st Peter Serkin , and the revered Be lla Davidov ich. Christine Meadows ('83 BA) is a lyric mezzo-soprano who sings with the New York City Opera among others. Meadows won the Eleanor Liebe r Awards Audition in 1985 . Kelly Nassief ('89 BM) is also a lyri c soprano and won the Eleanor L ieber Award in 1989 and came in second during the Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditi ons held in Seattle thi s February. PSU 9