Alumni Achievements

Stony Brook alums are performing, teaching, and administering arts programs in the U.S. and abroad.  Here is a partial list of appointments and accomplishments by recent Stony Brook graduates.  (If you have a recent accomplishment you would like to have listed in the next Department of Music Alumni Newsletter, please click here.)

David Blake (MA, PhD history/theory, 2008, 2014) – Appointed as Visiting College Lecturer at the University of Akron.

Martin Blessinger (BA, MA composition, 2000, 2003) – Awarded tenure as Associate Professor of Music at Texas Christian University.

Fred Bronstein (DMA piano, 1987) – Appointed Dean of Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University in Fall 2014.

David Brooks (DMA piano, 2014) – Appointed as Instructor in Music at Wingate University.

Ryan Carter (MA composition, 2007) – Appointed as Visiting Assistant Professor at Hamilton College, teaching composition, theory, and electronic music.

Pete Coco (DMA bass, 2013) – Appointed adjunct professor at Hofstra University.

Stephanie Shih-yu Cheng (DMA piano, 2002) – Appointed as Teaching Assistant Professor, piano at Lamont School of Music at University of Denver.

Jeremy Eig (DMA clarinet, 2009) – Member, U.S. Navy Band; Founder and Director, Clarinet Commissioning Collective.

Rebekah Griffin Greene (DMA bass, 2011) – Teaching bass at Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, the Special Music School, Face the Music, Lucy Moses School and the Bloomingdale School of Music. Faculty at the 2015 Mark O’Connor NYC Method Camp, and the Walden School, Won the 2015 Patricia Plude Chair for excellence in musicianship teaching. Member of the Symphony of Westchester, the Jubilee Chamber Orchestra, the Fiery String Sistahs chamber ensemble, Rooted duo, Eli August and the Abandoned Buildings. Multipe international Performances of “Short Mass for String Trio.”

Kassandra Hartford (MA, PhD history/theory, 2005, 2013) – Appointed as Visiting Assistant Professor at Muhlenberg College, Accepted to present at the American Musicological Society 2015 conference.

Marchall Henry (DMA bass, 2014) – Member Symphoria (Formerly Syracuse Symphony Orchestra), Assistant manager and musician with Modiba Productions.

Sonya Hofer (MA, PhD history/theory, 2004, 2013) – Published “‘Atomic’ Music: Navigating experimental electronica and sound art through microsound” in Organised Sound.

Chester Howard (MM clarinet, 2013) – Appointed clarinet, Lake Placid Sinfonietta.

Scot Humes (DMA clarinet, 2004) – Appointed Associate Professor, University of Louisiana at Monroe; Principal Clarinet, Monroe Symphony Orchestra.Orchestra; regular substitute for “Wicked” on Broadway.

Solomiya Ivakhiv (DMA violin, 2010) – Appointed as Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola and Head of Strings in the Department of Music in the School of Fine Arts at University of Connecticut.

Katherine Kaiser (MA, PhD history/theory, 2005, 2015) – Accepted to present as the American Musicological Society 2015 conference.

William Kalinkos (DMA clarinet, 2009) – Appointed Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Missouri; Member, Alarm Will Sound; Principal Clarinet, IRIS Chamber Orchestra.

Alexander Knox (MM clarinet, 2014) – Founder and clarinet, Crosswinds Quintet.

Benjamin Lanz (MM, DMA trombone, 2003, 2007) – Toured with The National, Sufjan Stevens, and Beirut, Recorded with Mumford and Sons, and The National.

Alex Le (MM piano, 2007) – Directed a new festival – Las Vegas Music and Wine Festival, featuring numerous Stony Brook faculty (Carol Wincenc, Alan Kay, Frank Morelli, Pedro Diaz, Phil Setzer and Christina Dahl), and many graduate students and alumni (Christina McGann, Chieh-Fan (Jay) Yiu, Arnold Choi, Wonjung Kim.

Genard Lombardozzi (DMA voice, 2014) – Appointed Assistant Professor of Voice at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches TX.

Eileen Mack (DMA clarinet, 2013) – Member Newspeak Ensemble; Wet Ink Ensemble.

Jessica Powell Eig (DMA bass, 2010) – Member of New Orchestra of Washington, and Washington Bach Consort, Performs with American Bach Soloists, and Hesperus early music ensemble.

Philip Rowan (MM bass, 2012) – Teaching at Kappa International High School.

Josh Schwalbach (DMA bass, 2013) – Appointed to the string faculty at University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire.

Daniel Sheridan (DMA clarinet, 2003) – Appointed Associate Professor, Winona State University.

Megan Shumate (DMA clarinet, 2015) – Bard College Conductors Institute; Substitute with American Symphony Xiaoting Ma (DMA clarinet, 2013) Appointed Associate Professor, Soochow University, China; formerly Second/E-flat clarinet, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

Dan Siepmann (MA history/theory, 2012) – Appointed Development Director with Chamber Music America in 2015.  Prior to that, he served as Manager of Institutional Giving with the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.

Meighan Stoops (DMA clarinet, 2014) – Director of Music at The Calhoun School, New York City; Member, Da Capo Chamber Players.

Nicholas Tochka (MA, PhD ethnomusicology, 2007, 2012) – Appointed to Musicology and Ethnomusicology Division of the School of Music at University of Maryland, College Park.

Ian Tyson (DMA clarinet, 2014) – Teaching Artist, Clarinets for Conservation; Faculty, Brandon University.

Robert Vitale (MM clarinet, 2012) – Member U.S. Air Force Academy Band.