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Stroup Creates Art for the Ages
A painting commissioned by Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation gave Jeremy Stroup (BFA, painting) the opportunity to do a deep dive into his creative endeavor. His work over the summer resulted in a 9’ x 7’ painting that was installed in the new McMillen Family Pavilion at Franke Park. The subject matter are all native species of flora and fauna, especially ones found on sycamore trees, with the color pattern initially inspired by sycamore bark. #StroupDuJour
Between the Sycamores
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
9'x7'
2024
McMillen Family Pavilion, Franke Park
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Music Therapy Clinic Functions as Incubator
Alumna Nicole Keller, who completed her B.S. in Music Therapy at PFW, recently opened Aspire Music Therapy in Fort Wayne employing seven music therapists, five of whom also graduated from the School of Music (SoM). Keller and her therapists utilized the Dolnick Music Therapy Clinic, through the generosity of the SoM/music therapy program, to serve clients for the past five years until the volume of clients and therapists necessitated a move to a new location. The music therapy clinic space offers real world experience that translates into a greater reach into the community for these vital services.
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Tilby Receives Governor’s Mansion Artist Award
Ryan Tilby, clinical assistant professor of music recording and technology, was honored by the Governor of Utah on Dec. 12, with the prestigious “Governor’s Mansion Artist Award” for his involvement with the music group The Lower Lights. This folk-gospel and Americana super-group who, in addition to touring, also goes out of their way to put feel-good songs of hope and faith in front of those who need it most, visiting hospitals and homes regularly to share a spirit of joy and love with those going through hard times.
The band has an extensive recorded catalog where Tilby contributes on banjo, mandolin, dobro, bouzouki, and bass. Annually he visits Salt Lake City to perform in a long-running, 15-year Christmas concert series held at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus. Audiences each year number in the thousands.
The award, a proud tradition since the 1930s, commemorates Utah’s visual and performing artists and includes a delightful medal which Professor Tilby promises only to wear for very special events.
Click here to watch Tilby's portion of the Award Ceremony at 17:55
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Andrews-Smith Receives 2024 American Prize in Directing
Voice lecturer Belinda Andrews-Smith was chosen to receive a 2024 American Prize in Directing—The Charles Nelson Reilly Prize—for her production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. This recognition was bestowed in the theatre/musical theatre division.
The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts describes itself as the nation’s most comprehensive series of contests in the performing arts. Andrews-Smith recently joined the faculty at PFW after serving as the director of musical theatre at Tulane University.
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Summit City Journal Features CVPA Students
PFW students, alumni, and faculty were featured in the Fall 2024 edition of the Summit City Journal: A Student Research and Creative Endeavor Publication. This peer-led, peer-reviewed journal highlights the incredible work of Purdue Fort Wayne students, showcasing their research, creativity, and dedication.
Guided by faculty reviewers, the journal is not only a celebration of student talent but also a testament to the leadership of the student editorial team, who manage the entire process—from selection to publication. Featured students include metalworks by Rebecca Batdorf and Louise E. Haines, ceramic works by Nicole Pitcher and Alexa Ross, along with the faculty spotlight on Seth Green, associate professor of ceramics.
Click here to read the current issue.
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Domer Announces Retirement
After more than 24 memorable years at PFW, Marketing and Public Relations Specialist Susan Domer has announced that she will retire on April 1, 2025. Her career at IPFW began in September 2000, with the same position she now holds at the university in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. However, through the decades, the university continued to grow making her position one of constant change and excitement.
Susan was part of the university when the Department of Music was housed in the basement of the Liberal Arts Building and performances were held in the Neff 101 lecture hall. When Omnibus Lecturer Dale Chihuly spoke on campus, every available room had to have a live feed to accommodate the huge number of people who showed up to hear him speak. It was evident at that moment that the university needed a larger auditorium moving into the future and work began on making the PFW Music Center a reality.
Over the years, Susan has worked closely with three deans, two interim deans, and over 100 faculty members on a wide variety of projects in art, music, and theatre. “We will miss Susan’s ability to keep 100 balls in the air, her infectious laugh, and great sense of humor, said Dean John O’Connell. “I have been lucky to have her at the helm of the busiest office in our college! We’ll miss her!”
“I am so thankful that the majority of my career has allowed me to work in a field that I love–the arts!" explained Susan. "I had no idea this would be such a great ride working with students and making a lasting impact on the arts at PFW and Fort Wayne in general. I have hired more than 30 student marketing assistants over the years who have all gone on to do incredible work in their careers. I could not be prouder.”
Prior to her tenure at PFW she served as the marketing director at the Fort Wayne Civic Theatre, marketing manager at St. Joe Hospital, and the first paid facilitator for the Festival of Trees at the Embassy Theatre.
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Romey Examines Influence of 17th Century Opera
An article by Assistant Professor John Romey was recently published in the Cambridge Opera Journal, one of the top musicology journals in the field. His article entitled ‘The pieces that are in the hands of everyone belong to the public’: Philippe-Emmanuel de Coulanges, Song Games and Operatic Artefacts in Seventeenth-Century Paris, examines the ways in which audiences interacted with operatic music in seventeenth-century Paris. The study reveals how contemporary spectators understood, listened to, and valued a work and its components.
Read the article here.
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Student Receives Best in Show at Honeywell
Three students are currently showing their work at the Next Generations Exhibition at Clark Gallery, Honeywell Arts and Entertainment Center in Wabash, Ind. The juried Annual Fine Art Competition features exceptional works from talented artists across multiple mediums, offering emerging and established artists an opportunity to present creations to a diverse audience. The exhibition runs from Jan. 27 through Feb. 26, 2025. Student work accepted into the exhibition include:
Lucy Pflueger, Best in Show, Upon Close Inspection, painting (pictured)
Nicole Pitcher, Silent Streams, ceramic
Anna Gottlieb, Pouring Vessel Set, ceramic
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Students Travel to National Conference
A group of students from the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Collegiate chapter received travel funding from PFW's Student Government to attend the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Conference in Chicago, Ill., from December 18-21, 2024.
The chapter was recognized by the national NAfME representatives for the large number of chapter activities they were responsible for in the last year. For example, they have hosted virtual jazz and instrumental workshops, an annual bingo night, a session to prepare for their Praxis exams, and a variety of fundraising events on campus.
The faculty advisor for the chapter is Dr. Megan Ankuda, who was instrumental in helping to secure funding for the trip. The attendees included Tyler Summers, Regina Parker, Rodney Grimes, Jess Florea, Garrett Prickett, Mason Meyers, and Dr. Daniel Tembras, director of instrumental studies.
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IMEA Continues State-wide Conference in Fort Wayne
A record number of Music Education majors (22) volunteered to work as the “crew” for the Indiana Music Educators Association (IMEA) conference held at the Grand Wayne Center in Fort Wayne from Jan. 16–18, 2025. Welcoming Indiana music teachers of all levels and classrooms, the three-day conference contained over 100 sessions and more than 20 concerts throughout the city. Each of those concerts required crew members to help move performing groups in and out of a variety of local venues for the conference.
Two of those students, Regina Parker and Tyler Summers (pictured), also received state-level recognition as Outstanding Future Music Educators, along with three other students at Collegiate Night, with over 180 students present from schools all over Indiana.
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Graduates on Tour with Storybook Theatre
Theatre alums Lee Martin and Evan Snaufer are currently on tour with Storybook Theatre, out of Minnesota. They work with schools to help them organize and rehearse a performance using the school’s own students, with Snaufer and Lee directing the students for a final performance, all while playing two major roles in the cast.
They are currently touring with Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Storybook Theatre is a professional touring theatre company serving the upper Midwest, bringing extraordinary theatrical experiences that educate, challenge, and inspire young artists through summer and school-year programs!
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Four PFW voice students walked away with honors during the annual Indiana National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) student auditions. They enjoyed success in the following categories:
Brendan Caffee - Second Year Musical Theatre TBB - 2nd Place (Giallongo studio)
Trinity Gonzalez - Second Year Classical Treble - 3rd Place (Sauerland studio)
Anna Ousley - First Year Classical Treble - 3rd Place (Sauerland studio)
Anna Reichert - Fourth/Fifth Year Classical Treble - 1st Place (Giallongo studio)
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The PFW percussion program attended the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis from Nov. 13–16, where they attended clinics, masterclasses, and performances by the world's leading percussionists.
Thanks to the generous support of the PFW student government and the College of Visual and Performing Arts, students were able to attend this iconic convention free of charge.
They include: Grace Driscoll, Emma Keeling, Braden Koble, Zane Seigel, Lane Shank, Aidan Smith, Evan Sroufe, and Gavin Utterback.
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Associate Professor Seth Green had work accepted into the Flame and Fuel Exhibition at the Schaller Gallery in Baroda, Mich. Director Anthony Schaller curated the exhibition which ran from June 11–July 11, 2024.
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Assistant Professor of Musicology John Romey has been awarded a Fritz Thyssen Stiftung travel stipend to conduct archival research in Germany this summer. His project, titled "Constructing French Music, Myth, and Identity: Operatic Echos and The Transnational Circulation of Early Modern French Music,” will examine sources from Holland, Spain, Italy, Ireland, England, and French colonies of the New World to create the first pan-European study of how music and dance defined Frenchness in the early modern period. He will conduct archival research in Munich, Berlin, Leipzig, Stuttgart, Gotha, Halle-Wittenberg, and Hannover. While in Europe, he will also present his research at the Cambridge Early Modern Symposium at Cambridge University.
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Dr. Suining Ding, Professor of Interior Design, was recently invited to present at The Center for Health Design’s Icons & Innovators’ Webinar Series, which is delivered by leading experts and innovative thinkers in the healthcare design field. Dr. Ding’s presentation topic is “How to Supercharge Evidence-based Design with Environment-Behavior Theory."
In this webinar, Dr. Ding explains how Environment-Behavior Studies can contribute to healthcare design and how EB theories can be applied and integrated into healthcare design practice.
Her webinar was very well-received and offered Continuing Education Units (CEU) to researchers, architects, interior designers, and all who work in the healthcare design field.
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As part of the two piano, two percussion group, icarus Quartet, Assistant Professor of Percussion Matt Keown premiered a new program entitled “Bartók Rebórn.” This program featured premieres of three new works by renowned composers, Martin Bresnick, Viet Cuong, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon.
These new works were commissioned by the Secrest Artist Series and were premiered at Wake Forest University. Local audiences will have the opportunity to enjoy these new works performed by icarus Quartet on Monday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m., in Auer Performance Hall.
Purchase tickets here.
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Professor John Hrehov exhibited two works in the juried 2025 Midwest Regional Exhibition at Artlink in Fort Wayne from January 2 - February 2, 2025. Juror Whitney Sage selected from a pool of over 400 entries, where 62 works were accepted. Artists were representative from Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas. Hrehov was awarded a 3rd Place Juror Award for the painting “Committal at Dusk.” He also had a work accepted in the exhibition “Dwellings: An Exhibition of Inhabited Spaces,” which is running concurrently at Artlink. | |
Purdue University Fort Wayne College of Visual and Performing Arts
Purdue Fort Wayne is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), and the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST).
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