From the Director
As we reach the conclusion of a busy quarter and a busy calendar year, we have much news to share from our faculty, students, and alumni about their good work here at the University and beyond. This issue of Quarter Notes covers just a small portion of the activities under way in our community. We also are excited to announce in this issue the next phase of our fundraising campaign to update critical spaces in the Music Building. I extend my deepest thanks to the generous School of Music friends whose gifts bring us to this important milestone, and to those who may consider helping us to successfully complete the campaign. Thank you also to all of the wonderful audience members who have attended our performances this fall. We appreciate your support! Happy holidays and Happy New Year!
—Joël-François Durand, acting director
The campaign to revitalize critical spaces in the University of Washington Music Building has reached an important milestone, with generous gifts from UW friends helping to secure funding necessary to unlock matching funds from UW leadership and to move the project to the next phase of planning.
School of Music acting director Joël-François Durand recently announced to faculty and staff that LMN Architects will be the official prime consultant and lead design team for the renovations… Read more
A community engagement initiative established at the School of Music last year has brought hundreds of elementary school children to the University of Washington over the past several quarters to observe rehearsals and performances in a guided listening format.
Through a partnership with Seattle educator and arts activist Emilia Kister and her company Common Thread Arts, LLC, the School of Music has engaged young listeners and their families and teachers in live music… Read more
School of Music students and alumni report recent awards, appointments, honors, and other academic and career achievements.
Alumna Kristin Vogel Lindemuth (DMA, Voice) took a starring role as Mimi in Tacoma Opera’s recent production of Puccini’s La Bohème at Pantages Theater. UW Voice professor Thomas Harper directed. School of Music students and alumni performing included Sarah Santos, Meliza Redulla, Mallory McCollum, Sydney Belden, Sophia Parker, Adia Bowen,… Read more
School of Music faculty report recent career milestones, new appointments, artistic achievements, publications, and other notable accomplishments.
Michael Brockman, Saxophone
Artist-in-residence Michael Brockman (saxophone) is celebrating his 30th year as the Artistic Director of the award-winning Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra (SRJO) with a season of concerts at Seattle's Benaroya Hall. Season performances include Duke Ellington's "Far East Suite" (Nov. 9 and 10), a… Read more
School of Music student Flora Cummings is known to her teachers and community for excelling in a variety of settings both on and off the concert stage. An undergraduate viola student of Melia Watras double majoring in Music and Wildlife Conservation, Cummings serves as co-principal violist of the UW Symphony, performs in the Seattle Collaborative Orchestra and the Leonore Chamber Orchestra, competes in Scottish highland dance competitions, and enjoys performing Scottish music with her family,… Read more
School of Music faculty, students, and alumni were saddened to hear of the passing of longtime School of Music collaborative pianist Kristine Anderson, who died in September 2024 at her home in Seattle. Active in the larger Seattle music community, she frequently worked with the UW flute studio as well as the Seattle Flute Society and other area arts organizations.
"The flute studio has cherished the time and expertise Kristine shared over the many years," said Donna Shin,… Read more
Former longtime School of Music piano technician Susan Willanger Cady died in early September, 2024, after a long, recurring battle with cancer. Susan started work at the School of Music in the early 1990s, assisting Steve Brady, the School's former head piano technician, and was hired permanently in 1995. She retired in 2017.
A self-avowed “Steinway junkie,” Susan worked hand-in-hand at the School of Music with former tech Doug Wood, who came aboard upon Brady’s retirement, and together they… Read more
Tech expert and musician Jerry Jensen passed away 2024 July 31 in California, where he had lived since 1975, from complications due to kidney failure. He was 74.
Jerry was the middle son of Norman and Laura Jensen, and grew up in the Ravenna Park neighborhood of Seattle. He played French horn in the Seattle Youth Symphony and kept playing throughout his life. His father was a band director at Ballard High School and later a producer/director at a new KCTS television station. His mother… Read more
Former School of Music viola professor Yizhak Schotten died suddenly on September 23, 2024 at age 81. He served on the School of Music faculty from 1979 to the early 1980s and in 1985 accepted a position as professor of music at the University of Michigan, which he held for nearly 40 years. A former member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Israeli-born violist later held principal positions with the Cincinnati and Houston Symphony Orchestras.
Schotten studied at Indiana University… Read more
Marianne Weltmann, former voice instructor at the University of Washington, Western Washington University, and the University of Puget Sound, died on June 2, 2024, at the age of 93. The cause of death was breast cancer. Marianne was born in Stettin , Germany, on September 9, 1930 to father Erhard Weltman and mother Emilie Wieluner Weltman. As a young child she fled Nazi Germany with her family and immigrated to the United States, eventually settling in Ohio. Her early focus on a career in music… Read more