ASU alumni, Adam Ballif, (D.M.A. ‘03 and M.M. ‘01), and Robert Spring, professor of music performance, performed a recital at Mesa State College, in Grand Junction, Colo. in December as part of Spring’s residency with the college. Ballif is currently head of woodwinds at Mesa State College where he teaches clarinet, saxophone and coordinates the music education degree program. His wife, Kristi Ballif, (M.M. ’02), is also teaching at Mesa State College as the flute instructor.

Daveda Karanas Brecheen, graduated in May and has been accepted to study at Music Academy of the West this summer, where she will have lessons with the legendary mezzo-soprano, Marilyn Horne. In the fall, Brecheen has the honor of being accepted for a two-year fellowship with the Opera Institute of Boston. This is a very elite professional program, which carries with it full tuition and an additional stipend.

Jason Fleck, (B.M./Music Theater '92), is starring in The U.S. Thoroughly Modern Millie national tour.

Susan Lewis, (M.M./Vocal Performance '98), is staring in Cats on the U.S. national tour. She plays the roles of Jennyanydots and Grizabella. The tour plays to major cities around the U.S., Canada and Mexico and will play at ASU Gammage the week after Christmas.

Sezen Özeke and Jere Humphreys, professor of music education, presented “The Origins of Music Teacher Education in the Republic of Turkey” at the Music Education Research Council Poster Session, MENC: The National Association for Music Education In-Service Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah in April 2006. They presented the same paper at the Arizona Music Educators Association annual conference in Mesa in February. Özeke teaches at Uldag Unviversity in Bursa, Turkey.

Shanti Raval, (B.M. ’04), received a three-year fellowship, the Founder’s Fellowship, to New York University to pursue a Ph.D. in clarinet performance.

Natalya Shkoda, graduated in May and will be releasing her debut CD featuring Viktor Kosenko's "Eleven Etudes in the Form of Old Dances," Opus 19, in London this summer. A recording and an analytical paper on Kosenko's "Eleven Etudes," Opus 19, was Shkoda's final project for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance. Her CD recording of Kosenko's Opus 19 is the first Western recording of these pieces, composed in the late 1920s in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, but still barely known to the audience both in Ukraine and abroad. During her final semester at ASU, Shkoda presented three guest artist piano recitals promoting Kosenko's "Eleven Etudes," Opus 19, at the Friendship Village of Tempe, Texas Tech University School of Music and Lubbock Christian University. In addition, the article about Shkoda's performance of Opus 19 and an interview with her appeared in the Lubbock Christian University Newspaper, The Duster, in February 2006. During her years of studying at ASU, Shkoda gave more than 20 solo recitals and numerous accompanying performances; performed piano concerti with the MasterWorks Symphony Orchestra, New York, and the Mesa Symphony Orchestra, Arizona; participated in the International Symposium "Arnold Schoenberg Reconsidered" held at ASU last spring; and won a few keyboard competitions, including the MasterWorks Festival Concerto Competitions (1997 & 2000) and the Klatzkin Competitions for the Contemporary American Music (2000 & 2005).