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Amber Pickens, Paul Dwyer, Weixiong Wang, Victor Lozano, Danel Fung
Photos by Walter McBride (Pickens), Jacob Blickenstaff (Dwyer), Skillman Music (Wang), Gregory Costanzo (Lozano), Solomon Fung (Fung)
Amber Pickens (BFA '15, dance)
I'm excited to be part of the Colored Girl Campaign, which aims to redefine beauty for black women of every skin tone—it lets me communicate with young women wanting to dance and have more positive images to look up to and identify with. I'm also excited to be in an eight-page fashion spread in the October Redbook magazine—extra special because of my Southern love for denim! And I'm in Cirque du Soleil's Paramour. Eight performances a week make me relish an important Juilliard lesson: Preserve your art, preserve your instrument, preserve your body.
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Paul Dwyer (MM '13, historical performance)
I'm very fortunate and grateful for the musical life I've been leading since Juilliard. The ensembles I play with are thriving: Diderot String Quartet (three Juilliard alums) has two residencies, is touring more frequently, and has a recording in post-production, and Acronym, a 17th-century string band (seven Juilliard alums), continues to have outrageous amounts of fun discovering and sharing hidden gems of the early Baroque. I'm also assistant principal cellist at Lyric Opera of Chicago, and it's been a whirlwind and a blast to be immersed in opera literature with great colleagues—and for my wife, Adriane Post (MM '11, historical performance), and I to figure out how to split our time between these two wonderful cities.
Weixiong Wang (Pre-College '09; BM '13, MM '15, clarinet)
After I graduated, I started Skillman Music, which owns a prime recording studio facility in N.Y.C., has a record label, and does recording artist management. I started initiating it while I was in school, and it took several years to finalize the planning, financing, and execution. Receiving a Benzaquen Career Advancement Grant when I graduated definitely contributed a lot to my business.
Victor Lozano (BFA '16, dance)
I'm currently rehearsing with Pam Tanowitz Dance for a Miami tour in December—we'll perform at the opening of the Faena Forum, a new venue in Miami Beach. I'm also working on my own choreography and will show pieces at New York City's Dance Gallery (November 13) and Sans Limites Dance (November 17) festivals. And in October, I danced with Matilda Sakamoto (BFA '16, dance), who choreographed the American premiere of Petr Kotik's opera William William at the Paula Cooper Gallery.
Daniel Fung (MM '11, DMA '16, collaborative piano)
Just wanted to let you know that I've accepted a one-year position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a professor of vocal coaching. It's already proving to be a wonderful adventure (musically preparing Falstaff for the fall show, teaching diction, etc.) and Madison is a very nice place to live especially with the lakes close by. There's great food (especially cheese!) and equally delicious beer.
