Piano faculty member Emanuel Ax (BS ’70, MS ’72, piano) performed on the 92nd Street Y’s Masters of the Keyboard series in New York in March. He was joined by violinist Sheryl Staples, violist Cynthia Phelps, and cellist Carter Brey.

Irene Dowd (’70, dance), who has been teaching anatomy in the Dance Division since 1995, was featured on the cover of Dance Teacher magazine’s March issue and profiled in a major feature by Susan Amoruso.

Drama faculty member Christopher Durang’s play Beyond Therapy will receive a revival starring Kate Burton this summer. The co-production, which begins at the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts and continues at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, N.Y., will be directed by Alex Timbers.

Behzad Ranjbaran’s “Seven Passages” from his Persian Trilogy was performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra in March at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia with Alastair Willis conducting. A special feature of these concerts was the video projection of Persian miniatures depicting scenes from Shahnameh (The Book of Kings). Also in March, his Fountains of Fin for flute, violin, and cello was premiered at Bargemusic in New York.  The new work was commissioned for the 30th anniversary of Bargemusic.

STUDENT NEWS

Stephen Beus, an Artist Diploma candidate in piano, will perform on May 13 on the Tuesday Matinees series at Merkin Concert Hall in New York.

Ran Dank, an Artist Diploma candidate in piano, won first place in the Hilton Head International Piano Competition in March, held in Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Two compositions by Noam Sivan, a doctoral candidate in composition, received their premiere recordings on pianist Yael Weiss’s CD titled 88 Keys to Joy, released by Koch International Classics in March.