A music alumni won the 1st prize in International Guitar Festival

A CSU alumnist Joseph Palmer was awarded 1st prize in the biannual Texas International Guitar Festival held in College Station at Texas A&M. This is the 3rd first prize Joseph has won this year.  Another CSU alum, Chad Ibison, won this prize in 2010. 

A Theater student had one-act play produced at the Arts Center in N.C.

Congratulations to Libba Beaucham, a senior Theatre BA student, who had her one-act play produced at the ArtsCenter in North Carolina earlier in July. There were more than 500 submissions to the "10 by 10" international playwriting competition, and Libba's play, After You, was one of only 10 selected for production. The festival paid her expenses to attend the performances.

A theater graduate worked on 2011 Pulitzer and Tony Award winning drama

Kimberly Faith Hickman, a 2004 graduate of the CSU Department of Theatre, is Assistant Director for "Clybourne Park," which is currently running on Broadway. "Clybourne Park" won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for drama, was nominated for 4 Tony awards, and recently won the Tony for Best New Play. Hickman also worked on "The Scottsboro Boys," a musical that garnered 12 Tony nominations.

Ashburn Native Michael Johnson Advances at Classical Singer Convention

COLUMBUS, GA (06/06/2012)(readMedia)-- Junior voice major Michael Johnson, of Ashburn, Ga., competed in the Classical Singer Convention 2012 – Young Artist Series – held in Chicago May 24-27. With a program of songs in three languages, Johnson was selected from over 1,000 singers as one of 38 to advance to the semifinal round.

Johnson, a student of Earl Coleman, the William and Isabelle Curry Eminent Scholar Chair in Voice at Columbus State University's Schwob School of Music, has also been a first place winner in the Georgia and Southeastern National Association of Teachers of Singing Competitions Student Auditions. He will be lead tenor in the CSU productions of Donizetti's opera, The Elixir of Love in January 2013.

CSU's Schwob School of Music is located in the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, part of CSU's RiverPark campus on the banks of the Chattahoochee River in downtown Columbus, anchored by incomparable performing arts facilities. The school attracts students from around the world to a college experience that is deeply personal and relevant. A unique partnership between the public and private sectors provides generous scholarship support for talented and deserving students.

For more information, go to www.ColumbusState.edu.

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A music student has been selected as one of seven semifinalists at The International Russian Music Piano Competition

Alina Sarkisyan, Artist Diploma student at CSU's Schwob School of Music, has been selected as one of seven semifinalists at   The International Russian Music Piano Competition in San Jose, CA. She is a student of Alexander Kobrin, the L. Rexford Whiddon Distinguished Chair in Piano.

Music Major has been named one of five finalists: 2012 Gillet-Fox Competition

Bogdan Dumitriu, CSU junior and student of Dr. Ron Wirt, has been named one of five finalists selected by an international jury to compete in the 2012 Gillet-Fox Competition, sponsored by the International Double Reed Society. A previous winner of the Woodruff Award and the LaGrange Symphony Young Artists Competition, Bogdan serves as principal bassoonist with the LaGrange Symphony while studying full-time at CSU. The final round of the competition will be held at the Society's annual conference, July 7-11 in Oxford, OH. First prize for the competition is an $10,000 US cash award. http://www.idrs.org/competitions/

Music major proceed to semifinal round: Classical Singer Competition

Junior voice major Michael Johnson, of Ashburn, GA, competed in the Classical Singer Competition for young singers in Chicago in June. With a program of songs in three languages, he was selected from over 1000 singers as one of 38 to advance to the semifinal round. Michael is a student of Professor Coleman.

Music Vocal Students performed at National Association of Teachers of Singing

The Schwob School of Music's Vocal Arts Area showed an outstanding performance at State level NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) student auditions at Clayton State University in Morrow, GA (10, 11, Feb, 2012).

Our students were expertly accompanied by Janie Lee Bullock, Tzu-Yi Chen, Yoo-Jung Kim, Aesook Lim, Tatiana Muzanova, Rachel Olsen and Mary Walker. In addition to the names of the pianists listed above and the applied teachers listed below, please note that the growth of these vocal students is positively influenced on a daily basis by Professors Constantina Tsolainou, Joseph Golden and Dr. Elizabeth Parker.


1st Place Overall in Third Year College Women: Kristen Meyers, student of Earl Coleman
1st Place Overall in Musical Theater Upper Level College Women: Lindsay Grant, student of Earl Coleman
1st Place Overall in Musical Theater Upper Level College Men: Justin Stevens, student of Michelle DeBruyn
1st Place (5A) First Year College Women: Lauren Urbina, student of Michelle DeBruyn
1st Place (7A) Second Year College Women: Randi Short, student of Dian Lawler-Johnson
1st Place (23A) Musical Theater Upper Level College Women: Lindsay Grant, student of Earl Coleman
2nd Place (8A) Second Year College Men: Sean Meara, student of Michelle DeBruyn
2nd Place (9A) Third Year College Women: Kristen Meyers, student of Earl Coleman
2nd Place (22) Musical Theater Lower Level College Men: Michael Marshall, student of Kimberly Cone
2nd Place (23A) Musical Theater Upper Level College Women: Hannah Goolsby, student of Earl Coleman
2nd Place (26) Musical Theater Advanced College Men: Phillip McIntyre, student of Earl Coleman
3rd Place (6A) First Year College Men: Dakota Kuykendall, student of Earl Coleman
3rd Place (7A) Second Year College Women: Ashley Seldon, student of Michelle DeBruyn
3rd Place (7B) Second Year College Women: Jeanette Luna, student of Dian Lawler-Johnson
3rd Place (9B) Third Year College Women: Gudbjorg Hilmarsdottir, student of Dian Lawler-Johnson
3rd Place (22) Musical Theater Lower Level College Men: Sean Meara, student of Michelle DeBruyn
3rd Place (23A) Musical Theater Upper Level College Women: Victoria Leggett, student of Kimberly Cone

Also congratulations to both Dian Lawler-Johnson and Earl Coleman on their exemplary high school students who also placed in the competition:
1st Place Overall Beginning High School Boys: Phillip Botica, student of Earl Coleman
3rd Place Beginning High School Girls: McKenzie Curtis, student of Dian Lawler-Johnson
3rd Place Beginning High School Boys: Alex Perez, student of Earl Coleman

Theater Professor published in theater journals

Becker, Becky. " Nollywood: Film and Home Video, or The Death of Nigerian Theatre." Theatre Symposium. 19 (2011): 69-80.

Becker, Becky. "Moving Wor(l)ds: An Interview with Tess Onwueme." West African Theatre and Performing Arts Journal. Inaugural issue. 1:1 (June 2011) 98-124.