ASA Alumni | Pigeon Post Newsletter May 2024

Hello ASA Alumni!

We are nearing the end of our 29th year with all the usual excitement for upcoming celebrations that culminate a very busy year. In December we celebrated the Ribbon Cutting for a new Amphitheatre and Student Quad with Phoenix Mayor, Kate Gallego and since then have enjoyed many beautiful performances. We are also nearing the end of the search for the next Executive Director to prepare for my retirement in June of 2025. Together with a consultant, a search committee composed of Board Members, Faculty, the Principal and a few community members connected with the school conducted a national search concluding with campus visits for the final two candidates. More news later on the final outcome! We also published our 2022-2023 Annual Report and I hope you will take a look at some of last year’s highlights.

Showcase will once again be held at the Phoenix Art Museum on May 30th beginning at 5:30. If you are in town - please join us using this link for special alumni discount tickets.

In fact, come to Showcase, and also celebrate three ASA graduates who are receiving the Rising Star and Distinguished Alumni awards (featured in this edition) for this year. We are so proud of them! Concluding the year, Commencement is on May 31st. This year’s keynote speaker is Alex Laing - ASA Board Vice President, principal clarinetist at the Phoenix Symphony, and now the new Executive Director for the Gateways Music Festival the mission of which is to connect and support classical musicians of African descent.

As always, if you are in the neighborhood, let me know - stop by and tour the new space, attend an event or just say hello.

With gratitude,

Leah Fregulia

CEO/HEAD OF SCHOOL

2024 Distinguished Alum Honorees

Daniel Brodie

Class of 2000

Using light and images to tell stories on stage -- be it a theater, a concert hall, or a specialty event -- Daniel Brodie merged his love of theatre with his penchant for technology to carve out an esteemed career as a Video and Projection Designer. His work has been seen in the world of ballet, opera, popular music, and Broadway; most recently in the revival of The Wiz which toured the United States and made a stop at Daniel’s alma mater, ASU where he received his degree in theatre and media design from the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts in 2006. Daniel’s spectacular efforts on The Wiz made him eligible for Tony Award nomination in Best Scenic Design of a Musical category jointly with scenic designer Hannah Beachler.

He is a member of the Broadway Teaching Group and has also worked as a guest lecturer at NYU and Yale University. In 2011, Daniel was the recipient of the United States Institute of Theatre Technology’s (USITT) Rising Star Award. He kindly took some time to answer a few questions, “I can’t believe after all these years you guys are still assigning homework ❤️”

Dr. Avery Williams

Class of 2007

At Arizona School for the Arts we are doubly proud of Dr. Avery Williams; not only was she a 2007 graduate, but she was a Science teacher at ASA for the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 school years after receiving her Bachelors of Science from Arizona State University with a double major in Anthropology and Biochemistry.

However, Avery was not finished with her own education and decided to expand her studies at the University of Colorado in their Modern Human Anatomy master’s program. This is a course also taken by medical students and it was during this period that the seed was planted for pursuing a medical career, leading Avery to the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix.

This past March as a fourth year medical student, Avery celebrated March Day with a residency match to Yale University in Interventional Radiology. With a combination of a love of science, a desire to learn, and an innate sense of curiosity, Avery is on the threshold of her next big adventure.

Dr. Jeremy Winkelman

Class of 2015

The freshly-minted Dr. Jeremy Winkelman graduated

from Arizona School of the Arts in 2015 and has gone

from strength to strength…to strength. After pursuing his undergraduate studies at the University of Arizona,

Jeremy continued on to the University of Arizona School of Medicine and celebrated his graduation this May.

Visit goasa.org/alumni for more alumni features and updates.

Classes of 1999-2004 Reunion

Kelsey Wolf-Donnay and her dedicated committee, Brittany (Erwin) Shaw, Grace Clark, and Erica (Dowens) Wirth -- all from the class of 2004 -- have worked hard using the survey feedback gathered in December to organize a multi-class reunion at and around Showcase.

RSVP HERE

Wednesday, May 29th | 6:00pm-8:00pm

Meet-up at The Vig Fillmore; a night of laughter, reminiscing, and nostalgia. “Don't miss this chance to catch up with your classmates beyond what you've seen on social media and relive the ASA glory days!” Please RSVP for free through Eventbrite to let the organizers know if you will join them for this self-pay happy hour.

Thursday, May 30th | 5:00pm-9:00pm Join the ASA Imaginarium at the Phoenix Art Museum! Meet up with your friends again at Showcase, the penultimate event of the ASA school year. Mix and mingle with your classmates, catch up with some of your favorite teachers, and take in some fantastic performances and academic displays. Tickets are only $25 for alumni!

Friday, May 31st | 10:00am-Noon Come to Graduation at Church for the Nations. Celebrate the Class of 2024 as they become alumni, just like you. The keynote speaker is Alex Laing, principal clarinetist for the Phoenix Symphony, President and Artistic Director of Gateways Music Festival, and Vice President of the ASA Board of Directors.

ALUMNI UPDATES

Jonothon Lyons, 2000, is one of the puppeteers in “Madame Butterfly” at the Metropolitan Opera. You can have the opportunity to watch his work when the production will live stream to movie theaters May 11th and May 15th. Locations, times and tickets can be found on Fathom.

Hannah Abouchar, 2017, is working in Marketing for Apple Corporation in New South Wales, Australia after receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Public Policy from Claremont McKenna College. Hannah said, “The presentation skills I learned during my time at ASA set me up for success throughout college and my career. I have worked at Apple since graduating college, and as part of my job, I’m constantly having to present to Senior Leaders and business partners. I have been commended for my presentation skills, and I owe it to the teachers and curriculum at ASA!”

Marisolea Yabeny, 2017, was accepted to NYU, but had to come back home due to the pandemic. Not deterred, she enrolled online at ASU and has since moved to London where she is finishing up her math and AI degree. She has become a British citizen and will be attending Imperial University next year.

Upsahl, 2017, was featured on Zhu’s new single “Thrill Again” in February. She launches a new tour on May 15th in Tucson which will have several dates in the western part of North America and southern United States and then she hops across the Atlantic to tour Europe in August. Catch her if you can!

Please keep us and your fellow alumni up-to-date on your current projects and achievements, both personal and professional, whatever you want to share. Submit your latest to the Alumni Class Note form.

COME SEE SHOWCASE!

Thursday, May 30 | 5:30 - 9:30 PM | Phoenix Art Museum + Arizona Opera

Don’t let the classes of 1999-2004 have all the fun! Showcase is a great venue to catch up with former classmates and ASA.The festival-style format has become a favorite for alumni to meet up and connect with each other between stages; the relaxed atmosphere is fun and intriguing, but the performances are no less polished and satisfying.

Every school year is a journey.There are highs and lows - twists and turns - celebrations and challenges. Through it all, we come together as a community of creators and navigate through all our spaces with the power of our imagination. We close this year with one big party - one big festival - one big playground…join us in our Imaginarium.

We would like as many of our alumni to attend this one night occasion as possible, so we have maintained our special ASA Alum ticket pricing to help encourage you. Graduates can purchase tickets for only $25 on the Showcase website page in the “Purchase Tickets” dropdown menu. We will notify you when your ticket -- in the form of a gold wristband -- will be available for pick-up on campus, or you can get them at check-in the night of the event.

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS!

School Year 2024-2025 Enrollment is Open!

Are there students in your orbit who you believe would benefit from the same Arts + Smarts education you received? ASA is still accepting applications for the 2024-2025 school year, so please let those students know and encourage them to visit the Enrollment page on the ASA website.

We are so proud of our graduates and all that you accomplish in your lives; you are the best examples of the strong foundation of an ASA education…so spread the word!

Spread the Word about Showcase!

You can see from the Showcase web page that Arizona School for the Arts experiences a great amount of local community support in the form of sponsors for Imaginarium. All of these are a result of connections through our Board, families and staff.

As an alum of ASA, a meaningful way to show your support of the school is to honor an Arts Department that helped shape your education here with a Hearts for the Arts sponsorship. Each sponsorship includes two (2) all-inclusive tickets , event signage recognition, and access to the pre-event reception. You can order your Hearts for the Arts sponsorship through the website or by contacting our Director of Development, Leslie Religioso.

We also ask you to share this newsletter with fellow alum who may not be on the mailing list. We would love to increase your network with each other and ourselves.

Keep In Touch!

NEW ASA ALUM CLASS OF '99-'04 GROUP! Were you part of ASA's class of '99-'04? Get connected through the new Facebook Group! JOIN HERE.

STAY CONNECTED: If you have a new address, an update about yourself, or an inquiry, we would love to hear from you! Click here to submit an Alumni Note or send an email to alumni@goasa.org.

STAY INFORMED: If you have classmates with whom you are in touch but we may not be, please forward this newsletter to them and let them know we would like to hear from them! Sign-up to join our alumni mailing list via the Alumni Connection Links at goasa.org/alumni.

JOIN THE ASA PARENT ALUM FACEBOOK GROUP: This group is for parents or caregivers of Arizona School for the Arts alumni only and is not open to student alumni (unless they are now parents of alumni), current ASA students, or other relatives of ASA alumni. Join now!

Arizona School for the Arts inspires creative thinkers and leaders through providing an innovative concentration in college preparation informed by the performing arts.

ALUMNI GIFTS

2024 Rising Star Alum Honoree

COME SEE SHOWCASE!