Student Research and Creative Endeavors Symposium

The 28th annual Student Research and Creative Endeavors Symposium was held Friday, March 28, on the skybridge between Helmke Library and Walb Student Union. More than 140 students participated. During this very popular event, students made a five-minute presentation to members of the campus community as they browsed the research projects assembled in the long hallway overlooking Alumni Plaza. Three students from the College of Visual and Performing Arts were among the presenters.

Winner of the College of Visual and Performing Arts Dean's Choice Award

Life is a Cabaret – Dramaturgy as a Backbone

Nikolas Prathaftakis, Junior Theatre Major (pictured here with Dean O'Connell)

Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor of Costume Design Austin M. Rausch

Impact of Synthesized Bass in Live Performance Dynamics

Hailee Richmond, Sophomore Commercial Music Major

Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor of Music John Romey

Are We Less Miserable or ‘Les Misérables’?

Rin Ulick, Senior Theatre Major

Faculty Mentor: Assistant Professor of Costume Design Austin M. Rausch

Tembras Awarded Indiana Bandmaster of the Year

Associate Professor Daniel Tembras was selected by the Gamma Chapter of Phi Beta Mu, the International Bandmasters Fraternity, as the Indiana Bandmaster of the Year for 2025. The prestigious award is selected by peers that include band directors from all levels in Indiana.

Tembras serves as the Director of Instrumental Studies at Purdue University Fort Wayne. His duties include conducting the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, teaching courses in conducting and music education, and coordinating the woodwind, brass, and percussion areas. Tembras holds a DMA degree in Wind Conducting from The University of Texas at Austin.

Green Receives the Margaret Ann Keegan Award

Local volunteers and artists were given honors at the annual Arts United Awards ceremony on Wednesday, Mar. 19, 2025, at the Arts United ArtsLab downtown. The honors celebrate people, organizations, and projects that make a significant contribution to communities in northeast Indiana through arts and culture.  

The Margaret Ann Keegan Award for Arts Education was presented to Seth Green, associate professor of ceramics at PFW. The artist co-founded the Indiana Clay Conference and supports PFW students as an advisor to the Ceramics Club, which includes coordinating museum trips, holding pottery sales, and helping plan the annual Empty Bowls fundraiser for the PFW Food Pantry. Read more here.

Exceptional Achievement Award Presented to Jackson

Professor and Director of Music Therapy Nancy Jackson, MT-BC, was awarded the Exceptional Achievement Award from the Great Lakes Region of the American Music Therapy Association on March 15, 2025 during their annual regional conference in Columbus, Ohio. The Exceptional Achievement Award, formerly known as the Lifetime Achievement Award, is presented to an individual who “has made varied and distinguished contributions to the field of music therapy,” is nominated by one or more peers, and selected from nominees by the regional executive committee. The award was established in 1993, and Jackson is the 26th music therapist to receive the award. The Great Lakes Region includes the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

Shaboozey and Tilby

Banjoist and Clinical Assistant Professor of Music Recording and Technology Ryan Tilby (pictured with banjo) is the connecting thread between country music phenom Shaboozey and Purdue Fort Wayne. Through a professional network that connected Tilby to producers with Empire Records, Tilby’s banjo, mandolin, and dobro were heard on last summer’s hits “Drink Don’t Need No Mix,” “Last of My Kind,” and “Highway,” racking up more than 100 million streams on Spotify alone. The six-time Grammy-nominated Shaboozey has broken several records, including holding the number one spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 for nineteen weeks.

PFW Announces 2025 Exemplar and

Top 50 Recipients

Purdue University Fort Wayne has chosen its next class of Exemplar and Top 50 recipients. These students not only excel academically, they go above and beyond in their communities. Each year, deans, directors, department chairs, and/or faculty select students to be Exemplars. Those receiving this honor must complete an undergraduate degree during the fall, spring, or summer semester of the current academic year; have graduated with distinction or be tentatively qualified to achieve that status; demonstrate excellence in their areas of study; and have a record of community outreach in their field.

The College of Visual and Performing Arts is proud to celebrate the top students in our college (pictured left to right). 

Jackson McKinney – Exemplar

Senior majoring in Musical Theatre

Department of Theatre

Willow Cribb – Top 50

Senior majoring in Art

Department of Art and Design

Andrew Danielson – Top 50

Junior majoring in Music and an outside field

School of Music

Read more and see the complete list of recipients here.

Sauerland Publishes and Performs

A book chapter by William Sauerland, associate professor of choral music, was published by Routledge Press in January. His chapter entitled “Teaching Nonbinary Singers: 21st Century Knowledge and Pedagogies” appears in The Applied Studio Model in Higher Music Education: Critical Perspectives and Opportunities, edited by Kelly A. Parks and Ryan Daniels. Click here to view the book.

Sauerland also sang in a recital on February 9, 2025, called “Cupid’s Dart” with the early music ensemble Echoing Air at the Indianapolis Art Center. Echoing Air, Inc., is a chamber ensemble dedicated to exploring and presenting music featuring singers with Baroque instruments, with an emphasis on music of the English Baroque. Most concerts feature two countertenors, two recorders, and a basso continuo. 

PFW Celebrates Featured Faculty

Four Purdue University Fort Wayne educators were honored recently as recipients of the 2025 Featured Faculty designation during a recognition luncheon. Suining Ding, professor of interior design, received the award for her research and creative scholarly endeavors. Additional winners included Michael Kirchner, associate professor of organizational leadership; Sarah LeBlanc, associate professor of interpersonal communication; and Richard Weiner, chair and professor of history. (Pictured are Dean John O’Connell, Suining Ding, and Rebecca Coffman, professor and chair of the Department of Art and Design.)

“Featured Faculty is a competitive award, and the quality of the submissions is high each and every year,” said Kimberly O’Connor, associate vice chancellor for teaching and learning. “The faculty at Purdue University Fort Wayne exemplify innovation, dedication, and excellence across their disciplines. Their work not only advances knowledge and creative practice, but also makes a lasting impact on students, the community, and the broader professional landscape.”

Along with being outstanding teachers, this year’s four honorees have also done extensive work to better northeast Indiana and the world. Click here to learn more about Suining Ding from the Department of Art and Design. Video link here. 

Loud Division Enjoyed Years of 'Wasted Time'

The hard rock band Loud Division, a Gold Top Music Group artist, just released its first album titled Wasted Time. Gold Top, a record label that operates out of the School of Music at PFW, attracts and teaches students interested in various aspects of the professional music industry.

Eight years and several line-up changes in the making, the considerable amount of time spent to create this album appears to be anything but wasted. And as the band continues to improve, an alternate title for this record could have just as easily been Had Fun Doing It. Read the entire story here.

Students Exhibit Work with Computer Animation Professor

Students in Professor Andres Montenegro’s first semester Intro to 3D modeling class were surprised and thrilled when he asked them to participate in his show at the main branch of the Allen County Public Library in downtown Fort Wayne. Featuring 26 paintings by Montenegro and 11 3D student sculptures, “The Sensitive Layer” exhibition was presented in the Jeffrey R. Krull Gallery during February 2025.

“The most rewarding aspect of this is seeing what they accomplished, seeing their ideas become flesh,” Montenegro said. “It’s kind of a chain reaction where you are triggering them by engaging them and pushing them forward to the empowerment of their artistic outcomes.” Read the story here.

CVPA Welcomes New Colleagues

Ayn Reineke has joined the Dean’s office staff as the new senior marketing and public relations administrator. Reineke graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in English. She has ten years of Purdue marketing experience, most recently as the marketing and communications manager for the College of Liberal Arts, West Lafayette campus.

Jimmer Moeller has joined the School of Music as the new associate administrative assistant. Moeller graduated from IPFW in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in Music Education. For the past 15 years he has been teaching within Fort Wayne Community Schools, where he has taught general music, band, and primarily middle school choir.

Cassie Hicks is the new associate academic advisor for the College of Visual and Performing Arts. A graduate of Purdue University, she completed her master’s in Curriculum and Instruction at Western Governors University. This is her first position in higher education and she is excited to join us.

Dean O'Connell directs play about Sandy Hook | Whatzup

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Nine from Fort Wayne selected for piano competition | Journal Gazette*

Gene Marcus Piano Competition strikes right note | Whatzup

Piano contest key for young players | Journal Gazette*

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Edens Brings the Healing Power of Music to Patients

PFW senior Olivia Edens got the opportunity to talk about something she loves when she recently addressed the board of directors for the Fort Wayne Ronald McDonald House. Edens shared her passion for music therapy and why the Ronald McDonald House needed to consider introducing more opportunities for music therapists at its Parkview Regional Medical Center location. She quickly established her credentials by working two hours a week to show how the therapy positively affected patients. Edens explained to the board that music therapy is about forming a relationship between the practitioner working through the music and the patient, with variations and effective uses in treatment, including hospice care, stress, pain relief, or helping children with emotional or developmental issues. Click here to read the story.

Reichert Wins Scholarship to California

Eight students attended the 2025 National Conference for the Organization of American Kodály Educators in Chicago on March 6–9, with funding from the college of VPA, Student Government, and the PFW Collegiate Chapter of the National Association for Music Education. Students included Noah Moreno, Chloe Rorick, Regina Parker, Tyler Summers, Elliot Hammond, Anna Reichert, Emma Shenefield, and Jess Florea. They were accompanied by Megan Ankuda, visiting assistant professor in Music, who presented two sessions at the conference. Students enjoyed practitioner-based conference sessions focused on choral, general, and instrumental music education. They participated in choral reading sessions and attended several concerts. While at the conference, Anna Reichert won a full-tuition scholarship for level one summer Kodály study at the University of Redlands Marin Campus in California! 

Student Costume Designer Showcased in John Proctor

When the play John Proctor is the Villain opened in Williams Theatre in February, it was a showcase project for the actors involved, but also for student costume designer Rin Ulick. It’s something Ulick never imagined before coming to campus. When the Elkhart native became a theatre major, they concentrated on becoming an actor, appearing in six plays in Williams Theatre. But their focus shifted when they took a required Intro to Costume Design class as a sophomore.

“Something just clicked because it makes my love for art and research and history and also theatre more vivid, checking all the boxes for me,” Ulick said. “It was a different way of expressing my love for theatre and hit a different intellectual mark than anything had.” Click here to read more.

CAA Receives Two Grants from Associated Chamber Music Players

The Community Arts Academy (CAA) is proud to announce that they are the recipients of two grants from the Associated Chamber Music Players (ACMP).

The first, written by Music faculty member Kylie Stultz Dessent, focuses on the Indiana Clarinet Experience (ICE). Staff members Marcy Trentacosti and Emelinda Acosta wrote the grant for Summer Strings Camp and the NEW Summer Chamber Music Academy.

These projects positively contribute to the ACMP mission to stimulate and expand the playing of chamber music for pleasure among musicians worldwide, of all backgrounds, ages and skill levels, by connecting people and supporting chamber music activities for individuals, groups and institutions.

The King’s Singers a cappella group held a workshop on February 12, with William Sauerland director of choral studies and vocal students, prior to their evening performance in Rhinehart Recital Hall. The six-member group has received numerous awards, including two Grammys and an Emmy, as well as a place in Gramophone Magazine’s inaugural Hall of Fame.