Check out the news from our alumni:
• Douglas Anderson (M.F.A. Theatre 1978) spent 17 years teaching (Illinois, Amherst and Middlebury) before a stint as a head writer on the CBS daytime drama "The Guiding Light." In 1997 he happened to walk into a decaying 1884 building in Middlebury, Vermont, and on discovering that it was originally a theater, he led a $5 million restoration, completed in 2008. Town Hall Theater is now a thriving performing arts center. Anderson also created Opera Company of Middlebury, now in its 17th season, which has been celebrated in Opera News and the Huffington Post. In 2019 he was given a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to the arts in the State of Vermont.
• Paula Teigeler Baack (B.S.E. 1971; M.M. 1973) completed 46 years as a choral director in 2017. In 2018, Baack initiated a new role as an educational consultant, which included writing about her incredible career as a teacher in Nebraska (which included directing the UNL Scarlet & Cream Singers from 1995-97), Arizona and Colorado. In 2019, Baack published her memoir, "Rescue the Teacher, Save the Child!" (https://go.unl.edu/2wks). When Baack is not advocating for teachers, she operates a voice studio in Colorado (Peak Performance Voice Studio), which has received state, regional and national recognition.
• Candace Frank (B.F.A. Theatre-Film and New Media 2007) started a non-profit of more than 800 volunteers that have made and donated more than 100,000 cloth masks in the state of Washington (http://www.craftersagainstcovid19.org).
• Zora Murff (M.F.A. 2018) was recently named as a 2021 Emerging Scholar by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. Murff is one of 15 scholars named and celebrated for their achievements as well as the difference they are making in higher education. The publication has recognized an interdisciplinary group of minority scholars who represent the very best of the United States academy for 20 years. Murff is assistant professor and co-head of the photography area at the University of Arkansas School of Art.
• Greg Tavares (M.F.A. 1998) has released an audiobook of his solo show titled "I Am the Horrible Thing: A True Life Story of How I Almost Got Myself Killed. . . on Vacation" on Audible and Amazon (https://go.unl.edu/4shq). Tavares relives his near-death experience on vacation in Costa Rica so deeply, you won't know if he gets out alive until the very end.
To submit your alumni news, please send an e-mail to unlarts@unl.edu. Be sure to include your year and degree(s).