OfA announces undergraduate prize winners

The Office for the Arts at Harvard (OfA) and the Council on the Arts at Harvard, a standing committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, have announced the winners of the annual undergraduate arts prizes presented in recognition of outstanding accomplishment in the arts for the 2006-07 academic year.

Established in 1983, this year’s Louis Sudler Prize (which includes a $1,000 award) will be presented at the president’s reception on May 5 by President-elect Drew G. Faust during Harvard’s annual Arts First celebration (May 3-6). The reception, during which Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Adams ’69, A.M. ’72 will receive the Harvard Arts Medal, is being held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the Arts First tent outside the Science Center. In all, six undergraduate prizes for achievement in the arts will be awarded.

Council on the Arts members at the time of selection were Julie Buckler (chair), professor of Slavic languages and literatures and director of Graduate Studies; Elizabeth Bergmann, director, OfA Dance Program; S. Allen Counter, director, Harvard Foundation; Deborah Foster, assistant dean for undergraduate education; Jorie Graham, Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory; Annette Lemieux, professor of the practice of studio arts in visual and environmental studies; Cathleen McCormick, program director, OfA; Jack Megan, director, OfA; Robb Moss, Rudolf Arnheim Lecturer on Filmmaking and director of Undergraduate Studies; Carol Oja, William Powell Mason Professor of Music; Robert J. Orchard, executive director, American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.); Marcus Stern, associate director, A.R.T. and the A.R.T./MXAT Institute for Advanced Theatre Training; and John Stewart, senior preceptor in music.

The 2006-07 OfA prize winners

Stefan Jackiw ’07 has been named the recipient of this year’s Louis Sudler Prize for his “extraordinary musicianship,” according to the OfA. Jackiw made his concert debut with the Boston Pops in 1997, playing the Wieniawsk Violin Concerto no. 2 under Keith Lockhart, and his European debut during the spring of 2000 in London with the Philharmonic Orchestra under Benjamin Zander playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E Minor. In recent years, Jackiw has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Naples Philharmonic, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Caramoor, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, among others. While maintaining his active tour schedule, Jackiw has performed at Harvard with the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, Harvard Bach Society Orchestra, and the Brattle Street Chamber Players. Jackiw also participated in Leverett House’s recital series, was a featured performer in “Forte!: A Celebration of Arts at Harvard,” and has participated in Arts First. He will appear later this spring with the Bach Society Orchestra during the orchestra’s April 27 concert.

Nicole Salazar ’07 is the recipient of the Council Prize in Visual Art. The award recognizes a Harvard student who has done outstanding work in the field of visual arts. Salazar worked with distinction in the fields of painting, animation, and nonfiction filmmaking. Her work appeared in a number of Harvard publications including The Harvard Advocate and Tuesday Magazine. Additionally, her work has also been featured in exhibits at the Adams Art Space Gallery and the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts. At the 2005 Sundeis Film Festival held at Brandeis University, Salazar’s short film “Pidge” received three award nominations and was the recipient of the Best Sound Award.

Blase Ur ’07 is the recipient of the Louise Donovan Award. This award recognizes a Harvard student who has done outstanding behind-the-scenes work in the arts, including turns as a director, producer, and set designer. Additionally, Ur has been involved in all aspects of technical theater, serving as a sound and light designer, master electrician, video designer, and technical director in more than 40 Harvard theater productions. He has also served on the executive board of the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HRDC) as president (2006) and technical liaison (2004-05). He recently completed a video design and sound composition for the dance piece “Chunk in 9 Pieces” in New York and will be designing sound for a June production at A.R.T.’s Institute for Advanced Theatre Training to be directed by Scott Zigler.

Mark Musico ’07 is recipient of the Radcliffe Doris Cohen Levi Prize. The prize recognizes a Harvard College student who combines talent and energy with outstanding enthusiasm for musical theater at Harvard and honors the memory of Levi, Radcliffe Class of ’35. Musico has served as conductor, music director, and/or vocal coach for more than 13 Harvard theater productions in key venues such as the Loeb Experimental Theatre, Loeb Mainstage, and Agassiz Theatre. Featured productions include “She Loves Me,” Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance,” “Carousel,” “The Rocky Horror Show,” and “The Last Five Years.” Musico also composed the score for Hasty Pudding Theatrical’s 159th production (“The Tent Commandments”). He has also served as a proctor for the Freshman Arts Program, the weeklong intensive introduction to the arts at Harvard for freshmen.

Larissa Koch ‘08 is the recipient of the Suzanne Farrell Dance Prize. Named for the acclaimed dancer and former prima ballerina of the New York City Ballet, the prize recognizes a Harvard undergraduate who has demonstrated outstanding artistry in the field of dance. Koch is a member of the Harvard Ballet Company and the Harvard Contemporary Dance Ensemble. She is also a choreographer whose work has been featured in performances by the Harvard Early Music Society (HEMS), Harvard Ballet Company, and in the OfA’s Dance Program’s spring dance showcases “Dancers’ Viewpointe VI and VII.” Her work “fallen falling” has been selected to represent Harvard at the regional American College Dance Festival in February 2008.

Josh Brener ’07 and Mike Hoagland ’07 are the recipients of the Jonathan Levy Award in Drama. This prize recognizes the most promising undergraduate actors at the College. Brener has performed in both musical and straight play productions while at Harvard. His Loeb Mainstage performances include Matt in Christopher Durang’s “The Marriage of Bette and Boo” and Newton in “The Physicists.” Loeb Experimental Theater and Adams Pool Theatre roles include Lloyd in “Noises Off,” Charlie Brown in “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” and Jamie in “The Last Five Years.” Brener has served as president of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals (2006-07) and has been involved as a performer and/or co-author for the past four Pudding productions.

Hoagland has performed in more than 20 varied productions while at Harvard. Highlights include man in Neil LaBute’s “Autobahn: A Play Cycle,” Orestes in “The Oresteia,” Jean in “Rhinoceros,” the player in “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead,” and Orgon in “Tartuffe.” He was also featured in two HRDC visiting director projects: Schigolch in “Lulu” directed by Brendan Hughes (fall 2005), and Boo in “The Marriage of Bette and Boo” directed by Marcus Stern (fall 2006). Hoagland has appeared in the two most recent Hasty Pudding Theatrical productions, “Some Like it Yacht” (2006) and “The Tent Commandments” (2007), and has also participated in and is the current co-producer of the 24-hour play festival and co-president of Sunken Garden Children’s Theatre Company.

OfA supports student engagement in the arts and serves the University in its commitment to the arts. Through its programs and services, the OfA fosters student art-making, connects students to accomplished artists, integrates the arts into University life, and partners with local, national, and international constituencies.