Snarky Puppy, led by UNT alumnus Michael League and made up of several alumni band members, won the Grammy Award for Best
R&B Performance at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.
Alumni Facts
Our alumni hold positions with prominent orchestras across the nation:
- Madeline Adkins - Associate Concertmaster, Baltimore Symphony
- Christopher Adkins - Principal Cellist, Dallas Symphony
- Jeffrey Rathbun - Assistant Principal Oboist, Cleveland Orchestra
- Clint Foreman - Flutist, Boston Symphony Orchestra
- Duain Wolfe - Conductor of the Chicago Symphony Chorus
- Edward Stephan – timpanist, Pittsburgh Symphony
- Joseph Kaufman – Assistant Principal Double Bass, Seattle Symphony
Alumni award winners include:
- Grammy award nominees and winners including pianist Petronel Malan, composer Michael Daugherty, saxophonist Jeff Coffin, producer Bob Belden, singer/songwriter Norah Jones, singer Pat Boone, singer Don Henley (the Eagles)
- Emmy award winners J. Walter Hawkes (Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition, 2008) and Kristopher Carter (Outstanding Music Direction and Composition, 1999)
- Winners of eminent piano competitions including the Walter Naumberg International Competition (Anthony Molinaro), the Los Angeles Liszt Competition (Eva Polgar and Bret Serrin) and the Bartók-Kabalevsky-Prokofiev International Piano Competition (John Solomons)
Alumni have been on the roster of renowned opera companies including:
- The Metropolitan Opera (soloists include Patricia Racette, Latonia Moore, Scott Scully, Michael Mayes, Emily Pulley, Lauren McNeese, Takesha Meshé Kizart)
- Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Patricia Racette, Latonia Moore)
- La Scala (Patricia Racette)
Jazz alumni can be found everywhere from on the top of the Billboard charts to the Smithsonian:
- Tom "Bones" Malone and Frank Greene - CBS Orchestra on "The Late Show with David Letterman"
- Jeff Coffin – saxophonist for Dave Matthews Band
- Norah Jones – Grammy-winning pianist and singer/songwriter
- Charlie Young – artistic director and conductor of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra
More than 70 alumni hold positions in premier U.S. military bands, including:
- Half of the members of the U.S. Army Jazz Ambassadors
- Philip Burlin – Leader of the Commodores, premier jazz ensemble of the U.S. Navy
- Sarah Dell'Omo – Mezzo-soprano soloist with the "President's Own" Marine Band
- Alan Baylock – chief arranger for the U.S. Air Force Airmen of Note; staff arranger for the U.S. Air Force Band
- James Logan – clarinet for the U.S. Navy Band
More than 1,600 music educators in public schools throughout the United States are UNT alumni, including:
- Joe Weir, past president of Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) and choir director at Humble High School in Humble, TX
- Romana Hartmetz, recipient of 2009 MENC Teaching Music Award; guitar and orchestra teacher at Woodgrove High School in Loudon County, VA
- Isidore L. Rudnick, Artistic Director of the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati, OH
Alumni hold teaching and administrative positions in hundreds of U.S. colleges and universities, including:
- Robert L. Blocker - Dean of the Yale University School of Music
- William V. May - Dean of the Baylor University School of Music
- Robert Walzel - Dean of the University of Kansas School of Music
Many alumni also work as leaders in commercial and nonprofit arts organizations:
- Emily Crocker, vice president of choral publications for Hal Leonard
- James Sogin, co-editor of the American String Teachers Association String Research Journal
- Ray Hair, international president of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada