#Alumni – Profiles

Alumnus Danny Feldman (2002) was not really surprised when the Pasadena Playhouse won the Tony for Best Regional Theater. After all, when he took over the reins of the venerable playhouse in October 2016, he announced a bold vision to his staff to make it the most dynamic and exciting theater in America, and prophesied that they

Martha Gonzalez has done it all. She completed a dissertation, won a Grammy, published a book, teaches at a top liberal arts college, and was awarded a 2022 MacArthur "genius" grant.

Jake Heggie is an American composer of opera, vocal, orchestral and chamber music. He is best known for his operas and art songs, as well as for his collaborations with internationally renowned performers and writers.

Kalil Wilson is a vocalist whose style crosses genres of jazz, R&B, pop, and even classical. He entered UCLA in the vocal and opera program before discovering his love of jazz.

Cristina Magaldi is a musicologist who specializes in the music of Latin America, Brazilian music, music and globalization, music and nationalism, popular music, and music and gender.

Martha Gonzalez is a Chicana artivista (artist/activist) musician, feminist music theorist and Associate Professor in the Intercollegiate Department of Chicana/o Latina/o Studies at Scripps/Claremont College. A Fulbright (2007-2008), Ford (2012-2013) and Woodrow Wilson Fellow (206-2017), her academic interests have been fueled by her own musicianship as a singer/songwriter and percussionist for Grammy Award (2013) winning band Quetzal.