Student Spotlight 44 results

Student Spotlight – Deborah Longenecker: Pianist

Sophomore keyboard pedagogy major Deborah Longenecker grew up in Kuwait, which she said gave her a wide variety of opportunities to experience the complexity and diversity that makes up the world of music. Diversity of rhythms Although Kuwait is one of the smallest countries in the Middle East, according to Longenecker, it has a vast spectrum of musical opportunities. Longenecker’s home city had a cultural center that put on a variety of concerts and performances that exposed her to a ...

Student Spotlight – Calvin Hitchcock: Composer

Music has the ability to bring a story or a concept to life, and that is what sophomore composition major Calvin Hitchcock said he seeks to do in his work. “I work conceptually, so I really like to have an idea of either a story or concept behind what I am doing,” Hitchcock said. Calvin’s advisor and piano teacher, Charles Clevenger, said one of the more prominent characteristics of Hitchcock’s work is the emotion. “Calvin crafts his ideas, and it shows up in the shapes of ...

Student Spotlight – Victoria Stapleton: Photographer

Wedding photography and nursing aren’t closely related, but senior nursing major Victoria Stapleton seems to have brought them into coexistence. “It’s never easy, and it’s actually really stressful most times. Things get hectic very often, but I love it,” Stapleton said. “I see a lot of qualities that apply to both (photography and nursing). In either, it’s important to be able to make people feel comfortable quickly because, in photography, if they feel comfortable, it’s ...

Student Spotlight – Nathan Price: One-Man Show

When it comes to the arts, Walter Nathan Price (but, please, call him Nathan) is a one-man army. He may be a fifth-year senior physics major, but Price is also a self-proclaimed rapper, playwright, composer and actor. “I like rap a lot,” Price said. “I’m a counter-tenor, which is basically a male soprano, so I like choral music. I love theatre. I love drama, writing ... I like writing plays especially. And I like writing lyrics a lot, especially rap, because I love horrible, ...

Student Spotlight – Danielle Hutchison: Pianist

As “Fiddler on the Roof” is performed in the Devries Theatre, you’ll hear music, see dancing and watch characters come to life. But Danielle Hutchison heard the music long before opening night. Hutchison, a junior music major and rehearsal pianist for “Fiddler,” had learned much of the music by last fall’s auditions for the show, said Chandler Hull, who plays Tevye’s daughter Tzeitel. “She mastered this music,” Hull said. “It’s difficult music, and she came into ...

Student Spotlight – Justin Eisner: Videographer

Justin Eisner, a freshman business management major and digital film minor, wants to start his own film production company. A few weeks ago, Eisner created a video lookbook, a video showcase of different products offered, for the clothing company Honor Raleigh. He got the job by emailing the company and asking them if they wanted a video made. They had seen his work and welcomed his offer. “A lot of people who I look up to are always telling me, ‘Don’t wait for luck to come your ...

Student Spotlight – Simon Yeh: Jazz Musician

The last Homecoming firework fizzles out and the clapping quiets. Inside the BTS, spectators shift their attention to the CU Jazz Band, which clusters to the left of the front door. There’s a count-off — “a-one, a-two, a-one, two, three, four” — and then good jazz happens. Just as the first song starts sizzling, Simon Yeh, the student director and lead saxophonist, stands up, waits a beat, and solos like a pro. “On clarinet, Simon’s as good as any major. On saxophone, ...

Student Spotlight – Joseph Vadala: Band Leader

Joseph Vadala, leader of the band Highland, turns life’s discord into rock music. When his long-distance girlfriend blindsided him with a break-up, he wept and watched “Everybody Loves Raymond.” He stayed in his room. He didn’t eat or drink for 50 hours. Finally, he went to his keyboard, and within 30 minutes he had written a song called “Won’t Be Tonight.” “The verses are very much my tears on paper,” said Vadala, a senior and computer science major. That song ...

Student Spotlight – Kyria Luxon: Photographer

Kyria Luxon makes people smile, then snaps a picture. “I was photographed by her once for a project,” said Brian McCray, a junior graphic design major and classmate of Luxon. “She seems to get energy from people. I think she enjoys photographing other people for that reason.” Luxon said enthusiasm makes her photo shoots successful. “A lot of people say that they’re camera shy, that they don’t like being photographed,” Luxon said. “But I tend to get so excited ...

Style Blog Not Just About Clothes

It took six Cedarville students just one weekend last November to launch a style blog that’s now attracted readers from several states. Cedarville students Beth Julca and Jennifer Langton had the idea to highlight people with interesting style around campus in some sort of online media. Langton, a junior, said she and Julca, who graduated in December, shared their idea with four other students. And when the weekend was over, the group of six had created and published “The Village.” ...