Music Alumni
Butler students sing, play, conduct, teach, and inspire.
Students with undergraduate degrees in music from Butler University
have continued their study in some of the country's finest programs
including Indiana University, the Manhattan School of Music, the
Juilliard Opera Program, Florida State University, Southern
Methodist University, Eastman School of Music, Boston University,
University of Maryland and the University of Michigan.
Former Butler students are on the stage and in the pit for major
Broadway shows including Les Miserables, Blast!,
La Bohème, and Phantom of the Opera. Butler
graduates teach at such colleges and universities as the jazz/pop
oriented Berklee School in Boston, Ball State University, the
University of Michigan and, yes, Butler University!
Butler's music education graduates are regularly cited as
outstanding young educators by the Music Educators National
Conference and hold teaching positions in public and private
schools all over the country. Butler has maestros on the podiums of
such symphony orchestras as the Warner Brothers Orchestra, the
Evansville Philharmonic, and the Ft. Smith Symphony.
Ben J. Davis '97
- Professional actor, currently performing on Broadway in
Thoroughly Modern Millie in the role of Trevor
Graydon
- As a member of the principal ensemble of Baz Luhrmann's
production of La Bohème (Marcello), was recipient of 2003
Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre
- Performed in Les Misérables as Enjolras on Broadway
and in a national tour
- Other credits include Into the Woods, A Christmas
Carol and The Pirates of Penzance
John S. Jeter '93
- Music director/conductor, Fort Smith Symphony and visiting
director of orchestral studies, University of Oklahoma
- Recipient of the 2002 American Symphony Orchestra League Helen
M. Thompson Award, given to one music director in America every two
years, and the City of Fort Smith Mayor's Achievement Award
- Significant regional media producer, commentator and educator
on National Public Radio, Clear Channel and Cumulus Radio Networks
and Cox Cable television
- National and international guest conducting engagements include
the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Springfield Symphony Orchestra,
Charleston Symphony Orchestra, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and West
Bohemian Symphony in the Czech Republic
Lisa M. Sullivan '89
- Music specialist, Mohawk Trails Elementary School for Carmel
Clay Schools
- Is a Certified Specialist in Orff-Schulwerk, a music teaching
method that focuses on experiential aspect of music, and teaches
Orff-Schulwerk at Anderson University
- Directed Children's Orff Ensemble at 2001 National Orff
Conference in Cincinnati
- President of the Indiana chapter of the American Orff-Schulwerk
Association, member of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association,
Indiana Kodaly Educators, Indiana Music Educators Association and
Music Educators National Conference
Johann S. Paetsch '88
- Principal cellist, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana in Lugano,
Switzerland
- Received top prize in the Emmanuel Feuerman Competition and the
Young Musicians Foundation Competition in Los Angeles
- Toured internationally with the piano trio Trio Kairos and
performed concertos of Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Haydn
and Dvorák in Japan, the U.S. and Europe
Jonathan L. Chenette '80
- Blanche Johnson Professor of Music, Grinnell College
- Performed internationally at the ISCM World Music Days in
Amsterdam, World Harp Congress in Vienna and others
- His compositions have been performed by the Cedar Rapids
Symphony, Des Moines Symphony, Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra
and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra
- His music is available on CD from Innova, Riverrun and Fleur de
Son Classics labels, and several of his compositions are published
by Boosey & Hawkes and Theodore Presser Company
George Daugherty '78
- Conductor of London's Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra
- His production of Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the
Wolf, which premiered at Christmas 1995 on ABC and was
rereleased on DVD in 2003 by Sony Entertainment, received a
Primetime Emmy and has been nominated for five other Emmy
Awards
- Conducting credits include San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles
Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Houston Symphony, National
Symphony, Munich State Opera and Ballet, American Ballet Theatre,
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, Seiji
Ozawa's New Japan Philharmonic, the orchestra of the Kremlin Palace
in Moscow, Pittsburgh Symphony and Seoul Philharmonic
- Winner of numerous awards for his educational television series
and concerts for children, including Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese
Cat and Sesame Workshop for PBS, Rhythm &
Jam for ABC and Bugs Bunny On Broadway for Warner
Brothers
- Recipient of an Indiana Governor's Arts Award
Michael Schelle '76
- Composer-in-residence and professor of music, Butler
University
- Nominated in 1988 and 1994 for a Pulitzer Prize in Music
Composition
- Named 1989 Distinguished Composer of the Year by Music Teachers
National Association
- Received composition awards and grants from the National
Endowment for the Arts, the Welsh Arts Council (Cardiff, Wales),
BMI, ASCAP and arts foundations across the country
- Published a film music book The Score
- His compositions have been performed nationally by the Detroit,
Milwaukee, Kansas City, Chicago, Cleveland and Cincinnati
orchestras and internationally by Kammerorchester Basel in
Switzerland, Czestochowa Philharmonic in Poland, Orquesta Sinfonica
Nacional in Costa Rica and the Koenig Ensemble of London
- Chamber works performed by professional ensembles from New York
to Los Angeles to Honolulu
Alfred Savia '75, M.M. '76
- Conductor and music director, Evansville Philharmonic
- Recorded Russell Peck's The Thrill of the Orchestra
with London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in 1997 Associate
conductor of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra from 1990 to 1996
and continues to guest conduct the ISO frequently
- Past posts include associate conductor of the Florida Symphony
Orchestra (Orlando), New Orleans Symphony and Florida Philharmonic
(Miami and Fort Lauderdale), as well as artistic director of the
Orlando Opera and Orlando Philharmonic
- National and international conducting credits include the
Alabama, Columbus, Detroit, Illinois, St. Louis, San Antonio,
Savannah and Wyoming symphony orchestras, Denmark's Aalborg
Symphony Orchestra, Germany's Osnabrücker Symphonieorchester,
Italy's Orchestra de Camera Fiorentina and Presidential Symphony
Orchestra of Ankara, Turkey
Steven Eggleston, '74
- Professor of music and conductor of the wind ensemble and
orchestra at Illinois Wesleyan University
- Former artistic director of the Central Illinois Youth
Symphony
- Has served as guest conductor for Illinois and Indiana
All-State Bands and Orchestras, the University of Illinois String
Consortium, the Peoria Symphony, Champaign/Urbana Symphony, the
Volgograd (Russia) Philharmonic, the University of Illinois
Symphony Orchestra, and the Muncie (Indiana) Symphony
Sarah K. Fronczek '70
- Fine arts consultant for the Indiana Department of Education,
overseeing curriculum, educational standards and fine arts
programs
- Taught music in the elementary and secondary classroom for Pike
and Washington townships for 15 years and received numerous awards
for teaching
- Previously served as artistic director of Young Audiences of
Indiana and was founding director of the Summer Arts Education
Institute
David A. Hardiman M.M. '70
- Musician/recording artist/composer/arranger
- Professor of Jazz Education and director of jazz studies at
City College of San Francisco, director of the San Francisco
All-Star Big Band and combos since 1971 and bugler for the Golden
Gate Fields and San Mateo Horse Racing Track for six years
- Performed and recorded with Jackie Wilson, The Dells, Gladys
Knight and the Pips, Nancy Wilson, Tony Bennett, John Handy, David
Baker and others
- Performs at events across the nation including Indy Jazz Fest,
AT&T Harlem, Wednesday Nights and Jazz Perspectives at the
Gould Theater in San Francisco
Robert Todd Duncan '25, Honorary Doctor of Music '69
- Singer, originated the role of Porgy in George Gershwin's
Porgy and Bess
- Recipient of the George Peabody Medal, a medal of honor from
Haiti, an NAACP award, the Donaldson Award and a New York Drama
Critics' Award
- Washington Performing Arts Society honored him on the occasion
of his 75th birthday
- In 1945, was the first African American to sing with the New
York City Opera Company in Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci
- Other stage credits include Cabin in the Sky, The
Sun Never Sets and Lost in the Stars and films
include Syncopation and Unchained
Noble Lee Sissle '18
- Jazz musician, performed with Eubie Blake
- Received Yale University's Ellington Medal for contributions to
jazz and helped found the Negro Actor's Guild
- Appeared in several movies and co-wrote I'm Just Wild About
Harry, Hello Sweetheart Hello, I Was Meant for
You and Broadway and Vaudeville productions Shuffle
Along, Chocolate Dandies and Elsie
- Toured internationally to London and Paris clubs with great
success in the 1920s