Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • Summer 2024 27 NATIONAL ARTS ASSOCIATE a person who is nationally recognized for distinguished contribution to the arts DR. STEPHEN ALLTOP Dr. Stephen Alltop was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Urbana (IL) Alumnae Chapter in November. A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and Northwestern University, Dr. Alltop is currently Senior Lecturer in conducting, harpsichord, and oratorio in the Leigh Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. He has built a distinguished career as a choral and orchestral conductor, harpsichordist, organist, lecturer, and collaborator with renowned artists and composers. He is the music director of the Apollo Chorus of Chicago and the Elmhurst (IL) Symphony Orchestra, and he is music director and conductor of the Champaign- Urbana (C-U) Symphony Orchestra. The Illinois Council of Orchestras named him Conductor of the Year for his work with the Elmhurst orchestra. The 2023-2024 season marked his twenty- seventh year as Music Director of the Apollo Chorus of Chicago. Mr. Alltop is the ninth music director in the 152-year history of the chorus. Under his direction, the Apollo Chorus performed a concert of contemporary music for the 2022 regional conference of the American Choral Directors Association, and expanded its collaborations to include appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Opera Theater, London Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia Festival, Peninsula Music Festival, Lollapalooza and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Mr. Alltop has guest conducted numerous orchestras and choruses across the United States, Italy and South Korea. In June of 2022, he stepped in on three-hours notice to lead the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in a program of Beethoven, Schubert and Tchaikovsky broadcast live on WFMT Radio. He has worked closely with leading composers of the day, including residency projects with John Corigliano, Eleanor Daley, Stacy Garrop, Stephen Paulus and Eric Whitacre, and has conducted world premieres of works by John Luther Adams, Frank Ferko, Fabrizio Festa, Stacy Garrop, Stephen Paulus, and many others. In 2014, Alltop coordinated and performed as part of the WFMT Bach Organ Project, which included the complete works of Bach. In 2007, he made his Carnegie Hall debut conducting music of Eric Whitacre. Dr. Alltop, who has been associated with the Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra for more than ten years, has greatly enhanced the musical life of the community. He has prepared innovative concerts, involved other community ensembles in symphony concert programs and created videos of lectures and small symphony ensembles during the pandemic. During the early pandemic, he collaborated with Northwestern University opera director Joachim Schamberger to create Orfeo Remote, two feature-length films of Monteverdi's opera from over 3,000 separate recordings made by student and guest musicians. He recently helped organize festivals with acclaimed scholars and performers around the music of William Byrd and George Frideric Handel, and conducting the world premiere recording of Stacy Garrop's oratorio Terra Nostra for Cedille Records. His creative Youth Concerts have made it possible for elementary school children to experience orchestral music in a welcoming, fun environment. He is the 21st century's "Leonard Bernstein Young People's Concerts" spokesperson. Dr. Alltop is a passionate advocate for contemporary and under-represented composers of both orchestral and choral music. He was instrumental in securing a Music Alive grant from New Music USA and the League of American Symphony Orchestras which placed composer Stacey Garrop in residence with the C-U Symphony Orchestra from 2016-2019. He has worked with many other composers such as Eric Whitacre, Eleanor Daley, and John Corigliano. SARA ANDON Sara Andon was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Sigma Eta Chapter at the University of Redlands in March. Flutist Sara Andon is an international soloist and recording artist known for her ravishing tone and deeply engaging musical interpretations. A versatile performer in many music genres including solo, chamber, symphonic, opera, ballet, new music, jazz, and Broadway, she has performed all over the world in major concert venues, TV, and radio broadcasts, as well as on many motion picture soundtracks, TV shows, documentaries, video game scores, and for Disney. She has performed with several orchestras, such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, LA Opera, Los Angeles Ballet Company, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, New West Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Orqestra Sinfonico de Tenerife, Beethoven Academy Orchestra, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, as well as orchestras for Broadway shows Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Les Miserables, Wicked (Los Angeles Company) and Phantom of the Opera. As a soloist and chamber musician, Ms. Andon has performed throughout the United States, Italy, France, England, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Scotland, Poland, Spain, Tenerife, Greece, and China, including performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall (NYC), St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Auditorio de Tenerife, Tauron Arena Kraków, Edinburgh Usher Concert and Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and CBS Sunday Morning. Ms. Andon Distinguished Members

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