Class Notes
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Leonidas Lagrimas, '01, In Fall 2018 Leonidas accepted a new position as Assistant Professor of Piano at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Fredonia. He is also the coordinator for the secondary piano program and teach Piano Pedagogy and applied lessons for non-majors. Life post-William and Mary has taken many twists and turns - He relocated to New York City and taught public school music after receiving his masters at NYU, before moving to Florida State University for his Ph.D. in music education and piano pedagogy.
Music has remained at the center of what Leonidas does for a living, and his time at W&M was a huge influence. His four years in Ewell was a time to explore his passion for music but also to become as well-rounded in so many other areas of study. The decision to double major in Music and English was a smart one--it helped made his doctoral work at FSU and the dissertation writing process so much smoother.
Megan Grady, '11, After completing her studies at William & Mary under the tutelage of Patti Carlson, Megan attended the Florida State University College of Music, where she earned her Master of Music in Clarinet Performance. Since graduation, she has worked at several institutions of higher education across a range of fields from alumni relations to music and admission. She currently serves as the Music Recruitment Coordinator and Assistant Director of Admission at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA. Megan credits her experience as music assistant at William & Mary as the nexus for the beginning of her career in music admission. Outside of the office, Megan is an active performer and pedagogue. She performs with the Olympia Symphony Orchestra and Seattle Wind Symphony, while maintaining a small studio of clarinet and piano students in the greater Tacoma-Seattle area. She has been a featured performer with the Pacific Lutheran University Wind Ensemble during their international tour in 2017, as well as the Washington Wind Symphony. She can be found online at megangrady.com or on Instagram as @pnwclarinetist. (9/13/18)
Bryan Wright, '05, Pianist and musicologist Bryan S. Wright (B.A.: W&M, '05 / Ph.D.: University of Pittsburgh, '16) has been nominated for a Grammy Award by the Recording Academy for his liner notes accompanying the 3-CD set "The Complete Piano Works of Scott Joplin" played by pianist Richard Dowling (Rivermont Records). Scott Joplin (b. 1867/d. 1917) was an American composer, notable for his many piano rags, waltzes, marches, and for his two operas. Wright and Dowling co-produced the new recording in celebration of this year's 150th anniversary of Scott Joplin's birth. This is the second Grammy nomination for Wright's Rivermont label. The 2018 Grammy Award winners will be announced at a televised ceremony from New York's Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018. (11/30/17)
Laura Ettabbakh, is a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State currently stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea. As a Public Diplomacy-coned officer, her interests include facilitating international educational and cultural exchange programs. After graduating from William and Mary, Laura spent two years living in Spain as part of a Fulbright research grant to study music as a tool for social integration among North African immigrants in southern Spain. She holds an M.A. in Arts Management from American University and spent seven years working in the arts in Washington, D.C. prior to joining the Foreign Service. Laura has worked as Participant Coordinator of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Box Office Manager of GALA Hispanic Theatre, Artistic Administrator of The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, and Operations Manager for Classical Movements, an international tour agency for professional choirs and orchestras. She credits William and Mary with fostering and expanding her interests in language, exploration, cross-cultural communication, and the arts. (9/2/2017)
Daniel Maxey, '02 has accepted an appointment as Chief of Staff to President Laurie Nichols at the University of Wyoming. (8/19/2017)
Christy Lynn Wilson, '91 had accepted a job as the Director of Marketing and PR at the College of Coastal Georgia. She is loving living on the beautiful St. Simons Island and is so excited about the new position. Christy hopes all of her W&M friends, especially the InterVarsity are doing well and would love to get back to Williamsburg for a visit! (7/25/2017)
