Photo: Robby Beyers / Livermore - Amador Symphony AssociationPassing the Baton
In May, Art Barnes's final performance as conductor of the Livermore-Amador Symphony featured a piece, "California Golden Suite," he wrote especially for the occasion. It was a fitting coda for a musical career spanning five decades. In his 34 years as bandleader at Stanford, Barnes, DMA '65, arranged some 300 songs—including a celebrated rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" and a rousing version of Free's "All Right Now." He also was instrumental in the evolution of the irrepressible LSJUMB ("I wrote the music and kept them out of jail," he said in an interview with the San Jose Mercury News). Barnes was named conductor of the symphony in 1964 and regularly made the 80-mile round trip between Palo Alto and Livermore until his retirement from Stanford in 1997. In a message on the symphony's website, Barnes wrote that he was particularly pleased to have had all three of his children, his granddaughter and his wife, Helene, play with the group.
Photo: Todd WawrychukCinematic Up-and-Comers
Helen Hood Scheer and J. Christian Jensen, both MFA '13, were among the 15 young filmmakers honored in June at the 41st Annual Student Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Scheer (center) received the gold medal in the documentary category for her film The Apothecary, about the public and private life of a small-town pharmacist in Colorado. Jensen (left) received the silver medal, also in the documentary category, for his film White Earth, a portrait of North Dakota's oil boom from the perspective of an immigrant mother and her children. The other categories were alternative, animation, narrative and foreign film. Previous Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences student honorees have gone on to earn 46 Oscar nominations and win eight statuettes.
Photo: Ken Goodman PhotographyHeart and Soul
Self-styled soul food scholar Adrian Miller, '91, won a James Beard Foundation book award in the reference and scholarship category for his 2013 treatise, Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time (University of North Carolina Press), now in its third printing. The awardees for books, broadcast and journalism were fêted at a dinner in New York City in May. Speaking to a reporter for his hometown newspaper, the Denver Post, Miller said, "I really hope to share the broader story of African-American cooking and cuisine." His next project will examine the hidden history of African-American White House chefs.
