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Stephanie B. Perrin Award for Leadership - Robert Keiter
As one of the most generous supporters of Walnut Hill in its history, Bob Keiter, alongside his wife Jane Oxford Keiter ’60, helped create the environment for success in the early days of us being an arts school. A true visionary leader, Bob was a member of Walnut Hill’s Board of Trustees for 25 years, including serving as Board Chair at a pivotal moment in the School’s history. You may recognize the Keiter family name from the Keiter Center for Performing Arts, which opened in 1994 as the first building for the arts on campus.
Earle Batchelder Award for Vision - Joe Cabral and Michael Owen
Joe Cabral has served as Walnut Hill’s Director of Theater since 1994. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild, Inc., and previously served on the Board of the Educational Theatre Association. Joe’s work at Walnut Hill has been twice recognized by the American High School Theatre Festival (AHSTF), a national competition for secondary school theater, and was invited by AHSTF to represent the United States at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. He has also directed productions at the Norwood Theatre and Boston University. Joe had the vision to create a college-level theater training program, and has guided and inspired young actors over the past three decades.
Michael Owen was the Director of Dance at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, where he taught aspiring dancers for 22 years. He received his training at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet with Marcia Dale Weary, the School of American Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. He studied with many notable teachers, including Stanley Williams, André Eglevsky, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and David Howard. Michael also danced with American Ballet Theatre from 1973 to 1998 and has been featured in movies and television specials. Prior to Walnut Hill, he taught at New York University, SUNY Purchase, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Alabama Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensives. He has taught master classes and adjudicated ballet competitions across the globe. Michael also co-authored six medical studies regarding dance injury and prevention, and retired from teaching at Walnut Hill in 2020.
Sydelle Gomberg Award for Artistic Excellence - Wha Kyung Byun
Since 1979, Wha Kyung Byun has taught at New England Conservatory and dedicated herself to helping numerous students in their development as both musicians and human beings. She is widely renowned as one of the most sought-after piano teachers in the world. She is the first recipient from the NEC piano faculty to have received the prestigious Lesser Award, which is given to the most distinguished faculty. She was also the first recipient of the Distinguished Educator Award from the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts. In 2013, she received the NEC Preparatory School's Jean Stackhouse Award for excellence in teaching, and in 2022, she received NEC's Louis and Adrienne Krasner Teaching Excellence Award. Over the years, her students have been prize winners in major national and international competitions.
Roger Shoemaker Award for Innovation - Jack McCollough ’97 and Mikko Nissinen
Jack McCollough co-founded New York-based fashion label Proenza Schouler and serves as Creative Director alongside his co-founder and former New School of Design classmate Lazaro Hernandez. After the debut of their collection in 2002, Proenza Schouler experienced a meteoric rise through the fashion ranks. Awarded with the inaugural CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund award in 2004, the emerging brand was quickly established as a leading talent in the industry, and has won five CFDA awards, including the 2003 Swarovski award for Ready-to-Wear, the 2009 Accessory Designer of the Year award, and the Womenswear Designer of the Year award in 2007, 2011, and 2013.
Mikko Nissinen was appointed Artistic Director of Boston Ballet and Boston Ballet School in 2001. Born in Helsinki, Finland, he trained at The Finnish National Ballet School and the Kirov Ballet School in St. Petersburg, Russia. He danced professionally with The Finnish National Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Basel Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet, where he was a principal dancer for a decade. Mikko directed Alberta Ballet, in Calgary, Canada, from 1998-2001, also serving as Alberta Ballet’s Executive Director from 1999-2000. As Artistic Director of Boston Ballet, he has defined the Company’s image, cultivating a compelling and dynamic collection of classical, neo-classical, and contemporary repertoire. Mikko is the recipient of the Finlandia Foundation’s 2008 Arts and Letters Award, Boston’s 2009 Ambassador for the Arts Award, and the 2007 United Nations Association of Greater Boston Leadership Award.
Betsy Paine McClendon '65 Award for Service & Philanthropy - Lola Fortmiller Baldwin ’51
More than perhaps any other individual, Lola Fortmiller Baldwin built the School's culture of philanthropy. She built the development effort at Walnut Hill as the Director of Development for years, reintroducing countless pre-arts alumni who came back because Lola's love of the arts mission was palpable. Even after she retired, she never stepped down from her role of fierce advocate of the school, serving on the alumni association and funding an endowed scholarship so that others could attend.
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