Summer Research and Study Award

Linehan Scholars may also apply for the Linehan Summer Research and Study Award. This $2,500 award provides support for four Scholars each summer, to engage in extended and in-depth study with international scholars and professional artists. The four Scholars who received the 2011 award studied Dance in London, Theatre in London, Visual Design in Milan and flute performance and contemporary music composition in Maccagno, Italy.

Research opportunities also include the Undergraduate Research Award and the UMBC Study Abroad Program.

Linehan Summer Awards Essays, Summer 2011

Hannah Skolnick
Graphic Design, Senior

This summer I participated in a summer course at the “Nuova Accademia di Belle Arte” in Milan, Italy as a recipient of the Linehan Summer Award. Milan is the center of European design and the most modern city in Italy making it an ideal place to study graphic design. The course, called Visual Design, focused on the advertising industry and using motion graphics to communicate concepts. The course was a wonderful and very valuable experience. The class size was about 15 students so the instruction was very flexible and personalized, each student could relate the class to their own personal interests beyond the specified course material. We had guest lectures from industry professionals, and were taught how to use different programs to create graphics for animation by a variety of specialists. At the end of the two weeks we presented a short animation that we designed in groups to represent our time in Milan. I met people from all over the world during my time at NABA. One of my favorite parts of traveling abroad is meeting so many different people from different countries and exchanging culture and experiences.  This was easy to do at NABA, everyone ate lunch together and people were very friendly and eager to talk. Going abroad is the most incredible aspect of a college experience and a summer semester is the perfect time to do it if you can’t commit a whole school semester.

David Brasington
Actor, Senior

My summer study at Richmond University, in London was spectacular. I got the chance to take great artistic classes such as "Shakespeare and His World," taught by a passionate instructor whose life surrounds the subject. The class focused on what Shakespeare was going through and the context of his life as he was writing his plays. This knowledge has really helped me to understand small details about his writing and subtleties. I’m sure this knowledge will help me, not only understand and appreciate Shakespeare, but also help me in when I’m developing characters and performing his plays on stage. I also had many theatre experiences that I would never have experienced without the program. These include seeing Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" at his reconstructed Globe Theatre, seeing Kevin Spacey playing the leading role in "Richard III," and Rupert Everett starring in "Pygmalion,” as well as the musicals "Wicked!" and "Phantom of The Opera.” I also saw a number of small-scale productions, including Simon Callow’s one-man-show, “Being Shakespeare.” I also enrolled in “British Art and Architecture”. This class took us to the premiere museums and exhibits in London and we were given specialized instruction on location. The remarkable places we visited included St. Paul’s Cathedral, the City of London, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Hyde Park, and Buckingham Palace. My course also includes tours to Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare's birthplace), Stonehenge, Brighton, and Bath. It truly was an amazing program.

My further activities included “London: Pride” the parade in support for the LGBT community. I even got a chance to travel for a weekend and go to Prague. Puppetry is HUGE in Prague, so it was really amazing to see actual professional puppeteers practicing the same techniques I was using at UMBC a few semesters ago.
This trip truly was an experience that I will never forget. I got to do and see things I didn’t know I would ever get to do, or even knew existed! I felt so inspired the entire time I was there and I have the Linehan Artist Summer Award to thank for it. The Award gave me the opportunity not only to learn about theatre, but it afforded me the opportunity to learn about the world around me, the people around me, and what it means to be an artist.

Krisztina Dér
Music Major and Flutist, Senior                                                 

My Linehan Summer Research and Study Award adventure began in Baltimore with a daily pilgrimage to the week-long Marina Piccinini International Master Class at the Peabody Institute, where I soaked up many hours of musical and technical advice from world renowned flutist Marina Piccinini.  Each day was enlightening, filled with instruction — received both personally and also from observing others' lessons — lectures, and even a breath control class which employed concepts from wing chun, Tiger Crane, Pilates, shiatsu, and Shaolin kung fu.  During this time, I was given valuable time to musically introspect, a golden opportunity in preparation for my senior year and graduate school auditions.

Two weeks later, I found myself on a plane to Milano, Italia.  From there, I traveled north to a little town called Maccagno, host of the SoundSCAPE new music festival.  This was my first moonwalk — my first experience being in a country in which I knew nothing of the language and precious little of the culture.  Needless to say, my two weeks in Italy were incredible!  They were a wonderful whirlwind of performances, workshops, concerts, rehearsals, career classes, stimulating conversations, and food that was just, well, magnifico.

SoundSCAPE facilitates a cultural, musical, and ideological exchange, bringing performers and composers together annually for a festival that encourages the exploration of the music of tomorrow.  Part of this exchange involves non-Italian performers learning and performing Sconfinarte works — musical compositions edited and published by the Italian Sconfinarte publishing company.  Thus, I learned a piece by Carla Magnan — Percorsi — and performed it in Italy, agreeing to continue performing it in the States in an effort to introduce American listeners to Italian new music.  I made my Italian debut with a piece by David Cutler, followed shortly thereafter with performances of a work by Jane Rigler, and the world premiere of a composition by a student composer — Kyle Rowan.

This year's SoundSCAPE festival also featured career classes with David Cutler, author of The Savvy Musician.  These were classes in which misconceptions about careers in music were discussed, where difficult questions about making a living as an artist were addressed.  As I am an undergraduate senior, closer than ever to the genesis of my career, these classes were thought-provoking and even freeing in that they made thinking about a career in music less ominous by plainly and realistically explaining concepts and career options such as free-lancing and teaching.      

New music has always been fascinating to me; the opportunity to experience the fresh, vibrant music of my peers was exciting, just as learning about the individual ideas they expressed concerning the direction new music is taking was intriguing and inspiring.  My studies at the SoundSCAPE festival gave me new ideas in planning for my future, opened up the world of contemporary music-making to me, and provided me with invaluable connections.

Both the Marina Piccinini Masterclass and the SoundSCAPE Festival allowed me to grow and better explore my field.  They each portrayed two ends of a spectrum, giving me a taste for what options are open to me as I investigate ideas pertaining to my future career.  Most importantly, both classes motivated and inspired me to continue refining my craft and pursue personal expression.  In their unique ways, each class taught me again why it is I love being a musician, why it is I love to perform — why I must continue in my pursuit of a musical vocation.

Franki Trout
Dance Major, Senior

(Currently studying for a year at the Laban Centre in London, to get a degree as a Certified Movement Analyst )

Everything here is going wonderful! I am truly having the time of my life. I start out everyday with a cup of tea before my 8:45am contemporary technique class. Then, depending on the day, I have lessons in Dance History, Choreological Practice, The Dancing Body, Rep Extracts, Pilates for Dance, or Ballet. All of the classes are intellectually stimulating, as well as physically challenging. I enjoy being able to engage with dance on a deeper level and experience it from all different angles through out each day. In addition to class time, the curriculum at Laban emphasizes individual research and learning outside of the classroom. In my time here, I have checked out numerous books and DVDs from the school library which has the largest collection of dance books in the world. To have all those resources at my disposal is truly one of the greatest assets of studying here. Beyond schoolwork, I am also taking advantage of all that living in the city of London has to offer. I have kept a record of all the dance shows I have been to see thus far and the count is currently at 16, with close to 10 more lined up for the coming weeks. It is inspiring and stimulating to see the work of dance artists from around the world show their work and ask you to engage with it. It is thrilling to see everything I have been learning about in classes put into practice on stage.