2010 Wien Award Winners

The School of American Ballet is pleased to announce the following recipients of the 2010 Mae L. Wien Award: MAE L. WIEN FACULTY AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE Jeffrey Middleton MAE L. WIEN AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING PROMISE Jillian Harvey Spartak Hoxha Alexander Peters Elizabeth Wallace
	From left: Peter Martins with Spartak Hoxha, Jillian Harvey, Alexander Peters, Elizabeth Wallace and Jeffrey Middleton Photos by Paul Kolnik

JEFFREY MIDDLETON has taught music at SAB since 1986. In 1991 he helped to create the current music program, which was designed to develop musicianship and musicality at the intermediate levels. Mr. Middleton also advises advanced students during SAB’s annual Student Choreography Workshop and teaches private piano to several SAB students who demonstrate exceptional promise and interest. Originally from Niagara Falls, New York, he graduated from The Juilliard School and Yale School of Music, where he completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree. He has performed as a solo pianist, a chamber musician and a vocal accompanist. In June 2009, Jeffrey Middleton plays Joseph Fennimore was released by Albany Records. He also recorded Book II of J.S. Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier for One Soul Records in 2004.

JILLIAN HARVEY, 17, trained at Allegheny Ballet near her home in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, as a young girl. She attended two SAB Summer Courses before enrolling as a full-time student at the age of 15. In the 2009 Workshop, Jillian performed as “Liberty Bell” in Stars and Stripes. In 2010 she appeared in Scènes de Ballet and as the second movement principal in Bourrée Fantasque. In addition to her ballet training, Jillian worked as a student teacher for the children’s “A” classes during the 2009-10 Winter Term. She recently graduated from Professional Children’s School and will spend the summer of 2010 in Seattle attending Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Summer Course.

SPARTAK HOXHA, 18, is completing his eighth year at SAB. Originally from Albania, Spartak moved with his family to the United States when he was 6. He began his training at Ballet Tech, an NYC school founded by SAB alum Eliot Feld before auditioning for SAB in 2001. Spartak appeared as the lead “Mandolin Dance” boy in NYCB’s world premiere of Peter Martins’s Romeo and Juliet in 2007. Spartak has danced in four SAB’s Workshops. He performed in Scènes de Ballet (2006), Interlude: Showcase for Young Male Dancers (2008), and Stars and Stripes (2009) and the male lead in Valse Fantaisie (2010).

ALEXANDER PETERS, 19, trained at Pennsylvania’s Allegheny Ballet before attending SAB’s Summer Course in 2006 and 2007 and enrolling as a full-time student in September 2007. He was one of two students sent by SAB to train at the Royal Danish Ballet in August 2008 for the Danish American National Cultural Exchange and was awarded a Princess Grace Award that fall. Alexander’s past Workshop appearances include 2 & 3 Part Inventions and Fanfare (2008) and Stars and Stripes (2009). In 2010 he performed in both Bourrée Fantasque and Scènes de Ballet. Alexander will begins his professional career in the fall of 2010 as a new member of Kansas City Ballet.

ELIZABETH WALLACE started taking ballet lessons at age 9 at Kentucky Ballet Theatre and Lexington Ballet School. She began attending SAB summer sessions at the age of 12 and has been enrolled as a full-time student for the past four years. “Izzy”, 18, graduated from Professional Children’s School in 2009 and she has been a student teacher assisting in SAB’s classes for 6 and 7 year olds for the past two years. At Workshop, Izzy danced featured parts in Fanfare (2008), Stars and Stripes (2009), and Scènes de Ballet and Bourrée Fantasque in 2010.