Seahawk Spotlight: Italian Idol winners, honored alumni, and a jazz star

By Lindsey Schwarzbach

The Seahawk Spotlight is a monthly roundup covering campus happenings and student, faculty and staff accolades. Below are highlights from November 2023.

Aleksovska wins Wagner Italian Idol Competition

This year was the 20th anniversary of the Italian Idol Competition, held annually at Wagner College to celebrate Italian Heritage Month and to honor the memory of Licia Albanese. Following last month’s competition, judges chose four undergraduate winners. The $2,000 first-place prize went to Magdalena Aleksovska, a soprano from the voice studio of professor Julie Lamon. Emory Garber, a soprano from the studio of professor Casandra LaMotte, won the second-place prize of $1,000. The $750 third-place prize went to Gianna Romano and the honorable mention award of $500 was awarded to Abigail Bernesky. Both students are sopranos from Lamon’s studio.

Nicolais School of Business names new Career Activator cohort

“His commitment to lifelong learning, theory and practice, as well as leadership and engagement, represents the absolute best a Seahawk can be,” said fellow alum and friend Samantha White (Siegel) ’11 M’13.

Tiripicchio named NYU Langone’s Physician Assistant of the Year

Francis Tiripicchio ’PA12, a leader in the NYU Langone Hospital Surgical Intensive Care Unit, recently earned the hospital’s Physician Assistant of the Year award. He works hard to improve policies within his department, has worked with the hospital’s physician assistant (PA) retention and engagement committee to ensure dedication to NYU is recognized, and has even proposed a recruitment program for PAs at NYU that is currently being reviewed. Tiripicchio was named PA Educator of the Year at NYU Langone in 2018. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was part of the NYU ICU team that helped save lives. In personal news, Tiripicchio wed Scott Miesse, a playwright, last year.

Wagner students take leadership roles in designing A Grand Night for Singing

This November and December, Wagner College presents A Grand Night for Singing, a musical that encapsulates the work of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Typically, for shows on the main stage, Wagner hires external professionals for stage and costume design. However, for this show, two talented students stepped up to do the work. Parker Castro ’24 designed the scenery for the show, while senior Simon Brewster ’24 took charge of costume design.

“We often engage external professionals for stage design, so this practice-as-research activity is a significant student output,” said Natalie Williams, Division Chair, Performing & Visual Arts.

The show opened this week and runs through December 3. Tickets can be purchased here.

Human resources department nets top-50 award

Rectangle graphic displaying Wagner College as a Wagner College’s Human Resource Department was announced as a winner of the Top 50 Human Resources Team Award at the 2023 OnCon Icon Awards last month. Award winners were selected by the public. According to OnConferences, winning teams demonstrated a positive impact on their organization and made strong contributions through thought leadership, project innovation, and exceptional leadership.

Baratta climbs the jazz charts

While Richard Baratta ’73 is an accomplished film and music producer, his true passion is his Latin jazz group. This month, Baratta made it to the No. 3 spot on the JazzWeek Charts with his new album, “Off the Charts.” The JazzWeek Jazz Chart lists the top 100 radio plays by jazz stations nationwide. Baratta has two upcoming CD release events. The first is Saturday, November 25, in Nyack at Maureen’s Jazz Cellar at 8 p.m.. The second event will be held at 82 W 3rd St. NY, at the historic Zinc Bar in Historic Bar and Jazz Club in Greenwich Village on December 5 at 7 p.m..

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