Alumni News and Features

A group of students and alumni at a luncheon, engaged in conversation.

Interlochen alumni are actively shaping the world—globally, locally, publicly, and behind the scenes.

They are artists and arts advocates with diverse careers in the arts & culture, business, education, healthcare, government, legal, science, service, and technology sectors. They work for themselves and for dynamic and innovative organizations, including Apple, Disney, Google, Harvard University, Hulu, Mayo Clinic, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, NASA, and The Juilliard School. Every day, Interlochen alumni make significant contributions to their fields and to the world in which we live.

Accomplished in the Arts and Beyond

700+ YoungArts honorees recognized as exceptional young artists
51 Presidential Scholars, the nation's highest award for outstanding achievement in the arts by high school students—more than any other high school in the country
158 Grammy Awards, not including the multitude of Interlochen alumni who have performed in ensembles associated with Grammy Award-winning projects
36 Tony Awards
27 Emmy Awards
14 MacArthur "Genius Grant" recipients
13 percent of the musicians in the nation's major orchestras are Interlochen alumni
4 Academy Awards (Oscars)
4 Pulitzer Prize honorees

Meet some of our extraordinary alumni and explore their stories below.

Alumni Spotlight

Some of today’s most recognized names and faces are Interlochen alumni. Here’s just a small sample of our alumni who are making an impact in the arts and beyond.

Chappell Roan

Singer-songwriter and GRAMMY-winner for Best New Artist Chappell Roan (IAC 14) signed her first record deal in 2015 and gained widespread attention with her 2020 song “Pink Pony Club.” Her critically-acclaimed 2023 record, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, received six Grammy nominations. In 2024, she performed at Coachella and Lollapalooza; toured across the United States, Europe, and Australia; and appeared on Saturday Night Live.

Da'Vine Joy Randolph

Da'Vine Joy Randolph (IAC 03) won Academy, BAFTA, and Screen Actors Guild Awards for her performance in The Holdovers. Her portrayal of psychic "Oda Mae Brown" in Ghost on Broadway earned her a Tony nomination. Da’Vine has appeared in more than three dozen films and television shows and was selected as one of the 100 most influential people of 2024 by Time Magazine.

Norah Jones

Singer-songwriter and pianist Norah Jones (IAC 94-95) is a ten-time GRAMMY award winner and Billboard magazine’s top jazz artist of the 2000s. Her genre-spanning sound has allowed her to collaborate with a range of artists, including Foo Fighters, Herbie Hancock, Bob Dylan, Cyndi Lauper, Elvis Costello, Seth McFarlane, and more. She has sold more than 50 million records worldwide.

Josh Groban

Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-nominated singer, songwriter, and actor Josh Groban (IAC 97-98) has entertained fans across the globe with his multi-platinum albums, electrifying live performances, and comedic film and television appearances. His Broadway roles include his Tony-nominated run in the lead role of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Read more.

Angie Kim

Author Angie Kim's (IAA 84-87) debut novel, Miracle Creek, won the Edgar Award and was named one of the best books of the year by Time, The Washington Post, Kirkus Reviews, and the Today Show. Her second novel, Happiness Falls, was an instant New York Times bestseller and a book club pick for Good Morning America, Barnes & Noble, and Book of the Month Club. Read more.

Anthony McGill

Anthony McGill (IAC 91, 93, IAA 94-96) is a leading soloist and principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic—the first African-American principal player in the organization's history. He is the recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize, one of classical music’s most significant awards. As a citizen musician, Anthony works to promote greater connection, equality, and justice in all that he does.

Larry Page

Larry Page (IAC/NMC 88-89) is an American businessman, computer scientist, and internet entrepreneur best known for co-founding Google. The recipient of numerous awards for his advances in technology, he studied saxophone and jazz at Interlochen Arts Camp and has attributed his obsession with speed in computing to his music education.

Ashley Park

Actress and musician Ashley Park (IAC 03) is known for her portrayal of "Mindy Chen" on the Netflix comedy series Emily in Paris. She has had recurring roles in Beef and Only Murders in the Building and starred in the film Joy Ride. On the stage, Ashley received a Tony nomination for her role as "Gretchen Wieners" in the musical Mean Girls and appeared in The King and I and KPOP.

Peter Erskine

Drummer Peter Erskine (IAA 68-71, IAC Fac 10, ICA Trustee 13-15) has appeared on 700 albums and film scores, won two Grammy Awards, and played with dozens of bands and artists. As a soloist, Peter has performed with orchestras around the world. His record label, Fuzzy Music, has earned 4 Grammy nominations. Peter is professor of practice and director of drumset studies at the Thornton School of Music, University of Southern California.

Jonathan Bailey Holland

Composer and educator Jonathan Bailey Holland (IAC/NMC 89, IAA 88-92) is the dean of Bienen School of Music, as well as the Kay Davis Professor of Music, at Northwestern University. He is a recipient of a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship and numerous other awards and commissions, and his work can be heard on recordings by the Cincinnati Symphony and other ensembles and soloists.

Our Lady J

Our Lady J (IAA 94-96) is an Emmy-nominated writer, director, and producer, best known for her work on Pose, Transparent, and American Horror Story. Before her career in television, she toured the world as a singer/songwriter, pianist, and musical director. Our Lady J has received two Peabody Awards, three American Film Institute Awards, three Writers Guild Award nominations, and two NAACP Image Award nominations.

Anthony Rapp

Stage and screen actor Anthony Rapp (IAC/NMC 85-86) originated the role of "Mark Cohen" in the Broadway production of Rent. He has performed dozens of roles on stage, film, and television, including Dazed and Confused, A Beautiful Mind, and Star Trek: Discovery. Recently, he has been touring the United States and Japan with his one-man show, Anthony Rapp’s Without You.

Ana Gasteyer

Ana Gasteyer (IAC/NMC 79, 81) is an American actress, comedian, and singer most recognized from her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1996 to 2002. She has appeared in dozens of stage and screen productions, including Wicked on Broadway, the original Mean Girls film, and the NBC sitcom American Auto.

Where Are They Now?

No matter what career path they pursue, many of our alumni tell us that it all started at Interlochen. Read on to learn more about their Interlochen connections and their lives since.

A woman dressed in a camel coat stares pensively from her perch on a bridge.

Megan Baxter

Pushcart Prize-winning author

Nicholas Phan

Grammy-winning tenor

Tim McAllister

Saxophonist

Levi Taylor

Emmy-nominated composer

Tiffany Blandin

Actor and poet

Dwjuan Fox

Film producer and humanitarian

Melita Belgrave

Music therapist and professor of music therapy

Zach Dean

Screenwriter

Ranardo-Domeico Grays

Artistic director and choreographer

Sunny Liu

Pianist and filmmaker

Mwila sits with several survivors in her program.

Mwila Keso

Human rights activist and teacher

Jeff Toyne

Emmy Award-winning composer

A painting depicts three women in a wooden boat navigating through waves near rocky islands during dawn or dusk.

Emma Steinkraus

Visual artist

Two ballet dancers on stage, with the female dancer balanced horizontally on the male dancer's shoulder. Both wear patterned costumes.

Alfred L. Martin Jr.

Media and cultural studies scholar

Person in a dark suit conducting with a baton, expressive gesture with the right hand, against a dark background.

Keitaro Harada

Conductor

Shireen Hinckley

Filmmaker

A group of eleven young men and their counselors pose for a photo outside cabin HSB10

Bill Ichord

Lawyer and business advisor

Cristian Măcelaru

Conductor and violinist

Dustin Tucker

Stage and screen actor

Carrie Ott-Holland

People research leader and HR strategist

Eric Zimmerman

Game designer and NYU Game Center professor

Lauren Braun

Product manager at Apple

A smiling director poses with a clapperboard in front of camera equipment.

Ria Pavia

Director and acting coach

Gohar Vardanyan

Classical guitarist

Doug Stanton

#1 New York Times bestselling author, lecturer, and screenwriter

Beverly Gage

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and history professor

Stanford Thompson

Musician, educator, arts administrator

A woman with dark curly hair wearing a black shirt gazes at the camera.

Heather Radtke

Reporter and author

Tove Danovich

Freelance journalist and author

Dane Joseph

Television executive

Kevin Cole

Concert pianist and Gershwin expert

Julia Lichtblau

Video game art director

Richard Winkler

Tony-Award winning producer

Joyce Wong

Professor of biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering

Ema Horvath

Actor

Jeremy Robb

Auto industry expert

Benjamin Walker

Stage and screen actor

Kuan Cheng Lu

Violinist, New York Philharmonic

Jessie Fisher

Stage and television actor

Tovah Feldshuh

Tony and Emmy-nominated actor

A woman in a striped sweater smiling at the camera in front of a wall displaying colorful underwater photographs of coral.

Sujata Murty

Climate research scientist and assistant professor

Michael Romy Greer

Arts advocate and administrator

Young musician in glasses playing a violin focusedly, in a black and white photo, with another person faintly visible in the background.

Tad Smith

Geoscientist

Peter Sparling

Dancer/choreographer, filmmaker, painter, and interdisciplinary artist

Brad Gemeinhardt

Principal Horn, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

Allan Heinberg

Executive producer and writer

Jane Morrison

State Court Judge and LGBTQ+ advocate

Kara Huber

Grammy-nominated pianist, conductor, and piano instructor

Delta David Gier

Award-winning conductor

Sydney Skybetter

Choreographer and technology thought leader

Brittany Cavallaro

Bestselling author and writing instructor

Carla Stickler

Software engineer and Broadway actor

César Alvarez

Composer, lyricist, and playwright

Kazem Abdullah

Conductor and clarinetist

Josh Lederman

Award-winning foreign correspondent for NBC News

Nora González

Recording artist and Latin Grammy-nominated mariachi singer

Claudillea

Opera crossover artist and former contestant on The Voice UK

Debra Lew Harder

Broadcaster, classical pianist, and host of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts

Dana Edell

Theatre artist, educator, and activist

Oaklee Thiele

Visual artist and disability activist

Kristin Caskey

Broadway producer

Jamie John

Multidisciplinary artist

Sydney James Harcourt

Broadway, film, and television actor

Ethan Bensdorf

Trumpet, New York Philharmonic

Leelanee Sterrett

Associate Principal Horn, New York Philharmonic

Anna Glass

Executive Director, Dance Theatre of Harlem

Derek Brockington

Dancer, Dance Theatre of Harlem

Jay Julio

Violist, teacher, and composer-arranger

Nicole Abissi

Trombonist and teacher

Bryan Dunnewald

Conductor and organist

Claud

Singer-songwriter

Davóne Tines

Opera singer

Kristen Griffith-VanderYacht

Floral designer and judge on The Big Flower Fight (Netflix)

Shane Bagwell

Cinematographer

Timothy McAllister

Saxophone performer and educator

Aaron Dworkin

Founder, Sphinx Organization

Melanie Chitwood

Epidemiologist

Aaron Parness

Robotics engineer and research scientist

Matthew Duvall

Grammy Award-winning percussionist

Rachel Friedman

Nonfiction writer

Julieanna Richardson

Founder and Executive Director, The HistoryMakers

Pieters with Dr. Katherine Ott, Curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

Steve Pieters

Minister and AIDS activist

Sarah Ruhl

Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright, poet, essayist, and author

Kyle Taylor-Parker

Broadway actor

Nic Weinfeld

Filmmaker and social media expert

Emmanuel Pratt

Artist and urban designer

Rob Rokicki

Composer and lyricist

Garry Kvistad

Percussionist and instrument-builder

Barrett Foa

Stage and television actor

Nick Myers

Principal Bass, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Ryan Spahn

Actor and playwright

Danielle Allen

Harvard professor and political scientist

Keith Contreras-McDonald

Stage and television actor

Hilary Purrington

Composer

Emiko Shinozaki

Jeweler

Melissa White

Violinist, Harlem Quartet

Julia Christensen

Multidisciplinary artist and associate professor

Jesse Green

Chief Theatre Critic, The New York Times

Holly Gilbert

Director, High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Our Lady J

Television writer and producer

Roger Thomas

Interior designer

Bryan Cogman

Television writer and producer

Janet Eilber

Artistic Director, Martha Graham Center

Caleb Hudson

Trumpet soloist and recording artist

A person reads a book in an Adirondack chair by Green Lake

From the pines to the page: Interlochen inspires novels by alumni, faculty, and former staff

Escape to the serenity of northern Michigan, relive the joy of creativity and connection, and explore powerful themes with books by Erika Randall, Howard Lovy, Dara Levan, and other Interlochen authors.

May 21, 2025