DePaul elects Anne R. Pramaggiore to Board of Trustees

DePaul University has elected Anne R. Pramaggiore (JD ’89), president and chief operating officer of Commonwealth Edison (ComEd), to its Board of Trustees.

Anne R. Pramaggiore

Pramaggiore assumed her current position at ComEd in May 2009 and in doing so became the company’s first woman president. She joined ComEd’s legal team in 1998 and was promoted into the regulatory area, where she became responsible for directing the company’s successful transition into an open and competitive electricity market. Previously, she served as ComEd’s executive vice president of Customer Operations, Regulatory and External Affairs.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in communications and theatre from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, Pramaggiore enrolled at DePaul, where she served as editor-in-chief of the Law Review. In addition she sat on the College of Law Alumni board from 1992 to 1997 and the university’s former Alumni Association board of directors from 1996 to 1997.

Pramaggiore is a member of the board of the Lookingglass Theatre, the Chicago Urban League, the Metropolitan Planning Council and the Lincoln Park Zoo, and she is a member of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Committee on Conservation and Committee on Museum Education. She also is a member of The Chicago Network, an organization of diverse female professionals in the Chicago area dedicated to the advancement of women.

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DePaul alumnus wins second prize at International Viola Competition

Elias Goldstein (MUS ’06) took home second prize at the Sixth Yuri Bashmet International Viola Competition, held in Moscow from Jan. 24 through Feb. 1, 2010. He was the only violist from the United States at the competition this year and was the first American to win any of the top prizes since the competition began in 1993.

Goldstein performed the Walton Viola Concerto with the New Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Alexander Slatkovsky, and he also performed Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante with the Moscow Soloists under the direction of Yuri Bashmet.

Currently, Goldstein is a doctoral student and a Paul Collins Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where his principal mentor is Sally Chisholm. At DePaul University, he studied with Professor Emeritus Mark Zinger.

Goldstein is a member of the Grant Park Orchestra, and enjoys a busy schedule playing chamber music, giving master -classes and concerts abroad, and teaching privately. He and his wife, Roxana Pavel Goldstein, are co-founders of the Advent Chamber Orchestra. The couple resides in Bolingbrook, Ill., with their two children, Lukas and Linette.

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DePaul Opera Theatre presents “Die Fledermaus”

The DePaul University School of Music’s Opera Theatre, under the direction of Harry Silverstein, will present Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus” March 12 and 13 at 7:30 p.m. and March 14 at 2 p.m. at DePaul’s Merle Reskin Theatre, 60 E. Balbo Drive., Chicago.

Featuring grand sets of the art nouveau period, stylish costumes, a humorous story line and Strauss’ familiar waltz compositions, “Die Fledermaus” has long engaged diehard opera buffs and newcomers alike. Set in Vienna in the1890s, the operetta is a story of deception and revenge, unrequited love, a grand masquerade ball and, ultimately, forgiveness and a celebratory finale at the town jail.

The operetta will be sung in English, with DePaul voice students in leading roles backed by a full chorus and a full orchestra under the direction of veteran professional conductor William Lacey.

“We’re trying to be public-friendly,” Silverstein says of his decision to produce the work in English. “Opera in the local vernacular is something that the public enjoys. Audiences really prefer that the performers speak their language.”

Silverstein is marking his 20th anniversary as director of the DePaul Opera Theatre. He has directed opera professionally in the United States and abroad, including works performed at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera and English National Opera.

Lacey, who was the staff conductor at the San Francisco Opera between 1998 and 2001, is known throughout the world for his operatic conducting. His recent engagements include performances at the Orchestre de Paris at the Opera Comique, Nationale Reisopera (Netherlands), Greek National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Washington National Opera and New York City Opera.

A notable group of opera production specialists will be contributing to the DePaul performance, including assistant director Kristen Barrett, choreographer Marla Lampert, chorus master Paul Nicholson, costume designer Theresa Ham and lighting designer Jason Brown. Collectively, they have worked with renowned opera houses throughout the world.

Tickets are available in-person at the Merle Reskin Theatre Box Office, by calling (312) 922-1999 or purchase tickets online. Ticket prices range from $5 to $25.

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Undergraduate Business Program at DePaul ranked among top 50

DePaul University’s College of Commerce has leaped into the top 50 in the BusinessWeek‘s 2010 survey of undergraduate business programs, landing at No. 40 in the national rankings.

“We have been working diligently to enhance academic quality and this ranking is external validation of the results of these efforts,” says Ray Whittington, dean of the College of Commerce. “It’s so gratifying to earn recognition for the excellence of our faculty and career services from students surveyed.”

The rankings are based on surveys of seniors majoring in business and job recruiters, as well as extensive information supplied by business school administrators on student academic achievement, program offerings and career outcomes at each institution.

DePaul received high marks from students.

“At DePaul, we are taught only by professors, not teaching assistants, and classes are very small,” wrote one student quoted by BusinessWeek. “Teaching is personalized and reflects real-world experience, and you can tell the professors truly care about your future in the professional world.”

Another wrote: “DePaul has this way of attracting fantastic firms for internships and job opportunities, and the opportunities help out a great deal in getting students started and obtaining experience in business… The advisors also go out of their way with getting you in the door of the business world, which is rare in any institution.”

Among Illinois university programs participating in the BusinessWeek survey, DePaul had the second highest standing. In total, 111 programs were ranked. To view the full rankings, visit http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/rankings/.

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