Stephanie HouseAt the beginning of the new academic year, the Chapman community takes time to come together to honor students and faculty who have passed away.
Pablo Valdes-Aguirre, a junior business administration major from Rancho Santa Margarita, died on July 22 from injuries he incurred when his bicycle collided with a truck in Las Flores. Pablo’s friends and family describe him as an engaging, intelligent person who made a positive impact on anyone who met him. He was also a wonderful friend who spoke lovingly about his family. On campus, Pablo was an active and respected member of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity.
Memorial service offered Tuesday, Sept. 17 at 4:30 p.m., Wallace All Faiths Chapel, Fish Interfaith Center
Margaret Brynjolfsson, known to her friends and family as Megan, died on July 24 due to complications related to endocarditis. Megan was a senior health sciences major from San Juan Capistrano. Her friends remember her as upbeat and energetic, always smiling freely. They also describe how Megan was always committed to using her positive energy in the service and care of others. Megan demonstrated this commitment on campus by founding the Chapman Emergency Medical Education club.
Memorial service offered Tuesday, Sept. 24, 5 p.m, Wallace All Faiths Chapel, Fish Interfaith Center
Ross W. Johnson, who was a student in the Master of Arts in War and Society program in Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, has passed away. Ross also served as the 2018-19 Executive Co-Chairperson of Chapman’s Graduate Student Association.
Ross was dedicated to contributing to the graduate student experience at Chapman; in addition to his service in the Graduate Student Association, he was the War and Society Editor of Chapman’s interdisciplinary journal, Anastamos, and a competitor in the inaugural Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition in May 2018. His 3MT presentation, The Gypsy Holocaust (1939-1945): Why Its Lessons Retain Meaning & Purpose Today, focused on the murder of about one million Gypsy (Romani) people during the Holocaust from 1939 to 1945. His study addressed what the Gypsy tragedy can teach us about ourselves, and how our society today can learn to be more tolerant and accepting of those who are different. After graduation, Ross intended to run for political office.
Outside of Chapman, Ross enjoyed global travel and politics; he was recognized as a Distinguished Toastmaster in Toastmasters International, and was the former president of his local running club. Ross’s colleagues describe him as a compassionate and sincere friend to everyone, and he will be missed dearly by all who knew him. Those who would like to be informed of service arrangements when they become available may contact the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education at GradEd@chapman.edu.
Memorial service offered Wednesday, Sept. 25, 4 p.m, Wallace All Faiths Chapel, Fish Interfaith Center
Dominique Schafer, Assistant Professor of Music, passed away after battling pancreatic cancer for a year. Dominique was a renowned composer with an impressive international reputation. He was a kind and engaging colleague who brightened the classrooms and hallways of the Conservatory of Music and the entire Chapman campus with his warm smile and always positive attitude. Dominique was an exceptional and rigorous teacher, who also designed and implemented the electroacoustic music emphasis in our music composition degree and made significant contributions to our music technology area during his 6 years at Chapman. Dominique’s tireless work ethic, brilliance, humility, and sunny disposition will be missed throughout the Conservatory and the College of Performing Arts. Dominique’s wife, composer Mu-Xuan Lin, also teaches in the Conservatory of Music where she too is a popular music theory teacher. On behalf of the entire Chapman community I offer to her, and to all who knew Dominique, our most sincere and heartfelt condolences.
Memorial service offered Monday, Sept. 30, 6:30 p.m., Wallace All Faiths Chapel, Fish Interfaith Center
More about Dominique Schafer:
A native of Fribourg, Switzerland, Dominique Schafer was a composer whose breadth of musical expression encompassed both the acoustic instrumentations and the electroacoustic media. His music has been performed in the United States, Asia, Latin America, and Europe by ensembles and performers including Ensemble Proton Bern (Switzerland), Ensemble Contrechamps (Switzerland), E-Mex Ensemble (Germany), Philharmonic Orchestra State Theatre Cottbus (Germany), Orchestre Nationale de Lorraine (France), Taipei Chinese Orchestra (Taiwan), Arditti Quartet (UK), Ensemble Inverspace (Germany), Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), Talea Ensemble, Alarm will Sound, the Callithumpian Consort, California EAR Unit, Modern Art Sextet, Vicki Ray, Marco Fusi, Jeremias Schwarzer, and Garth Knox, at festivals such as Musica Nova Finland, reMusik in St. Petersburg, and Festival Archipel in Geneva.
In 2011-12 Dominique Schafer was awarded a 12-month fellowship from Switzerland to reside at the Atelier Jean Tinguely of the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, France. His compositions have received international recognition, and he is the recipient of numerous awards, which include Fromm Music Foundation Commission Award, the Adelbert Sprague Composition Award, George Arthur Knight Composition Prize, ASCAP/SCI commission competition (twice regional winner), second prize of the Kempten Orchesterverein composition competition in Germany, and a New Music USA grant. He was also a finalist of the Queen Marie José International Composition Competition, of the 33rd and 36th International Competition in Electroacoustic Music (Trivium) Bourges, France, and of the Fifth Seoul International Competition for Composers.
Recent projects include commissions by Ensemble Proton Bern performed at multiple occasions in Europe as well as on the ensemble’s 2018 West Coast tour and a new work, Ringwood (2018), with live electronics for clarinetist Richard Haynes. Ensemble Proton also presented Schafer’s portrait concert in Bern, Switzerland, and subsequently recorded in studio Schafer’s portrait CD which was released in late 2018 by the prestigious Austrian label KAIROS. Previously, Schafer’s music – the saxophone and percussion duo piece Triplex Unity (2004) performed and recorded by the Yesaroun’ Duo – appears in a GM Recordings album.
Dominique Schafer held a Ph.D. degree in composition from Harvard University, and BA and MA in composition from University of California, Los Angeles. Schafer’s primary mentors in composition include Mario Davidovsky, Magnus Lindberg, Julian Anderson, Helmut Lachenmann, Brian Ferneyhough, Paul Reale, and Chaya Czernowin. Other studies include electronic music (with Hans Tutschku), computer-assisted composition (with Joshua Fineberg), jazz performance (with Max Jendly), and film scoring and conducting (with Jerry Goldsmith).
Dominique Schafer gave lectures and presentations at the Conservatoire nationale supérieur de Paris (CNSMDP), Atlantic Center for the Arts (ACA), Yonsei University Seoul, and the Darmstadt internationalen Ferienkurse für Neue Musik. An avid advocate for teaching and communicating knowledge to young students, he was awarded the Certificate of Distinction in Teaching at Harvard University two years in a row. He previously taught at University of Rhode Island and at the Etchings Festival (France), and was appointed Assistant Professor of Composition and Theory at the Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music of Chapman University in 2013.
