Christiana Lehmann, Printmaker, Graphic Designer, Musician

ALFRED: Christiana Lehmann has wanted to work in an art field for about a long as she can remember. She has a memory of an interest area test in which her choices indicated that she might do well if she aimed her studies toward an art field. In elementary school, for a flicker of time, she considered being a teacher but shortly realized that would be a disaster – too much talking and not enough drawing. Other than that moment of considering teaching, art is what she has pursued.

                Christiana graduated from Arlington High School, about an hour and a half north of New York City. When it came time to choose a school, she narrowed it to Pratt and Alfred and one of the things that tilted strongly toward Alfred was the Performing Arts Department.

                Christiana started flute lessons when she was about 9 and continued with flute in high school and through her 4 years in Alfred. She started playing acoustic guitar when she was 13 and spent a few semesters studying piano at Alfred. Her newest instrumental experience is with the cello which she has played for just over a year.

                She played in Symphonic Band all 4 years and has been a member of the flute choir since it started. She played flute in both Symphonic Band and Orchestra one year and then started cello lessons so played in the cello section of the orchestra this year. The cello attracted her because of the glorious sound it can make. That range of tones is so rich and full that she had to give it a try.

                Christiana’s degree will be a Bachelor of Fine Arts and she has chosen to concentrate on graphic design and printmaking. Her senior thesis show, Melodic Dissonance, will combine drawings, handmade flutes and recorded music. In this title, Christiana is the melody. It’s the music within her and the emotions that music brings to her. She is the midst of carving print blocks that reference music and the emotional aspect of music. The dissonance in the melody is the repeated stamping of the blocks in overlapping rows, columns and patterns to create new designs with the varied placements.

                All of her stamps have designs 5 lines representing the lines of the music staff. She showed me some prints that are done in gray, black and white or just black and white. Some of the stamps are just a few inches in size but she places them on the paper over and over to create huge designs and said she is never sure how the small patterns will look when they are used over and over. One large print has curved lines that reference the shape of the cut out on a cello. Stamps made in straight lines sometimes give diagonal designs or a sort of plaid. The surprising outcomes are part of the fun of printmaking.

                Christiana likes functional art and decided that her thesis show would include a collection of handmade, functional flutes. She chose to make the flutes from bamboo because it is a natural and fast growing material and thought she could get some at a garden center. Instead she had to order bundles of it from the also fast-growing but perhaps not so sustainable Amazon. Needs must.

                Early in the flute making process she discovered things about flutes and bamboo. One is that bamboo is brittle and cracks sometimes when drilled. Another is that bundles of bamboo contain some long narrow poles amid long wide poles with few being a great diameter for a flute. Another is that the head of a flute needs to be smaller in diameter than the body of the flute to be in tune.

                She starts by drilling the mouth piece hole and then gets what she calls the original note to sound true. After she successfully gets an original first note she applies mathematics to determine the placement for finger holes. She plans to have 13 flutes starting with a low D and going up the scale in half steps to the D one octave above.

                When you attend her show, if plans aren’t modified, you will see a display of her flutes amid the prints based on the line designs. You’ll hear recordings of her playing the flutes which will be blended and edited and played in a loop.

                The designs will be printed on the flutes as well as on paper. She learned that if she prints on acetate and wraps it around a flute, she can burnish the acetate to transfer the print to the bamboo flute.  

                This semester has been Christiana’s favorite time at AU. She has her thesis show work, music including both Symphonic groups and flute choir and Astronomy to more than fill her days as she thinks about finding a job in graphic arts after graduation. She’s enjoyed her time in Alfred but plans to move south toward the milder weather that her siblings live and work in, and, no offense to The Rogue Carrot, near a large grocery store.

                Senior thesis shows are always on a Saturday evening. May 5^th is the date set for this year and the time is the usual 4 to 7 pm. Christiana Lehmann’s work will be in section B10 in Binns-Merrill Hall. There will be dozens of other graduating seniors showing their work on the campus and in town. Follow an excited crowd and make it into an active area where there will be labeled maps to guide you.Senior Shows are free and open to the public though parking areas are scarce.

Molly Stansfield

ALFRED: Musical ensembles at Alfred University bring people together in cohesive, cooperative groups but the things that led the members of the groups into music couldn’t be more different. Occasionally students say that, as elementary students,, they were impressed with an older sibling’s skill and wanted to be just like them. Some students said that they started music lessons to get out of doing something else such as track or house chores. One student found his grandfather’s trumpet in a closet and that set him on his way toward music lessons. However they start, it’s always wonderful when students make time to continue playing their instruments in college and beyond.

                Molly Standsfield came to Alfred University as an experienced and confident musician and has played flute in every Symphonic Band concert over the last 4 years. She has also played in several student recitals as a developing solo flutist and in every flute choir performance. Molly’s entry into music was influenced by two relatives.

                Her paternal grandmother, Agnes, was “into music”.  This grandmother not only accompanied the choir in her high school and played in churches but also accompanied her husband’s barber shop quartet in the days before Molly joined the family. Agnes was one of the piano teachers in town and encouraged Molly to be musical.

                Fifth grade was the time that Molly could start lessons in school and her family steered her toward the flute. She had an older cousin who played flute but, after graduating high school, had no interest in keeping the flute in her life. Molly’s family felt that if the instrument was there, and free, any sensible girl would like it. Happily, Molly did.

                Molly’s Grandma Agnes was in her 80s when 5^th grader Molly started playing flute. By the time Molly was flute-proficient, Agnes didn’t travel far or often but she always came to hear Molly play at Christmas Eve services so that Molly will always feel that music connects her to the memory of her grandmother. Molly’s grandmother passed away when she was in her sophomore year at AU. Following her grandmother’s lead, and not that older cousin’s, Molly plans to continue flute playing in community music groups in Maine.

                Molly said if there wasn’t a flute at the ready for her, she might have chosen to play saxophone. She took a semester of baritone sax during something called lab-band that her high school in Maine. Band-lab allowed students to give different instruments a try for a while. Molly like the sax but stayed with her flute and, during high school, the piccolo too.

                She has some good memories from playing music in high school. One Christmas she and Bryce (clarinet) and Kelcie (bassoon) were to play a woodwind trio during a band concert. Since it was Christmas they decided to festoon their instruments with bows. It may have looked great but Bryce accidentally pushed a bow into a key where it silenced the clarinet. Luckily he figured out the problem and dismissed the bow to continue performing but the next year they left the bows out of it.

                Music at AU was a plus when she was choosing a college to attend but more important was the Equestrian program and the barn. The way Molly’s paternal grandmother was “into music” her maternal grandmother, Evelyn, was “into horses”. Molly’s mom took riding lessons and tiny Molly tagged along finally starting her own riding career at age 7.  

                When visiting the Bromeley-Daggett Equestrian Center she met not prim and proper folk in formal riding gear but people in work boots and every day gear working and bonding with horses. It was her kind of horse world and she has ridden and worked there throughout her college career. She plans to keep riding when she returns to Maine where there are horses she has ridden and worked with.      

                This May, Molly will graduate with a BS in Psychology with concentrations in both Clinical and Child Psychology. She will also have minors in music and equestrian studies. Next year she will start study at the University of Southern Maine where she will earn a MS in School Counseling.

                Molly has 2 performances at the end of this semester to cap her flute experiences at Alfred University and you are invited to both. First is a student recital in which she will perform with the Alfred University flute choir directed by Caroline Sonnett scheduled for Sunday, April 15 at 3 pm in Howell Hall (the building with pillars situated next to the Carillon uphill of the King Alfred statue). The recital will also include some string ensembles.

                Molly will also perform with the Alfred University Symphonic Band on Friday, April 27 at 7:30 pm in the Miller Performing Arts Center.  As always, the concert will be free and to the public.