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Furman ALUMNI NEWS05John Cole has joined Bradley Arant BoultCummings LLP as an attorney in the firm’sBirmingham, Ala., office. He previouslyworked for the U.S. House of RepresentativesFinancial Services Committee asan advisor to Republicans on bank safetyand soundness, regulatory relief, mortgagelending, consumer credit, money launderingand data security.Elton Daniels is the town manager ofSharpsburg, N.C. He holds a master’s degreein public administration from the Universityof North Carolina-Wilmington.Bernard Frost, a mathematics teacher,is the 2013–14 teacher of the year atFairforest Middle School in Spartanburg(S.C.) District 6.Nathan and Karen Sandberg Pattonlive in Newark, N.J., where Nathan is aninth grade teacher at People’s Prep CharterSchool. Karen completed her doctorate inschool psychology at the University ofGeorgia and works as director of specialeducation at TEAM Academy CharterSchool.Erin McCormick Tindle has beennamed 2013–14 teacher of the yearat Ralph Chandler Middle School inGreenville County. She teaches sixthand seventh grade mathematics.MARRIAGE: Kelli Dieterich andWesley Windsor, March 23. Theylive in Alexandria, Va. Kelli receivedher Master of Public Policy degree fromGeorge Mason University in May 2012.BIRTHS: Nicholas and ChristinaMinotty Bruce, twin sons, CarlisleReagan and Samuel Paul, January 8. Theylive in Vero Beach, Fla., where Nick is anattorney and Christina is an interiordesigner.Andrew and Emily Carson, a daughter,Beatrice, January 20, Charleston, S.C.Rick ’04 and Marisa Krepfle McIntyre,a daughter, Lilia Sophia, December 9. Theylive in Sanford, Fla.Nicholas and Caroline Reinhardt,a daughter, Martha Virginia, October 28,Greenville.06Patrick Mainieri earned the 2013Outstanding Young Music Educator of theYear Award from the South Carolina MusicEducators Association. He is band directorat Gettys Middle School and Easley HighSchool.Liz Meeker joined the staff of UnitedMinistries in Greenville last July as anemployment counselor.MARRIAGE: Adrienne Emerick andBryan Hodges, October 20. They live inCharleston, S.C., where Adrienne is agraphic designer at MVP Group International.Bryan is a paramedic.BIRTHS: Jules and Katey Deas,a daughter, Jane Adele, November 6.They live in Mount Pleasant, S.C.Michael and Missy Dempsey Hale,a daughter, Charlotte Anne, October 12.They live in Alpharetta, Ga. Michael isa senior associate with PricewaterhouseCoopers.Jason and Deb Mathis Read, a son,Hudson Richard, November 3, Louisville, Ky.Aaron and Chrissy Moss Welch,a daughter, Miriam Kathryn, September 26,Florence, S.C.07Darlene Bayles Currier, a third gradeteacher at Sara Collins Elementary Schoolin Greenville, was recently named a NationalBoard Certified Teacher. She completeda voluntary assessment program designedto recognize effective and accomplishedteachers who meet high standards.Erica L. Giovanni has joined Owen& Owens law firm in Richmond, Va.,as an associate focusing on family law.She previously worked as a law clerkto Harold W. Burgess, Jr., of the 12thJudicial Circuit of Virginia.Will Glenn graduated from the Charleston(S.C.) School of Law in 2012. He is anassociate attorney with the Leinster LawFirm in Greenville.Cindy Youssef, who was previously withthe Riley Institute at Furman, is now theliaison for academic development with theGreenville Health System (GHS). She alsomanages the Ramage Center for Teachingand Learning (the administrative unit ofacademics at GHS) and is president ofGreenville Rotaract, a young professionalsRotary Club.BIRTH: Graham and Amanda GriffinButler, a son, Robert Griffin Butler,November 13, Atlanta.08THIS YEAR IS REUNION!Emily Boehnlein Fulp has beennamed director of administration forthe Wilmington (N.C.) Chamber ofCommerce, where her duties includedatabase management, research andspecial projects. She is completinga master’s degree in arts administrationat Savannah College of Art and Design.Christina Henderson of Washington,D.C., has become legislative director onthe staff of D.C. Council member-at-largeDavid Grosso. She is responsible forhelping to formulate and advance hislegislative agenda.Anna Mathis, a fourth grade teacher atO.P. Earle Elementary School in Spartanburg(S.C.) District 1, was the school’s 2012–13teacher of the year.Adam Pajan, a doctoral student(church music emphasis) at the Universityof Oklahoma’s American Organ Institute,is one of 10 people selected to competein the inaugural International OrganCompetition, to be held at LongwoodGardens in Kennett Square, Pa., in late June.The finalists will compete for a $40,000prize, a concert contract and a performanceat Longwood. Adam won first prize atthe 2011 Arthur Poister Organ ScholarshipCompetition and the 2009 AlbertSchweitzer Organ Competition USA,and was a semifinalist in the American Guildof Organists’ National Young Artists Competitionin Organ Performance in May 2012.Mclaine Richardson of Brentwood,Tenn., is the new owner and lead designerof Margaret Ellis Jewelry, an artisan jewelrycompany. The company designs and sellscustom handcrafted metal and gemstonejewelry. Visit margaretellisjewelry.com.BIRTHS: Michael and Katrina LaceyBorer, a son, Silas Emerson, September 11,Las Vegas, Nev.Adam and Darcy Herlong Slizewski,a daughter, Lane Grace, November 2. Theylive in Charleston, S.C.09Russell Guilfoile has completed theJ.D. and MBA dual-degree program atCampbell University.MARRIAGES: Carolyn Stevens andIan Duggan ’07, December 29. Ian,a captain in the U.S. Air Force, has beenassigned to Turkey as a Judge AdvocateGeneral officer.Chris Grande and Jessica Gomez ’10,September 29. They live in Cumming, Ga.Jessie has earned a master’s degree inSpanish literature and works as a U.S.event coordinator for Network TwentyOne.Rachael Parrish and Jeff Vitkum, June1, 2012. Rachael is completing a master’sdegree in law and diplomacy at the FletcherSchool of Tufts University in Boston. Jeffis a copywriter at Arnold Worldwide.Paulette Torchia and Ben Tomlinson’11, June 9, 2012. Paulette teaches bandand chorus in Columbia, S.C., and Ben iscompleting his master’s degree in percussionperformance at the University of SouthCarolina.10Margaret Rosebro is the 2013–14teacher of the year at Jesse Bobo ElementarySchool in Spartanburg (S.C.) District 6.She teaches third grade.SETH G.: CLASSICAL SKILLS, CONTEMPORARY FLAIR ..................................................................................................................................................AS A VIOLIN PERFORMANCEmajor at Furman, Seth Gilliard spentlots of time with Bach, Mozart andall those powdered-wig types. Butthere were times when he really justwanted to let his hair down, metaphorically,and rock out.Nowadays, that’s exactly whathe does.Gilliard moved back home toCharleston, S.C., after graduating in2012 and quickly carved a niche forhimself as a pop violinist. He craftsinstrumental covers of chart-toppingsongs by artists such as Ne-Yo,Justin Bieber and Alicia Keys, andcomposes his own music as well. Itdidn’t take him long to land somesteady weeknight appearances atlocal restaurants and nightspots, and his weekends arefilled with gigs, weddings and private events for peoplewho want to hear a violin sing in the hands of a youngman with classical skills and a contemporary flair.He’s made a name for himself in Charleston, butas befits this age of connectedness, his fame is quicklyspreading beyond his hometown. The YouTube page forSeth G. (that’s his stage name) has more than 10,000subscribers, and the videos that appear there — some ina studio, some showing Gilliard playing to passers-by onCharleston’s busy sidewalks — have attracted more thana million views.Sound, of course, is a musician’s main medium. ButGilliard, 22, knows that visuals are an important part ofmodern music appreciation, too.“With what I’m doing, it’s something different a lotof people haven’t seen before,” he says. “When youhave the video component and they’re like, ‘Oh, OK,he’s actually playing this,’ I think it does help as well.”When he plays, Gilliard is backed by a track (orsometimes a live disc jockey) that provides a foundationfor his expressive violin work. There’s percussionand bass and maybe some electronica effects or subtlechords, but the violin is the star of the show.Gilliard plays with his whole body, swayinggracefully to a slow song or appearing almost to danceto tunes with stronger beats. His face never betrayswhen he’s playing a technicallydifficult passage;instead, there’s a smile thattransmits the pure joyof a musician in his element.It’s a long way from Beethoven. But then again,maybe it’s not.“Without my classical background, I wouldn’t beable to do what I’m doing now,” Gilliard says. “Classicalmusic gets your technical abilities where they need to beso that you can play what you want to play. That’s thebeauty of it.”Sometimes, he says, he’ll tuck a classical passageinto one of his pop songs or improvise during a liveperformance using techniques he learned from his workwith Furman jazz ensembles his junior and senior years.Gilliard’s taste for experimenting with instrumentalmusic developed amid his classical training in middleand high school.“Growing up, and even now, there was definitelya divide between what I was playing on a regular basisand what I was listening to on a regular basis,” he says.“I was listening to pop music, listening to what was onthe radio just like everyone else. I just started messingaround with different things, just trying to play randomstuff that I would hear, figure it out on the instrument.And that just kind of went from there.”After a while, he decided tosee how his interpretations wouldstrike an audience. So duringsummers and on weekends, he’dfind a spot among the crowdsin Charleston’s City Market andstart to play, leaving his violin caseopen for tips.“It was really good moneywhen I was younger,” he says,“and it also gave me the opportunityto play in front of people,and a chance to experiment.”When he started college atFurman, he shifted his focus toclassical music, logging countlesshours in practice rooms andrehearsal halls, playing concertsand auditioning for competitionsamid all his other schoolwork. But a semesterabroad in Italy during his senior year gavehim a more open schedule, and he foundtime to get back in touch with his passionfor pop music. He started recording the songshe composed and covered, and a full-time careerwas launched.Gilliard released his first EP, “The Introduction ofSeth G.,” in February. Four of its five songs are originalcompositions — but he couldn’t resist just one cover,Ne-Yo’s “Let Me Love You.”Now he’s working toward his first full-length album,which he hopes to release this year. And, as any workingmusician must do, he’s concentrating on building hisfan base and looking for bigger and better opportunitiesto perform.Music-wise, he says, “I’m trying to do more experimentalstuff. I don’t know exactly how it’s going toturn out.”Somehow, though, one suspects that Bach andMozart would be proud.— STACY SCHORR CHANDLERThe author, a 1999 graduate, is a freelance journalistin Raleigh, N.C. To see Seth Gilliard in action, visityoutube.com/user/sethxg or sethgmusic.tumblr.com.Photos courtesy Seth Gilliard.32 FURMAN | SPRING 2013FURMAN | SPRING 2013 33