2000s Class Notes

Javier Colon ’00 (Hartt) is returning to NBC’s The Voice this fall for an All-Star performance. The inaugural winner of The Voice in 2011, Javier will compete alongside five other veteran Voice artists in a head-to-head sing-off special.

Seth McClellan ’00 (Hartt) and Bob Martin ’00 (Hartt) won Best Documentary at the Lindsey Film Festival at the University of Northern Alabama for their documentary, Shiners: Voices from Owsley County, about youth in rural Appalachia.

Seth and Bob were roommates for three years and graduated in 2000 from the first class of the BFA Acting program at Hartt.

Seth teaches at Triton College west of Chicago and makes films. Bob is a Kentucky-based theater and media maker who works with youth and communities in sharing their original stories.

Sharon Shtekler Penna '01 (A&S) had an excerpt from her fiction manuscript, A Temporary Madness, win The Letter Review Prize for Unpublished Books.

Iain Quinn '02 (Hartt), Professor of Organ at Florida State University, has been elected to the fellowship of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS) and the Society of Antiquaries (FSA). He has also been appointed as an Honorary Research Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music and recently received the Edith and Richard French research fellowship from the Beinecke Library, Yale University.

Yvonne Kalbfell '04 (HAS) was recently named Director of Community for AIGA Connecticut. In this role, she’ll help strengthen connections among designers across the state through outreach, events, and creative programming.

Katherine Park Deakin '04 (Hartt) contributed an enchanting original score to Berkeley Shakespeare Company's, The Tempest in Fall 2025, produced by Alejandra Wahl and Phillip Leyva, and adapted and directed by Stuart Bousel.

Jim Ford '04 (Hartt) has been a full time actor and stuntman for the last 20 years. He recently got the part of Dr. Adrian Noble in ABC's pilot, RJ DECKER.

Christopher Boorman M'05 (Barney) has released his debut course on Teachable.com "7 Mistakes Managers Make...and How To Fix Them!".

Dan Castro '05, M'07 (Barney) is returning to The Walt Disney Company, where his career began and where he spent nearly 17 years, after a year-and-a-half at NBCUniversal. Dan will be joining the Disney Advertising team to deliver thought leadership on the streaming landscape.

Chris Dubey '05 (A&S) had a commentary article (Patient viewpoint: The case for exploring non-seizure alternatives to ECT) published in a respected medical journal, The International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine (available online, with upcoming print publication), about issues in the field of psychiatry.

Drawing from their personal experience with court-ordered electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) during post-graduation mental health crises, the article advocates for further clinical trials into alternative treatments with lesser adverse effects. The peer-reviewed piece represents Dubey's work as an independent scholar and mental health patients' rights activist contributing patient perspectives to psychiatric treatment discourse.

Suzanne Sustaita '05 (HAS) earned her Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) certification in the state of Massachusetts. Sustaita is also a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in the state of Connecticut, and she is a Board-Certified Art Therapist (ATR-BC), which is a nationally recognized qualification. After graduating from the University of Hartford with a BFA in photography, she earned a master's degree in art therapy and counseling from Southwestern College in Santa Fe, NM in 2011. Suzanne has been passionate about working in the non-profit sector for the majority of her career and she has been employed by one of the largest community mental health agencies in the state of Connecticut for eight years as a clinician serving children, adolescents, young adults and their families.

Sustaita has been residing in the state of Massachusetts for the past seven years which inspired her to also obtain her counseling license in her current home state with the goal of eventually expanding into private practice or working as a counselor at a university. Suzanne continues to avidly explore her love of photography as an expressive pastime.

Henry Dziekan '06 (HAS), co-founder of the hot sauce brand Hook & Arrow, announced that the brand's newest release, Spicier Sauerkraut & Mustard, was featured on Season 27 of the popular YouTube series Hot Ones — the show where celebrities take on progressively spicier wings while answering tough questions from host Sean Evans. Developed specifically for the show, this sauce brings the perfect blend of tang, heat, and balance in every bite.

Hook & Arrow, founded by Henry and his brother Sam during the COVID lockdown, is a small-batch condiment company based in Branford, CT. The brand prides itself on using clean, natural ingredients and crafting bold, flavorful hot sauces that stand out in the market.

R. Speedo Green '08 (Hartt) opened Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera on Wednesday, September 24, as the first African American artist to perform in the iconic title role in the history of the Met.

Green is a member of the Rosen Society.