Sudler prize recognizes artistic talent:

The Louis Sudler Prize for outstanding student achievement in the arts will be presented at the president’s reception during Arts First, Harvard’s annual celebration of the arts. Arts First activities begin May 1 and run through May 4, with the reception taking place on May 3 (from 5 to 7 p.m. under the Arts First tent).

The Louis Sudler Prize is presented annually to the senior who, during the course of his/her years at Harvard, has demonstrated outstanding artistic talent and achievement in the arts. This year, the Sudler prize, which includes a cash award of $1,000, will be awarded to Hazel Dean Davis (music) and Roberto Pacho Velez (visual arts). The prize is sponsored by the Office for the Arts (OFA) at Harvard and awarded by the Council on the Arts, a standing committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

In addition to the Sudler Prize recipients, three other seniors – Daniel Cozzens, Elizabeth Little, and Shelby Braxton-Brooks – were named winners of student achievement awards in the arts.

This year’s Louis Sudler Prize winners

A resident of Cabot House, Davis has been awarded this prize in recognition of her extraordinary musicianship. Davis has been a member of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra (HRO) during all four of her undergraduate years. She has also performed with the Bach Society Orchestra, the Harvard Mozart Society Orchestra, and the Harvard Brandenburg Orchestra. Since 2000 she has been the personnel manager of the HRO. Outside of Harvard, Davis has participated in the Aspen Music Festival (2001) and was a 2002 Tanglewood Fellow. She has studied with Boston Symphony Orchestra principal horn player James Sommerville.

Velez, an affiliate of Cabot House, has been awarded this prize in recognition of his talent as a documentary filmmaker. A Visual and Environmental Studies concentrator, his films have been screened at both national and international film festivals including the New England Film Festival (2003), Croatia Human Rights film festival (2003), and the Seoul Korea Labor Film Festival (2002). In 2000, Velez received a grant from the Harvard College Research Project to direct a 30 – minute film, “Out For Summer” (2001), documenting the lives of families living in New York City’s public housing developments. In 2002 Velez directed “Occupation,” which investigated the living wage campaign at Harvard. His most recent work, “Orphans of Mathare” (2003), received the Rosa Luxembourg Prize for Humanitarian Filmmaking and was screened this past March at the Harvard Film Archive.

This year’s Art Prize winners

Seniors Daniel Cozzens and Elizabeth Little are the recipients of this year’s Louise Donovan Award, which recognizes Harvard students who have done outstanding work behind the scenes in the arts.

An affiliate of Pforzheimer House, Cozzens has been contributing to and working in the Harvard theater community since he was a freshman. He has served as the managing co-producer for Harvard-Radcliffe Summer Theater (HRST) 2002, as the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HRDC) Experimental Theater coordinator for two seasons, and, most recently, as HRDC president. During his term as HRDC president Cozzens established an American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.) assistant directors program that provided student directors with the opportunity to assist in the direction of A.R.T. main stage shows, He also oversaw a series of workshops provided to HRST and HRDC members by A.R.T. company members, and worked to enhance available technical support provided for Loeb Experimental Theater productions.

A resident of Winthrop House, Little has been involved behind the scenes in various positions including producer, set designer, and technical director for almost 20 Harvard theater productions such as “The Marriage of Figaro” (Dunster House Opera), “The Mikado” and “Patience” (Harvard and Radcliffe Gilbert & Sullivan Players), and “Reckless” (Loeb Experimental Theatre). In addition, Little has served as a proctor for the Freshman Arts Program, technical director for the Freshman Theatre Program, and worked as a shop assistant for the Agassiz Theatre. She has also served on the board of directors for the Harvard-Radcliffe Gilbert & Sullivan Players, and currently serves on the executive board of the Harvard Theatre Advisory Group. This spring, Little’s set designs will be seen for the HRDC production of “Richard III.”

Shelby Braxton-Brooks ’03 is the recipient of the Radcliffe Doris Cohen Levi Prize. The prize recognizes a Harvard student who combines talent and energy with outstanding enthusiasm for musical theater at Harvard and honors the memory of Doris Cohen Levi, a 1935 Radcliffe graduate.

A resident of Mather House, Braxton-Brooks is a member of the Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, Sisters of Kuumba, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Dance Company. She has appeared in Harvard theater productions including “Jesus Christ Superstar” and played the lead role in “Kiss of the Spider Woman” at the Agassiz Theatre. She has choreographed pieces for the Harvard-Radcliffe Dance Company, Kuumba Singers, the Black Arts Festival, Freshmen Musical (“Star-Crossed Dressers,” 2000), and for Loeb Experimental performances (“Ex-Rated,” “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf: A Choreopoem”). Her pieces have also been featured in OFA’s spring dance showcase, “Dancers Viewpointe II” and “Segue! … A Celebration of Students and the Arts” – the first official event of the inauguration of President Lawrence H. Summers. Last month, Braxton-Brooks’ “Xerophilous” was performed at the New England Regional American College Dance Festival at Plymouth State College in Plymouth, N.H.