Central College alumna Lois Kuyper-Rushing, a Class of 1977 graduate, has been awarded a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to travel to Valenciennes, France in the fall. 

Kuyper-Rushing will transcribe and edit manuscripts, creating a critical edition of never-before-published vocal music by 20th-century French composer Eugene Bozza (1905-1991). The Fulbright award will fund Kuyper-Rushing’s fourth research trip to Valenciennes, located in northeastern France near the Belgian border. This is the region where Bozza spent much of his post-World War II career, and where many of his manuscripts are housed at a local archive within Mediatheque Simone Veil de Valenciennes.

Living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Kuyper-Rushing currently serves as the associate dean of public and collection services at Louisiana State University Libraries. She is considered a foremost scholar of Bozza, a composer known mostly for his chamber music for wind instruments.

Kuyper-Rushing began her music career as an oboist in the Central College Community Orchestra and Symphonic Wind Ensemble and as a soprano in the A Cappella Choir at Central, majoring in music performance, both oboe and vocal, and minoring in French. She earned a master’s and PhD in music arts and a master’s in library science from LSU.