Music News

Nicole Mitchell Top Best Jazz Concert of 2017

The Chicago Tribune named Nicole Mitchell and Malian kora virtuoso Ballake Sissoko's September performance at the University of Chicago's Logan Center for the Arts one of the top jazz performances of the year for the "daring world premiere" of “Bamako*Chicago Sound System," calling it "intensely...

Alumni Composer Jeffrey Mumford had recent works performed at over a half dozen venues in 2017

Composer Jeffrey Mumford (BA, 1977) had recent works performed at over a half dozen venues in 2017: the  violin piece “eight musings . . . revisiting memories” (2005), was performed at Eastman School of music, Lawrence University and Chicago; “eight aspects of appreciation II” (2005...

Ry Bradley Nominated for California Country Artists in the Best Album category

Alumni Ry Bradley is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter rising to prominence in the country music scene. Bradley is based in California but travels frequently  to Nashville to perform and co-write songs with Nashville songwriters.  Ry performs constantly in venues ranging from bars to...

Nicole Grimes presented at the symposium Music Aesthetics in Britain in the Long Nineteenth Century

Nicole Grimes, Assistatn Professor of Musicology, presented a paper called "On Silencing Brahms: Ethics and Aesthetics in E. M. Forster's Howards End," at the symposium "Music Aesthetics in Britain in the Long-Nineteenth Century," King's College London, December 15-16, 2017.

Alumni Kelly Moran’s album “Bloodroot” was named one of the top 25 classical albums of the year by the New York Times

‘BLOODROOT’ Kelly Moran, keyboards (Telegraph Harp). When writing for “prepared” piano, some composer-performers focus on timbral effects to the exclusion of all else. Throughout this rewarding set of miniatures, Ms. Moran avoids this pitfall. The avant-garde touches she employs may be...

Nicole Grimes gave talk at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

Nicole Girmes, Assistant Professor of Musicology gave a talk at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute on "Performing Wagner in Israel" on December 12, 2017.

Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble was Awarded an International Grant

Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble was awarded an international grant by USArtists International, a program of the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, to perform at the Edison festival in Sweden. For more information on the final grant recipients.

Nicole Mitchell was awarded top jazz album of the year by the New York Times

Nicole Mitchell was awarded top jazz album of the year by the New York Times for Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble, “Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds” on FPE records.

For Women in Jazz, a Year of Reckoning and Recognition

This year women in the music industry, especially jazz, has managed to break through the barriers of sexism and stereotypes. Espereza Spalding is a bassist and vocalist that has recorded an entire album titled "Exposure", a portrayal of self expression and form of breaking social norms. For 77...

Nicole Mitchell profiled by the New York Times as leader of a banner year for women in jazz:

Amy Bauer's Co-edited Collection of György Ligeti's Cultural Identities

Amy Bauer's co-edited collection György Ligeti's Cultural Identities was published this fall by Routledge.

Christopher Dobrian at the Seoul International Computer Music Festival

Christopher Dobrian was an invited scholar and composer at the Seoul International Computer Music Festival in October. There he gave a lecture about his research on "Gesture, Acceleration, and Expressivity", and his composition Point of No Arrival for cello and computer was performed by Hea Mee Kim...

Christopher Dobrian Completed a Five-University Tour

Christopher Dobrian completed a five-university tour of concerts, lectures, and master classes in early November through the southeast U.S. [at the University of South Florida, Furman University, Columbus State University, Georgia Southern University, and the Georgia Institute of Technology] with...

Chris Dobrian and Mari Kimura Honoring Jean-Claude Risset

Chris Dobrian and Mari Kimura performed a memorial concert honoring composer and computer music pioneer Jean-Claude Risset in Winifred Smith Hall on November 17.

John Schneiderman of the Schneiderman-Yamaya Duo Performed Several CD Release Concerts

In support of their Hänssler Classic recording “Beethoven for Two Guitars,” guitarist John Schneiderman of the Schneiderman-Yamaya Duo performed several CD Release Concerts, a UCI recital on November 4th, followed by a performance November 11th for the Musica Maestrale early music series in...

Nicole Mitchell Held a Residency at UCLA in November

Flutist, composer and improvisor Nicole Mitchell held a residency at UCLA November 8–9, giving a lecture, workshop and performance with pianist Billy Childs, vocalist Dwight Trible and bassist Mark Dresser (more information attached). Her tribute to the late composer-improvisor Muhal Richard Abrams...

Sarah Koo, Top 100 Influencer in Orange County

Sarah Koo, the professional cellist and music teacher drove a half-dozen of her UC Irvine students to Las Vegas to soothe souls after 604 people were killed or wounded in a storm of bullets during a concert on the Strip. 

Professor David Brodbeck receives AMS Book award

Professor David Brodbeck received the 2016 Award for Excellence for a Book on Jewish Studies and Music from the Jewish Studies and Music Study Group of the American Musicological Society for Defining Deutschtum: Political Ideology, German Identity, and Music-Critical Discourse in Liberal Vienna...