Graduate teaching assistant Vinay Thomas will be conducting the upcoming University Singers Broadcast Performance (https://z.umn.edu/6von) airing Saturday, May 8 at 7:30 pm. The performance will feature music from Orthodox liturgical tradition in a reflective program. We spoke with Thomas about the program repertoire, including the two pieces he arranged, as well as his experience conducting during COVID-19.
As you all know, Derek Chauvin was found guilty of second and third degree murder and manslaughter yesterday. It was painful for us all to relive the horror of Mr. George Floyd’s murder throughout the course of the trial—and acutely so for the BIPOC members of our community. These verdicts do little to ease the indescribable loss for George Floyd’s family and for our black community. The all too familiar pattern of violence and tragedy that our black community experiences at the hands of police continues unabated; tomorrow the family of Daunte Wright, the young Black father who was brutally shot by an officer during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center last week, will lay him to rest.
The upcoming University Wind Ensemble and University Symphony Orchestra virtual performance will feature two unique contemporary works featuring percussion instruments; Ryouran: Rhapsody by the noh play 'Sakuragawa' for Woodwind and Percussion (2017) by Tomohito Matsushita and Serenade for Winds and Percussion: Songs of the Night (1990) by David Gillingham.
The Chorus America Distinguished Service Award recognizes a member whose long-term service to the choral field significantly furthers Chorus America’s mission “to empower singing ensembles to create vibrant communities and effect meaningful change.”
After thirty-one years of inspiring teaching and mentorship at the UMN School of Music (SOM), husband-and-wife professors David Grayson (Emeritus Professor of Musicology) and Lydia Artymiw (Emerita Distinguished McKnight Professor of Piano) retired in May 2020. Their influence is too great to quantify, and they will be dearly missed.
The School of Music is honored to share an upcoming collaboration with distinguished contemporary composer Gabriela Lena Frank. We talk with principal violist Joshua Peterson about the University Symphony Orchestra's upcoming performance of her work, Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout for String Orchestra, on March 25 at 7:30 pm.
Dear Members of the School of Music community, I am yet again left horrified and speechless, this time at the senseless shooting and murder of eight victims in Atlanta, six of them Asian females. The unspeakable tragedy that occurred in Atlanta is simply unfathomable, and I condemn this despicable act as well as the rising tide of violence and harassment against Asians and Asian Americans preceding it in the strongest possible terms.
School of Music Professor Matthew Mehaffey recently launched the “English Heritage Music Series” with The University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing.
The University of Minnesota Jazz Festival is an annual opportunity for area high school band students to experience learning from and performing with School of Music and professional musicians. When the festival moved to virtual this year, Director Dean Sorenson’s main goal was to provide a similar clinic to provide resources for high school bands that are going through a uniquely challenging time period. He made sure to build in plenty of time for student listening and learning, and provided special opportunities for interacting with professional musicians.
University of Minnesota Organist Dean Billmeyer continues to showcase Northrop’s restored pipe organ in a variety of works that illustrate the instrument’s palette.
The University Wind Ensemble and University Symphony Orchestra present their final performance of the academic year. Music by Ewazen, Bach, Hahn, Abels, Shchedrin, and Meechan. The program...
Symphonic Band presents their final performance of the academic year. Featuring arrangements of works by Brahms, Beethoven, Handel, Krommer, and Winkler; original works by Strauss, Mouret,...
