Department of Music
About a year ago, Dr. Anthony Kelley woke up with a tune in his head. The collection of musical notes took hold, reminding him of old spirituals sung by enslaved people. In the composition studio of his Durham home, Kelley, Associate Professor of the Practice of Music at Duke, got right to work playing the notes on an electronic keyboard. After a while, he added rhythm and layered sounds and melodies, constructing an early scaffolding for the first movement of the passion project: a new musical work completed in April. On… read more about New Music by Duke Professor Explores Juneteenth »
On May 31, the North Carolina Symphony, conducted by music director laureate Grant Llewellyn, recorded new works by Duke graduate composers James Chu (nobilette) and Huijuan Ling (Silence In Between). Chu and Ling were selected by Music faculty to participate in the ongoing Reading-Recording Program funded by the Duke University Department of Music and in particular through a donation from Dr. Penka Kouneva, Ph.D. 1997. This partnership between… read more about NC Symphony records works by graduate composers James Chu and Huijuan Ling »
Four faculty members have been named 2022 Bass Chairs and inducted into the Bass Society of Fellows in recognition of their demonstrated excellence in both teaching and research. President Vincent Price and Provost Sally Kornbluth recognized the 2022 Bass Chairs, as well as those named in 2021 and 2020, during a reception at the J.B. Duke Hotel Tuesday evening. The chairs were created in 1996 when Anne T. and Robert Bass gave $10 million as a matching gift to encourage Duke alumni, parents and friends to endow the… read more about Two Trinity Faculty Named 2022 Bass Chairs »
Stephen Jaffe's THREE ARCS (Chamber Concerto #5) premiered on May 1 at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia for The Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia’s 200th anniversary (+ 2) celebration. The piece was performed by Network for New Music, conducted by Jan Krzywicki, and the Pennsylvania Girlchoir and Garden State Girlchoir Chamber Choir, conducted by Ya-Jhu Yang. Jaffe was one of four composers awarded a commission from The Musical Fund Society’s Edwin G. McCollin Fund… read more about Stephen Jaffe's THREE ARCS premieres in Philadelphia »
Congratulations, Class of 2022 Music Majors! On Saturday, May 7, the Music Department honored graduating Music majors Matthew Bao and Ted Choi (First major, concentration in performance) and Crystal Chiu and Bryan Tong (Second major, concentration in performance). View the graduation bulletin. Photo gallery read more about Music Graduation 2022 »
Graduate Degrees Conferred Maximiliano Amici, Ph.D. (Composition) -- FALL 2021 Dissertation piece: “The Pit and the Pendulum, Dramatic Cantata for Baritone, Chamber Ensemble, Male Choir and Electronics." Committee Chair: Stephen Jaffe Ka Man Misty Choi, Ph.D. (Musicology) -- SPRING 2022 Dissertation: "In Pursuit of a Utopia Between Sound and Sense: Luciano Berio's 'Linguistic Projects' of Meta-Music." Committee Chair: Jacqueline Waeber Jon Churchill, Ph.D. (… read more about Congratulations to our Ph.D graduates: Spring 2022 & Fall 2021 »
Music Department Awards The Julia Wilkinson Mueller Prize for Excellence in Music Bryan Tong This award is in honor of a former chair of the Department of Music and member of the Ciompi Quartet. It goes to a graduating senior for achievement in musical performance. The William Klenz Prize in Music Composition James Budinich for his composition Third-Millennium Heart for soprano and a ten-piece chamber ensemble. Awarded to a graduate or… read more about Music Department Awards 2022 »
Jacob Egol is a rising senior at Duke, majoring in Biology (Concentration in Cell & Molecular Biology) and minoring in Music. Jacob will use his Benenson Award to study at Brevard Music Center’s Summer College Orchestral Institute with a particular focus on cello, with the opportunity to play with the Brevard Music Center Orchestra and the Brevard Sinfonia chamber orchestra. He also plans to engage with the Brevard New Music Ensemble, working with composition students on their world premiere pieces.… read more about Jacob Egol wins Benenson Award to study at Brevard Music Center »
The "Faces of Appalachia" fellowship is awarded by the Appalachian Studies Association to support scholarship on gender and race in Appalachia. Professor Enriquez plans to use the fellowship to support her archival research in the Farm Security Administration Archives at The Library of Congress, as well as travel to Mexico for the Hummingbird Music Festival in Fall 2022. The Hummingbird Music Project facilitates artists exchange between Mexican folk musicians in Michoacán and bluegrass musicians in Appalachia. Enriquez… read more about Sophia Enriquez awarded Wilma Dykeman “Faces of Appalachia” Postdoctoral Fellowship »
The following recitals are free and open to the public. Saturday, March 26 Matthew Feder, flute: 2 pm — Nelson Music Room, East Duke Building. If you are unable to attend this recital, livestream it at: https://youtu.be/6McsdzLWigU. View the program. Matthew Bao, baritone: 8 pm — Nelson Music Room, East Duke Building. If you are unable to attend this recital, livestream it at: https://youtu.be/8eYk3PDknME. View the program. View the texts/… read more about Senior Recitals: Spring 2022 »
Green is one of six composers selected from over 180 applicants. The CULTIVATE 2022 Fellows will attend CULTIVATE's annual, weeklong all-scholarship, intensive creative workshop and mentoring program, taking place June 6 - 12 at Aaron Copland’s National Historic Landmark home in Westchester County, NY, and other nearby locations. Copland House commissions each of the six Fellows to create a new composition that serves as the focus of an intensive week of collective and individual… read more about Copland House names graduate composer Brittany Green a Cultivate 2022 Fellow »
In 1933, the Chicago Symphony premiered composer Florence Price’s award-winning Symphony No. 1. It was a milestone in performance history, making Price the first African-American woman to have a large-scale work presented by a major U.S. orchestra. Although she continued to compose until her death in 1953, many of Price’s subsequent pieces were performed by “women’s symphonies,” all-female ensembles that filled a niche separate from the male space of top professional orchestras. In October 2019, Caroline Surrett discovered… read more about Duke Music’s “distinction outside the major” provides an opportunity to connect passions »
A new program for Duke sophomores – which launched earlier this year – will include a Music course this fall: “Composers of Influence” (MUSIC 240). The course is part of the new “Transformative Ideas” program that is designed to promote open and civil cross-disciplinary dialogue on questions and big ideas that change lives, link cultures and shape societies around the world. “Composers of Influence” – taught by Harry Davidson of Music – examines the influence of Bach, Beethoven, Wagner and Stravinsky on their own time… read more about Music Course Among Fall “Transformative Ideas” Offerings »
Raucous drag shows, dazzling Broadway performances, a smorgasbord of food: Duke in New York: Arts, Culture and Performance isn’t just a study away program, it’s a feast for the senses. Falling in love with the city is a familiar American story, and New York didn’t hold back on the charm for these program alumni. “My favorite part of the city overall is how creatively rich it is with opportunities (especially in fashion) at every corner,” said Sydney Reede, a sophomore who participated last semester. Hoping to work in… read more about Experiencing New York's Arts Culture for Credit »
Graduate composer Brittany Green has won a 2022 Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Green is one of six composers to receive this prestigious award, which will be presented on May 22, 2022 at the Academy's Ceremonial. Read more Brittany Green is pursuing a Ph.D in Music Composition at Duke University as a Deans Graduate Fellow. Described as “cinematic in the best sense” and “searing” (Chicago Classical Review), Brittany’s music works to… read more about Brittany Green wins a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters »
In December 2021, Zirui Yin won the Harlan Duenow Young Artist Concerto Competition organized by the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra. He will perform the first movement of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Fayetteville Symphony in an upcoming season. Zirui started playing the piano at the age of six. He grew up in Shanghai, China, and is currently a first-year student at Duke University, potentially majoring in Computer Science and Music with a Concentration in Performance. He studies piano… read more about Freshman piano student Zirui Yin wins Harlan Duenow Young Artist Concerto Competition »
The Ciompi Quartet Portfolio Project began in the summer of 2020 as a way for the Quartet to engage with composers in Duke Music’s graduate program during the Covid pandemic, when live performances were curtailed and composers and performers needed creative outlets for their music. Portfolio Project 2020 was presented by Duke Music’s Best of Biddle virtual series last March, with the video receiving hundreds of views since its premiere. The success of the initial project inspired the Ciompi Quartet to continue the… read more about Portfolio Project: The Ciompi Quartet commissions Duke Graduate Composers 2021 »
Black History Month draws its origins to February 1926, when Dr. Carter G. Woodson organized “Negro History Week,” a celebration that honored the contributions of African Americans with activities such as parades, history clubs, speeches, and more. Woodson, who founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, was one of the first historians to study African American history. Eventually joining the faculty of Howard University, Woodson spent his life documenting Black history as a means of… read more about Black History Month: Showcasing the Contributions of Six Faculty and Staff »
Anechoia Memoriam is a participatory installation for the Selectric Piano, an IBM Selectric typewriter that electromechanically controls an acoustic piano. The score for the piece is composed of a list of 180 unarmed people of color killed by law enforcement in the United States. The score unfolds over seven hours, whether anyone engages with it or not. When typists participate, each letter typed is enunciated by specific notes on the piano… read more about Jonathan Henderson's (PhD 2021) "Anechoia Memoriam" is a unique memorial to lost lives of color »
Around lunchtime on a recent Wednesday, as students, staff and faculty hustled to class or appointments, a few dozen Duke community members spread out amid the pews of Goodson Chapel to savor the sound of the Ciompi Quartet. As the four faculty members in the Quartet played selections from composers Carlos Chávez and Silverstre Revueltas, the sound of the quartet’s cello, viola and violins filled the space and felt as warm and illuminating as the sunshine that poured through the windows. “The thing about live… read more about Campus Community Savors the Return of Live Music »
Brittany J. Green has seen many of her works performed, but when Against/Sharp, for narrator and chamber orchestra premieres in January 2022, it will be a new experience for the composer in several ways. Rather than a live performance, Against/Sharp, recorded by the Atlanta Symphony in October 2021, will be released online in a multimedia, pre-produced concert of works engaging issues of civil rights and social justice for the… read more about Brittany J. Green’s "Against/Sharp" honors Black lives and voices »
