Department of Music
An unconventional National Hispanic Heritage Month panel held Oct. 12 at Duke unpacked and thoroughly discussed many complexities found within the Latinx identity, particularly for those living in the U.S. South. Its organizers aimed to shine a light on growing academic expertise on Latinx issues in the Triangle, while also urging Duke and surrounding institutions to reinvest in regional histories that provide an architecture for understanding the challenges and opportunities we face today. “To me this feels like the best… read more about Latinx in the U.S. South: Scholars from Duke, UNC Discuss the Complexity of Identity, History and Language »
My name is Nathaniel Maxwell, and I am the Undergraduate Representative for the Music Department. I am a classical pianist and trumpeter in the Orchestra and the Marching Band. I am taking a multidisciplinary approach to the Duke education, double majoring in Mathematics and Music with a Concentration in Piano Performance, as well as a Statistics minor. The Music Department offers so many opportunities to explore music while at Duke, and there are a variety of ways to get involved. Whether you have no… read more about Meet Nathaniel Maxwell, Undergraduate Representative for Music »
“It was definitely not what you sign up for when you decide to go to graduate school.” In August 2020, when many were adapting to new work patterns enforced by COVID-19, Danielle Vander Horst and more than 400 other new graduate students were beginning their journeys toward a Duke Ph.D. Their first year was unlike that of any other cohort. No welcome social. No bumping into lab mates in the hallway. No finding new restaurants in a new town. “You sign up for the department, you… read more about In 2021, the 2020 Ph.D. Cohort Finally Experienced Duke in Person »
Assistant Professor Sophia Enriquez joined the Duke Music faculty in Fall 2021 after earning her PhD in ethnomusicology at The Ohio State University, where she also completed graduate certificates in folklore and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality studies. A scholar who explores the intersection of Latinx and Appalachian cultures, she is also a performer of American folk musics with a deep curiosity about the musical spaces we collectively inhabit. Q: What were some of your earliest experiences with music?… read more about Sophia Enriquez wants you to listen to Linda Ronstadt »
Karen M. Cook is Associate Professor of Music History at the University of Hartford. She specializes in late medieval music theory and notation, focusing on developments in rhythmic duration. About her most recent book, Music Theory in Late Medieval Avignon: Magister Johannes Pipardi (from Routledge's website): The manuscript Seville, Biblioteca Colombina y Capitular 5-2-25, a composite of dozens of theoretical treatises, is one of the primary witnesses… read more about Karen Cook's (Ph.D. Musicology, 2012) "Music Theory in Late Medieval Avignon: Magister Johannes Pipardi" released in June 2021 »
Duke Music is excited to welcome (l to r) Lacie Eades, Ethan Foote, Faye Ma, and Chris Williams. Lacie: I am a first-year Ph.D. student in musicology. My research focuses on the reception of Giovanni Rovetta’s music throughout Europe in the seventeenth century. Prior to coming to Duke, I completed a Master’s degree in musicology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, a Master of Education with an emphasis in teaching and technology from William Woods University, and a… read more about Meet our new graduate students: Fall 2021 »
If you don’t think a laboratory is the ideal place to explore complex themes and methodologies like valuing care, ethnography, urbanism or games and culture, you may need to expand your definition beyond beakers and microscopes. Labs are hives of communication, cooperation and active collaboration. They are driven by a commitment to curiosity and exploration that often produces unanticipated paths and solutions. And utilizing those features for research in the humanities – a scholarly area that has traditionally focused on… read more about Innovative, Interdisciplinary Labs Reshape Humanities Research and Teaching »
Four visiting humanities scholars from historically Black colleges and universities and liberal-arts institutions arrived at Duke this August to collaborate with Duke students, faculty and staff. Their projects will cover commemoration practices, early Christian manuscripts, a 17th century Mexican philosopher and the ephemeral nature of digital projects. The fellows are part of Humanities Unbounded, an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-funded initiative designed to nurture collaboration and inventive expressions of the… read more about Duke Welcomes New Cohort of Visiting Humanities Scholars from HBCUs and Liberal-Arts Schools »
Duke student pianist Yi Chen produced a video of himself playing two parts of a Bach Contrapunctus IX arrangement for two pianos. read more about A Little Bach Music With Two Pianos and One Student »
When he was an undergraduate political science student, Kerry Haynie was never taught about the 1921 Tulsa massacre. Nor was there much discussion about the role of race in the founding political documents of this country or much examination of how race influenced public services such as sewer lines and zoning. In one sense, a lot has changed. In 2021, Duke’s faculty includes a strong lineup of leading scholars who examine how race is embedded in issues that cross all the schools of the university. This fall, many of… read more about University Course Raises Race as a Central Element of Undergraduate Education »
Professor Brown and the four other jurors serving on the committee selected composer Tania León's "Stride" as the winning work. In addition to León's Stride, the other two finalists were Ted Hearne's Place and Maria Schneider's Data Lords. Read the full description at pulitzer.org. Professor Brown is Vice Provost for the Arts, Director of the Jazz Program, and Professor of the Practice of Music at Duke University. He has served on the jury for the Pulitzer… read more about John V. Brown serves as Chair of the Jury for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Music »
This month we feature a collection of Duke-authored books that explore historical and current aspects of music in the United States and beyond. These books, along with many others written by Duke authors, are available at Duke University Libraries, the Gothic Bookshop or the Regulator Bookshop. The Song is You by Bradley Rogers Musicals, it is often said, burst into song and dance when mere words can no longer convey… read more about 10 Books About Music from Duke Authors »
View the video of the concert (Minato Sakamoto's "Pacific 21" is at 33:34)View the complete concert program.Minato Sakamoto is a Japanese composer, pianist, and improviser from Osaka. Ranging from classical concert music to electronic music with heavy uses of computational technologies, his compositions practice the unserious seriously, fuse spontaneous and organic qualities, and demonstrate a clear connection to the past. He has collaborated with leading ensembles/groups including Crossing Borders… read more about Graduate composer Minato Sakamoto's "Pacific 21" presented at the Society of Composers National Conference »
With a theme of Scott Joplin’s grand opera Treemonisha, the 2021 institute will offer three days of programming featuring an expert faculty, panel discussions, presentations, workshops and experiential learning. This groundbreaking initiative is presented by SankofaSongs and the Hayti Heritage Center, with support from the NC Humanities Council, sets the stage for teaching music of the African diaspora with authenticity, context and confidence. SankofaSongs is the non-profit arm of BaobaoTree LLC, a company… read more about Georgiary Bledsoe (Ph.D. musicology, 2002) is Co-Director of SankofaSongs Summer Institute »
Two videos premiering this weekend highlight the vocal groups' commitment to creating new art in challenging times. Duke Opera Theater: Flute & Figaro al Fresco Friday, April 30 7:30 pm EDT, Online at https://sites.duke.edu/bestofbiddle/"Flute & Figaro al Fresco" features staged scenes from Mozart's Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro filmed outside the Biddle Music Building… read more about Duke Opera Theater and Duke Chorale videos highlight creative approach to vocal performances »
Listen to scenes from a pigeon’s wing on bandcamp or Spotify.The 30-minute EP consists of four tracks: 1. Nascent 2. 5x8 3. White Stone (after Agnes Martin), feat. Kate Dreyfuss 4. The Way After All four tracks are from Budinich's collaborations with Pigeonwing Dance and its Artistic Director Gabrielle Lamb, spanning their three+ year artistic partnership. Tracks 1, 3, and 4 are from the evening-length… read more about Graduate composer James Budinich's new EP, "scenes from a pigeon’s wing," released April 22 »
Music Department Awards The Julia Wilkinson Mueller Prize for Excellence in Music Holly Kim 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 CompositionHuijuan Ling, for her compositions Two Elastic Canons for flute and soprano saxophone, and Towards a Rediscovery for wind… read more about Music Department Awards 2021 »
Graduate Degrees Conferred Meredith Graham, Ph.D. (Musicology) Dissertation: “Multi-Text Anthology in the Choral Music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, Herbert Howells, Grace Williams, and Elizabeth Maconchy, 1919-1979” Committee Chair: Philip Rupprecht Karen Messina, Ph.D. (Musicology) -- FALL 2020 Dissertation: "Dramatic Impulse: Diegetic Music in the Operas of Giacomo Puccini" Committee Chair: Philip Rupprecht Maxwell Ramage, Ph.D. (Musicology) Dissertation: "… read more about Congratulations to our 2021 Ph.D. Graduates »
New Music USA has awarded Brittany Green, a graduate PhD student in Composition, $3000 to purchase equipment for an installation she is collaborating on with Duke CMAC (Computational Media, Arts, & Cultures) PhD student Kate Alexandrite. Green says, "The project, Black Echoes//Brick Ripples will be an interactive multimedia installation that engages past, present, and future histories––real and imagined––of an urban bamboo forest located in… read more about Brittany Green receives New Music USA's Creative Development Fund Grant »
In the summer of 2020, the Ciompi Quartet commissioned a unique project from four composers in Duke Music’s graduate program. The parameters of the commission were unorthodox: to find a solution to the compositional and performing challenges created by the Covid-19 pandemic by creating short works that could be practiced and recorded remotely by each member of the quartet. Although the members were ultimately able to record together in Baldwin Auditorium in November/December 2020, the pieces submitted by James Budinich… read more about Portfolio Project: The Ciompi Quartet commissions Duke Graduate Composers 2020 »
The Duke University Department of Music is saddened by the loss of our friend, colleague, and mentor, Dr. Paul Bryan. "PB," as he was affectionately known, was Professor of Music and Conductor of the Duke University Wind Symphony from 1951-1988. He organized and led the Duke Wind Symphony's semester-long Programs in Vienna throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Under his leadership, the Duke Wind Symphony performed concerts in Austria (Vienna, Graz, Lockenhaus, Mayrhofen, Berndorf, Bad Gleichenberg), Italy (… read more about Paul R. Bryan Jr. (March 7, 1920 - March 25, 2021) »
Brittany Green, a current graduate student in Composition, and Sid Richardson (PhD Composition, 2018) were two of four composers chosen as winners of this year's Transient Canvas fellowship. Green and Richardson will each receive a stipend of $1000, three performances of their works, audio/video recordings of the premiere performance, and workshops with Transient Canvas. Boston-based contemporary duo Transient Canvas is on a mission to revolutionize the modern concert… read more about Brittany Green and Sid Richardson named 2021 Transient Canvas Composition Fellows »