In the summer of 1974, a walk down the length of East Campus’ central quad and a left turn between Pegram and Alspaugh residence halls would lead you to the most astonishing building at Duke University.Or so it might have seemed, that summer 50 years ago. Gleaming in the sun, its light-colored walls incongruous amid the red brick Georgian architecture of East Campus, the Mary Duke Biddle Music Building was nearing completion. Twenty-one arches ran the length of its long, low front. If you passed under their shadow and… read more about A Living Space for Music: The Mary Duke Biddle Music Building Turns 50 »
Elizabeth Byrum Linnartz has taught in the Duke University Department of Music for 20 years. She is also a Duke alumna who, as a first-year student in 1974, participated in the opening ceremonies for the Mary Duke Biddle Music Building. Her unique vantage point spans the 50 years of the Biddle Music Building’s existence. In 1974 as I was leaving high school, Duke seemed the obvious choice: my father, brother, and uncles were alumni, and Duke Gardens was so beautiful! I did not realize I was entering Duke just as… read more about Elizabeth Byrum Linnartz: Reminiscences of Duke Music »
Stephen Jaffe, Mary D. B. T. and James H. Semans Distinguished Professor of Music Composition, joined the Duke Music faculty in 1981. He has served as the Chair of the department on numerous occasions and has been instrumental in the growth of the Composition program for both undergraduate and graduate students. I flew to Duke for an interview in May 1981 from Rome, where I had spent the year on a Rome Prize Fellowship and where I had just performed the solo piano part in my composition called ARCH.… read more about Stephen Jaffe: Reminiscences of Duke Music »
The Department of Music is proud to announce the following awards for 2024. Congratulations to the winners! The Julia Wilkinson Mueller Prize for Excellence in Music 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. Julia Leeman Aram Lindroth The William Klenz Prize in Music Composition Awarded to a graduate student for excellence in… read more about Music Department Awards for 2024 »
On April 20, 2024, a group of students with the Duke University Saxophone Quartet (DUSQ) performed together with Susan Fancher on the Mallarmé Family Concert Series at the Durham County Library Main Branch. Fancher is a lecturing fellow in Music and serves at the coach for the quartet, which is part of the chamber music program directed by Associate Professor of the Practice of Music Caroline Stinson. The interactive program featured performances of saxophone music, as well as narration about the history of… read more about Saxophone Quartet Students Perform at Durham County Library »
The Duke Department of Music would like to congratulate the seven Ph.D. candidates who have successfully defended their dissertations. Read more about the students and their dissertations below. Minato Sakamoto Minato completed the defense for the Ph.D. in composition with the dissertation Studies of Algorithmic Music Generation – a three-movement string quartet and three piano pieces – and an essay titled “Folksong Enthusiasm in Post-… read more about Seven Music Ph.D. Students Successfully Defend Dissertations »
This is a story about the impact of Duke history on cultural life, of significant and inspirational mentorship, and of a personal reckoning with dynamic people, spaces, organizations and operations working at Duke. It’s also a story of one of the most important musical compositions written by one of the most important jazz composers in America’s history, Mary Lou Williams. It starts in the archive. Even growing up in Henderson, North Carolina, I appreciated the delight of discovery that only an archive could provide,… read more about A Journey Through the Musical World of Mary Lou Williams »
Rohil Watwe cannot remember a time when he didn’t have a deep-rooted passion for healthcare. Drawn to understanding how diseases affect us and the incredible resilience the human body has in overcoming health challenges, his passion intensified in high school as an active member of the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) club.“Those invaluable experiences in HOSA introduced me to various facets of healthcare, from hands-on activities to competitions and seminars, and they pushed me to pursue a career dedicated to… read more about Music Brings Innovative Thinking to Healthcare »
Five Duke Voice students recently performed at NATS Mid-Atlantic Region Student Auditions at Furman University in a pool of the top voice students from MD, DC, VA, NC and SC. All of these students received insightful comments from professors at various conservatories, music schools and departments, and honed their performing skills by participating in these auditions. Two students placed in their groups: Claire Hardek: placed second in her first round of college sophomore women. … read more about Five Duke Students Perform at Mid-Atlantic Region NATS Auditions »
Music graduate alum Ryan Harrison and Instructor of Music Andrew Waggoner will be featured in the Louis Moreau Institute for New Music Performance’s tenth anniversary concert season. In addition to Harrison and Waggoner’s compositions, the concert will be the world premiere of Single #2: The Mixer, a new work for the Louis Moreau Institute Artists composed by Morris Rosenzweig. Composers Courtney Bryan, Dennis H Miller, Wynton Marsalis and Chris Trapani are also featured in the performance. Located in New Orleans,… read more about Ryan Harrison and Andrew Waggoner Featured at the Louis Moreau Institute for New Music Performance »
Graduating in 2022 with a B.S. in Biology, a minor in Music and a certificate in Sustainability Engagement from the Nicholas School of the Environment, Pooja Lalwani credits her Duke Music courses for enhancing her STEM scholarship.“The arts at Duke definitely taught me a lot about health and medicine,” she says. “Academically, I was really interested in music therapy and utilizing music as a way to enhance memory.”As an undergrad, Lalwani took elective courses that integrated her three interests, biology, music and… read more about A Prescription for Harmony: How Music Enhances the Pre-Med Journey »
On Friday, February 16, nine Duke Voice students sang in the NC Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Student Auditions. All of these students qualified to advance to NATS Regional Auditions with other college or conservatory singers from across the Southeast. Third-year treble room 2, Sophia Leeman, 1st Third-year treble 2, Julia Leeman, 2nd Studio of Sandra Cotton Second-year treble room 1, Abigail Pickens,… read more about Nine Duke Voice Students Qualify for NATS Regional Auditions »
On a drizzly Tuesday morning in late October, a group of students from Sophia Enriquez’s Introduction to Latino/a Studies in the Global South class piled into a bus and headed to a farm in Hillsborough to pick cempasúchil flowers, a species of marigold known as flor de muerto or flower of the dead. Students from Sophia Enriquez’s Introduction to Latino/a Studies in the Global South class collect cempasúchil flowers from Ever Laughter Farm and Nursery in… read more about Music, Flowers and Hot Chocolate: Sophia Enriquez Teaches Through Community Engagement »
Brittany J. Green, a Duke graduate composer in the Department of Music, is one of eight composers to receive a publishing contract for select orchestral works from the American Composers Orchestra (ACO). Green is one of the inaugural recipients through the ACO’s newly launched Earshot Publishing, an unprecedented music publishing initiative that will administer the rights for select orchestral works developed through its national EarShot composer advancement programs. Green has been accepted for her work … read more about Brittany Green Named One of Eight Inaugural Composers to Receive Publishing Contracts for Select Orchestral Works »
When was the last time a song hit you in the solar plexus, taking your breath away with wonderment? You probably didn’t stop to analyze what it was about that song, the artistry of that composition, that evoked such a deep emotional response. But if you were a composer at the turn of the 17th century, like Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), pondering this question might have kept you up at night. In her new book, Monteverdi and the Marvellous: Poetry, Sound, and Representation, Assistant… read more about Creating Musical Wonderment: Roseen Giles’ Monteverdi and the Marvellous »
On December 1, cellist Caroline Stinson performed Pulitzer Prize winning composer John Harbison's Presences, for solo cello and string quintet at the composer's 85th birthday celebration at Emmanuel Church in Boston, MA. Stinson performed the work with the Lydian String Quartet and Rachel Calin, bass. Stinson will record Presences in 2024 as part of a project to be released by Naxos, which will feature Stinson performing several of Harbison's works for cello. Caroline Stinson is associate… read more about Caroline Stinson Celebrates Composer John Harbison's 85th Birthday »
For junior Alex Ozonoff, declaring a major in Biology was the obvious choice — after some soul searching and deep dives into entomology, epidemiology and microbiology, that is. And as his career decisions began to feel more real than hypothetical, he fixated on becoming a doctor.“My mother is a physician assistant, and my dad is a surgical technician, so I’ve always been exposed to medicine,” he explains. “It seemed clear to me from early on what I’d pursue.”On the pre-med track with a concentration in Biochemistry, Ozonoff… read more about Piano and Pre-Med: Achieving a Balance »
On November 12, Professor R. Larry Todd and alumna Angela Mace will be in New York to attend the American premiere of a new documentary about Fanny Hensel (1805-1847). The talented sister of Felix Mendelssohn, Hensel's musical compositions were largely overlooked during her lifetime. Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn uncovers the story of Hensel's contributions, restoring the composer to her rightful place in the 19th century Western musical canon. Todd and Mace participated in the making of the documentary and are… read more about Professor R. Larry Todd & Angela Mace (Ph.D. 2013) Featured in New Documentary »
