Julia Leeman, a double major in Neuroscience and Music, was first drawn to biology and psychology in high school.“I found it interesting to reflect on what others were thinking, but I was also fascinated by the idea of understanding the biological basis,” the senior explains. “I knew that when I went to college, I really wanted to see what neuroscience was all about.”As a first-year student at Duke, Leeman was a part of the FOCUS program, Cognitive Neuroscience and the Law, and learned first-hand what primary research can… read more about Listen to This: Neuroscience and Music in Conversation »
Graduate composer Ryan Harrison's song cycle for voices and chamber orchestra, Les Cenelles, was performed on August 25 & 26, 2003, by the New Orleans Chamber Orchestra at Xavier University of Louisiana, Maxim Samarov conducting, with soloists Sakinah Davis, soprano and Ivan Griffin, bass-baritone. Les Cenelles is based on the first anthology of poetry published by African Americans in 1845. It constitutes the major portion of Harrison's Ph.D. thesis in composition in the… read more about Ryan Harrison's "Les Cenelles" premiered by the New Orleans Chamber Orchestra »
Assistant Curator Jessica Wood manages special collections for the Music & Recorded Sound Division at the New York Public Library. The Coltrane tapes she unearthed at the NYPL Sound Archives were released in July 2023 on Impulse Records. Read about how this discovery took place and Jessica's role in it. read more about Jessica Wood (Ph.D. Musicology, 2010) plays a key role in unearthing unreleased John Coltrane tapes »
Two Duke undergraduates made it to the Semifinal Round of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) National Student Auditions in 2023. Each of these singers placed in the top 14 students in the nation in their categories. Congratulations to: Claire Hardek (First year treble) Claire studies voice with Professor Elizabeth Linnartz at Duke, where she also participates in Duke Opera Theater and the a cappella group Out of the Blue. Claire is majoring in Public… read more about Claire Hardek and Julia Leeman are among top voice students in the US »
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-19 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, with the video receiving hundreds of views since its premiere. The success of the initial project inspired the Ciompi Quartet to continue the Portfolio… read more about Portfolio Project: The Ciompi Quartet commissions Duke Graduate Composers 2022 »
Faculty Scholar Awards are the highest honor bestowed by university faculty on undergraduates. The award was established to highlight students with an exceptional record of independent research and scholarship and who show promise of a scholarly career. Leeman, one of three recipients this year, is a rising senior from Charlotte, NC, majoring in Neuroscience and Music. Her research explores connections between memory, emotion and music. She hopes to help people with paralysis communicate by investigating how the brain… read more about Julia Leeman honored as a 2023 Faculty Scholar »
Three undergraduate students who found an engaging intellectual topic and worked with Duke faculty to conduct original research that advances knowledge in that field were honored with Faculty Scholar Awards, the highest honor bestowed by university faculty on undergraduates. The award was established to highlight students with an exceptional record of independent research and scholarship and who show promise of a scholarly career. Marcos Hirai Catao is recognized for the study of the relationship between… read more about Three Students Honored as Faculty Scholars »
On April 29, 2023, the Department of Music honored Professor Emeritus Bryan Gilliam with a symposium in honor of his retirement. Fifty of Gilliam's colleagues, former students, and current students attended the celebration, which included the presentation of a number of tributes from Gilliam's many former graduate students. The event was a collaborative effort between the Department of Music and two of Gilliam’s former students, professors Joy Calico (Vanderbilt University) and Neil Lerner (Davidson College).… read more about Symposium in Honor of Professor Emeritus Bryan Gilliam »
A new class in Baroque performance practice was introduced in Spring 2023. "Reading Between the Notes" was developed by professors Roseen Giles, a musicologist specializing in early music, and Caroline Stinson, cellist of the Ciompi Quartet and Director of the Chamber Music Program. It was offered as MUS390-1: Special Topics in Interpretation and Performance. The class focused on hands-on and experiential learning, whether it was exploring the Music Department's early music instruments, attending concerts in the community… read more about Reading Between the Notes, a New Performance Practice Class in Spring 2023 »
Graduate Degrees Conferred Cody Black, Ph.D. (Ethnomusicology) -- SPRING 2023 Dissertation: "Analog Optimism: Voice, Digitalized Life, and the Aural Labor of Becoming in South Korea." Committee Chair: Louise Meintjes James Budinich, Ph.D. (Composition) -- FALL 2022 Dissertation piece: "Third-Millennium Heart, song cycle for 10 instruments and soprano, setting poetry by Ursula Andkjaer Olse." Committee Chair: Scott Lindroth Joanna Chang, Ph.D. (Musicology) -- SUMMER 2022… read more about Congratulations to our Ph.D graduates »
Music Department Awards The Julia Wilkinson Mueller Prize for Excellence in Music Francesca Herrera Nathaniel Maxwell 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 Ethan Foote for his chamber orchestra composition Wild Requiem Awarded to a graduate or… read more about Music Department Awards 2023 »
A lot of people wish they could play the violin. Nathaniel Maxwell’s ambition was to write music for it. Maxwell, who is graduating with majors in Mathematics and Music and a minor in Statistical Science, is an accomplished pianist and trumpet player who has performed in the Duke Symphony Orchestra, the Duke University Marching Band and the Chamber Music Program. Throughout his time at Duke, he has also studied piano with Professor David Heid. “I'd done a lot of playing and even some composition in high school,” he said… read more about Composing Outside His Comfort Zone: Nathaniel Maxwell’s “Piano Quintet” »
The Durham Symphony Orchestra's RESURGENCE concert on April 23 features Tears in Rain, a new work by Duke graduate composer Josué Collado-Fregoso. Tears in Rain is the winning work from the Durham Symphony's first Young Composers Competition—this year based on the theme of resurgence and drawn from a talented pool of Duke University students taught by Stephen Jaffe. Tears in Rain is a sonic reflection on the transitory nature of moments,… read more about Durham Symphony Premieres New Work by Josué Collado-Fregoso »
Students in MUSIC 337S, Introduction to Hip-Hop Production. (Jared Lazarus/University Communications) Starting in Fall 2023, Duke students will have a new option to explore the music they love. The Minor in Music: Listening-focused will join the Department of Music’s current Minor in Music: Score-focused, providing an alternative path of study for students who wish to engage deeply with music but who don’t necessarily read musical notation or have a background in Western classical… read more about New Listening-Focused Music Minor Turns Music Lovers Into Music Scholars »
For most students, Spring Break is when they take a break from academic rigors by taking a quiet (or loud) week away from Duke and its classes. But some students spent their week learning about subjects possibly far outside their normal areas of study. Spring Breakthrough is an annual set of courses offered during Spring Break that aren't graded, instead meant to be learning experiences that students otherwise wouldn't have access to. The 2023 Spring Breakthrough courses included: Motorcycle Revival: Repairing and… read more about Learning New Subjects During Spring Breakthrough 2023 »
On March 10, eleven Duke voice students traveled to Lynchburg, VA to participate in the Mid-Atlantic Regionals of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Student Auditions with other college singers from Maryland; Washington, DC; Virginia; North Carolina and South Carolina. Some categories were so large that they were split into two rooms. The students who placed in those rooms had a sing-off round to determine which 5 or 6 will advance to the initial online round of the National Student Auditions (NSA… read more about Voice Students Advance to National Auditions »
Hyebin (Monica) Song will present her paper "Influence, Individuality, and Stylistic Evolution in Collaborations of Fanny Hensel and Felix Mendelssohn" at the Music by Women Festival to be held at Mississippi University for Women on March 2, 2023. The paper, published by The Kapralova Society Journal in Toronto, Canada, focuses on how outside influences are as important as the mutual influence of Hensel and Mendelssohn in understanding Fanny Hensel’s stylistic development. In her talk,… read more about Hyebin (Monica) Song to present paper at the Music By Women Festival »
The Los Angeles Philharmonic will perform a horn quartet, The Impetuous Winds, by Jamie Keesecker (Ph.D. Composition, 2016) in Disney Hall as part of a Chamber Brass concert on April 11. LA Phil Associate Principal Trombone James Miller is curating the concert, which spotlights LA Phil brass performers. The Impetuous Winds has been performed several times since Keesecker composed it in 2008, including a performance in Scotland by Scottish horn quartet, The Rookh Quartet, in January 2020, but… read more about Los Angeles Philharmonic to premiere horn quartet by Jamie Keesecker »
On March 5, Amy Scurria's (Ph.D. Composition, 2015) Katia on Mt. Unzen will be performed at the International Women's Day Concert in Chicago. Katia on Mt. Unzen, on a text by Germaine Shames about the life and death of Katia Krafft, was premiered in New York City in June 2022 through the Art Song Preservation Society of New York by mezzo-soprano Madison Marie McIntosh and pianist Shaobai Yuan. 2023 is off to a busy start for Scurria. In January, Listening, on a text by… read more about Amy Scurria's "Katia on Mt. Unzen" to be performed at the International Women's Day Concert in Chicago »
Piano student Zirui Yin performed the first movement of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 37 with the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra and their music director Stephan Sanders on February 4, 2023. Zirui was a winner of the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra's 2021-2022 Harlan Duenow Young Artist Concerto Competition. Zirui grew up in Shanghai, China, and began playing the piano at the age of 6. He is now a student of Professor Ieva Jokubaviciute at Duke University, where he is a member of… read more about Pianist Zirui Yin performs with the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra »
In May, Jacob Egol will earn his bachelor’s of science degree in Biology with a concentration in cell and molecular biology, as well as a minor in Music.He was introduced to biology at Duke as a first-year student in the Exploration of Genetics and Genomics FOCUS cluster. Inspired by the course, as well as the many others spanning the subdisciplines of biology, Egol is pursuing an interest in cell and molecular biology and developmental biology.The senior currently works in the Silver Lab, part of the Department of… read more about Biology and Music Enhance the Human Experience »
To strengthen the role of the arts at the university and to attract nationally and internationally known artists to the faculty, Duke should establish a new tenure track for visual and performing artists, a faculty committee reported to the Academic Council Thursday. The special pathway in the report would be part of the university’s normal appointments, promotions and tenure (APT) process and would allow for appointments (external or internal) of tenured full professor or professor of the practice to attract the most… read more about Academic Council Considers Tenure Pathway for Creative Artists »
