Recent News

By Eric Olsen, Special to the Seattle TimesIn 1992, saxophonist Michael Brockman and drummer Clarence Acox led a “pickup group” of Seattle jazz musicians through some of Duke Ellington’s deep catalog at the University of Washington’s Meany Hall. They’d been staging an annual Ellington concert for three years. But this time, “We looked at each other,” Brockman remembers, “and said, ‘You know, there’s an audience for this.’”Three years later, the longtime friends and bandmates pulled off what… Read more

A review in the Fall 2025 issue of the Journal of the American Viola Society deems  violist/composer Melia Watras's album Play/Write "a remarkable achievement, weaving music, text, and narrative into a cohesive and engaging whole." Play/Write is a remarkable achievement, weaving music, text, and narrative into a cohesive and engaging whole. Each work explores novel timbral territory while remaining supportive of voice and text, never overshadowing them. !e performances… Read more

A recent article by Thomas May in the Seattle Times illustrates the deep involvement of a number of School of Music alumni, students, and faculty in Tacoma Opera's upcoming production of Wagner's "Das Rheingold," including Voice professor Thomas Harper (stage director), Music History professor Stephen Rumph (Froh), alumni Kristin Vogel (DMA Voice) (Fricka) and Brendan Tuohy ('04 BM, Voice) (Loge), and company general… Read more

With "University of Washington Soundscape," ethnomusicology and international studies major Leo Freedman has created an audio experience of the UW campus.  Continue reading on UW College of Arts & Sciences News 

  Two longtime School of Music professors reach the retirement finish line; others report recent residencies, projects, performances, honors, and other notable activities.  Pianists Robin McCabe and Rachelle McCabe were special guests last month at the Jacobs Academy, the summer program in the arts offered by Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. The McCabes were featured artists for the Summer Piano Academy, a two-week intensive for… Read more

School of Music students and alumni report recent academic achievements, new creations, honors, and career milestones.   Cole Henslee, who graduated in June with a BM in tuba performance, is headed to Carnegie Mellon University this fall for master’s degree studies. His full-ride offer from Carnegie Mellon was in addition to offers from Western Washington University, Eastman, San Francisco Conservatory, and Rice University. “(Carnegie Mellon professor)… Read more

School of Music alumna Erin Bodnar (’13 DMA, Wind Conducting) returns to the University of Washington in Fall 2025 as director of UW Concert Bands, a one-year appointment following the recent retirement of longtime director Timothy Salzman. While earning her DMA in Wind Conducting at the UW, Bodner studied with Salzman and assisted with direction of the UW Wind Ensemble as well as co-leading with other graduate student conductors the UW’s Concert and Campus Bands.   In order to accept the… Read more

“'Who wrote what and when?' were the foundational questions that gave birth to musicology in the 1800s," says Frederick Reece, assistant professor of Music History at the School of Music. "But I think they’re newly relevant in an age where AI is on everyone’s lips, and every image or text needs to be called into question as a potential fake." Reece articulated these thoughts and more in a recent conversation with faculty colleague Stephen Rumph, in which the musicologists discussed… Read more

The College of Arts & Sciences is home to many distinguished researchers, faculty, and students. Their work and contributions have been featured in media outside of the UW and across the country. Take a look at some ArtSci features from this past Spring Quarter. From AI to nature's poets, ArtSci in the Media has something for everyone! Continue reading on UW… Read more

The School of Music celebrated its Class of 2025 on Friday, June 13 with the school's annual Grand Finale celebration, featuring student and faculty remarks, a brief performance by graduate Ella Kalinichenko (MM, Piano Performance), recognition of graduating students, and a reception in the School of Music Fishbowl.  Associate Director Ted Poor welcomed graduates and their loved ones to Brechemin Auditorium for remarks by students Adia Bowen (BM Vocal Performance; BA… Read more