News | Department of Music

Events honor the legacy of composer Steven Stucky

The Department of Music is honoring the late Steven Stucky, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and beloved Cornell professor, with a series of concerts.

A person with shoulder‑length dark hair stands outdoors in front of dense green foliage. They are wearing a navy blouse with a floral pattern and large round earrings.

Rachel Horner joins Indiana University as Visiting Lecturer in Folklore and Ethnomusicology

Rachel Horner, who recently completed her PhD in Music and Sound Studies, has accepted a visiting lecturer position in the Folklore and Ethnomusicology Department at Indiana University

Pianist, composer Tigran Hamasyan plays Dallas Morse Concert Series

Released on Feb. 6 via Naïve Records, Hamasyan's album "Manifeste" marks a new chapter for one of the most visionary artists working at the intersection of jazz, progressive rock, and global music.

Composer Michael Abels, famous for work on Jordan Peele films, to visit March 6-7

Events include film screenings, panel discussions and a concert by the Barbara & Richard T. Silver Wind Symphony.

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Weiss and Provost awards honor outstanding faculty

Four faculty from A&S have been awarded Cornell’s highest honors for graduate and undergraduate teaching.

A person in a sleeveless dress stands outdoors holding a violin upright in front of them. They are positioned against a textured wall with green ivy trailing across it. The violin is centered, and the setting has a calm, natural atmosphere.

Ariana Kim chosen as 2026 Cornell Asian Alumni Association Honoree

Associate Professor Ariana Kim has been chosen as the 2026 Cornell Asian Alumni Association Honoree, an award recognizing excellence, leadership, and service in her field.

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Garifuna Collective featured on Dallas Morse Coors Concert Series

Rooted in the Afro-AmerIndian heritage of communities along the Caribbean coasts of Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, Garifuna music blends West African rhythms, indigenous Carib influences and the Arawak language.

yellowed musical instrument keyboard keys

Fossiles to fortepianos: The Hill's 'mini-museums' and collections

The next time you visit Ithaca, check out exhibits on Chimes history, astronomical instruments, historical keyboards and so much more

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In Praise of Sage Chapel, East Hill’s beloved house of worship

Built in an era when the University was under fire for being nonsectarian, it offers respite from a bustling campus.

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Seare Farhat selected for the 2026-27 "Creator Corps" program with the Louisville Orchestra

Seare Farhat, DMA candidate in Composition, has been selected for the 2026–27 “Creator Corps” program—a competitive one-year appointment as composer-in-residence with the Louisville Orchestra.

‘Songs In Flight,’ inspired by Cornell-based project, earns Grammy nod

Based on poems by A&S alumna Tsitsi Ella Jaji, M.A. ’06, Ph.D. ’08, the songs by Shawn Okpebholo bring to life individual stories preserved by the Cornell-based Freedom on the Move project.

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Vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant featured on Dallas Morse Coors Concert Series

Salvant, a 2020 MacArthur Fellow and three-time Grammy Award winner, is an artist celebrated for bringing historical depth, dramatic flair, and exceptional musical insight to jazz standards and original works.

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Combining humanities and tech for research gains

An interdisciplinary project is sparking collaborations among those interested in digital approaches to the study of history, languages and culture.

Event poster in bright purple, pink and orange hues: Louise Farrence at 150

Commemorating composer, pianist, pedagogue Louise Farrenc Nov. 14-15

The two-day event features performances of Farrenc’s chamber music on historical instruments, a reimagining of the salon culture in collaboration with the Johnson Museum of Art, and scholarly presentations.

Cornell composer’s work featured in upcoming Dallas Morse Coors Concert Series event

A new work by Cornell alum Zachary Wadsworth DMA ’12, will premiere this weekend in three concerts, including one at Cornell’s Bailey Hall.

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra to perform with violinist James Ehnes Oct. 26

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with violin soloist James Ehnes will perform a program entitled “Postcards from Paris” in the next Dallas Morse Coors Concert Series (DMCCS) production of the 2025-26 season.

A stage bathed in green light: several people play on keyboard instruments, including standing sythesizers, pianos, and an organ

‘The Keyboards Strike Back’: concert sequel set for Oct. 9

Cornell faculty and graduate students unleash a genre-bending program across seventeen keyboard instruments, from the delicate whisper of the clavichord to the analog punch of the Roland Juno-60.

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Music Oct. 2-5: Homecoming concerts and historical keyboards

Cornell orchestras, vocal ensembles and the Center for Historical Keyboards plan performances.

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Ethnomusicologist Martin Hatch, professor of music emeritus, dies at 83

Martin F. Hatch Jr., Ph.D. ’80, professor of music emeritus in the College of Arts and Sciences, died Aug. 23 in Ithaca, New York. He was 83.

Five musicians hold folk instruments in a publicity portrait

Le Vent du Nord plays Dallas Morse Coors Concert Series Sept. 20

A leading force in Quebec’s progressive francophone folk movement, Le Vent du Nord will perform in the first Dallas Morse Coors Concert Series (DMCCS) on Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in Bailey Hall.

New Faculty: Parkorn Wangpaiboonkit

Parkorn Wangpaiboonkit, Music

New Faculty: Igor Santos

Igor Santos, Music

2025 Nexus Scholars talk about academic growth, transformation

Ten students who participated in this summer's Nexus Scholars Program share their stories..

Gabriela Gómez Estévez to Guest Conduct National Symphony of the Dominican Republic

Gabriela Gómez Estévez to Guest Conduct National Symphony of the Dominican Republic in Santo Domingo

Modern theory of music perception posited by 1700s potter

A new book by Carmel Raz focuses on the work of John Holden, an 18th-century potter who also wrote an influential treatise on musical theory.

Festival celebrates pianos in history, history in pianos

Musicians, scholars and instrument makers will gather at Cornell Aug. 5-10 for Forte | Piano 2025: Crafting Soundscapes, a conference and festival exploring dimensions of historical keyboard practice from performance and scholarship to instrument making and listening.

Dallas Morse Coors Concert Series announces 2025-26 Season

The season will include explorations of timeless classics, as well as concerts highlighting new frontiers in music.

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‘End of a hopeful era’: Cornell expert reflects on Wilson and Stone legacies

The deaths of Brian Wilson, co-founder of The Beach Boys, and funk and soul pioneer Sly Stone, of Sly and the Family Stone, mark the end of a pivotal era in music, says professor Judith Peraino.

From posters to precedent, humanities scholars showcase their research

Projects spanned topics from Confederate cemeteries to Korean textiles.

Gift creates new Dallas Morse Coors Concert Series at Cornell

A $2 million gift from the Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts will rename the Cornell Concert Series and allow it to continue its efforts to bring world-class musicians to campus.

Ariana Kim featured on PBS NewsHour's arts and culture series, CANVAS

Ariana Kim was featured on PBS NewsHour's arts and culture series, CANVAS.

Rafael Torralvo da Silva Defends Dissertation

The department warmly congratulates Rafael Torralvo da Silva, who successfully defended his PhD dissertation in music and sound studies on April 21, 2025.

Music professor named new director of Milstein Program in Technology & Humanity

Roger Moseley, associate professor of music, will begin in the new role July 1.

Congratulations to the Class of 2025!

Learn about this year's graduating class

'This class opened the door to experimenting as a musician and learning how to marry coding and improvisation.'

James Koga is a computer science major.

'I developed machine learning models to predict the progression of diabetic retinopathy'

Dean Zhang is majoring in biological sciences, computer science and music.

Annie Lewandowski and Students Blend Art, Music, and Marine Conservation in Provincetown

An article in the Provincetown Independent highlights faculty member Annie Lewandowski’s MUS 1213 class, focusing on her conservation efforts and artistic work with whales.

Center for Historical Keyboards boosted by $5 million gift

The gift will secure the future of the center's museum-quality holdings, as well as a rich program of concerts, festivals and educational offerings.

DMA Candidate Jack Yarbrough Releases Debut Recording

On April 14th, 2025, DMA candidate Jack Yarbrough released his debut recording on the renowned British record label Another Timbre.

Five elephants of various sizes wade in a water hole

In ‘Silence’ spring conference, Fellows ‘attend to what is not there’ 

On April 25, seven Society for the Humanities’ Fellows will present their projects in progress during the annual Spring Fellows’ conference, highlighting the various ways that the theme of silence has been explored –

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PMA’s ‘SHED’ performance features intermedia dance

The culmination of a year-long study of “New/Futurism: Installation, Intermedia, Interactive & Immersive Dance,” the April 25-26 performance also features the work of influential choreographer Merce Cunningham and highlights collaboration among art forms.

about a dozen people in creative clothing sit in a richly decorated room