News | Department of Music

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.

Person sitting at a white piano on a stage, giving an "okay" sign with hand

‘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

'Milstein gave me the freedom to explore my interests'

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 –

Several people dancing in formation in a sunny studio

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

Vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth featured on Cornell Concert Series April 24

Roomful of Teeth is a Grammy Award-winning vocal band dedicated to re-imagining the expressive potential of the human voice.

‘Collaborative creativity’ of Gamelan inspires student band

The Cornell Gamelan Ensemble and a collection of antique instruments sparked the formation of Twin Court – a band that melds rock and traditional Indonesian music.

Morton Wan Awarded Junior Research Fellowship at University of Oxford

Cornell Concert Series hosts Sona Jobarteh, musician of the West African griot tradition

A living archive of the Gambian people, Sona Jobarteh innovates to support a more humanitarian future.

Person speaking at a podium with an image of a planet in the background

Joseph Burns, emeritus professor, former dean of faculty, dies at 83

Joseph A. Burns, Ph.D. ’66, emeritus professor of engineering and astronomy, and a former vice provost and dean of the Cornell faculty, died Feb. 26 in Ithaca.

Support Music on Giving Day, March 13!

Mark your calendar for Giving Day on Thursday, March 13! Every gift, no matter the size, directly supports our students.

Concert celebrates the wonders of space March 2

In a musical journey through the cosmos, the Cornell Symphony Orchestra will perform the world premiere of “Ex Terra, Ad Astra,” a new work commissioned especially for this year’s Young Person’s Concert.

Chief Adjuah featured on Cornell Concert Series March 7

NPR has hailed Adjuah as “ushering in a new era of jazz."

Person sitting at a grand piano, playing thoughtfully

Pianist Jonathan Biss featured on Cornell Concert Series Feb. 21

Biss is a performer, teacher and musical thinker whose on-stage repertoire ranges from the core canon to contemporary commissions. He will perform works by Franz Schubert and Tyson Gholston Davis.

Orange red and white horizontal streaks of light under a dark blue sky, showing automobile traffic in motion at night

New Klarman Fellows to join the College of Arts and Sciences

Fellows will pursue research in the sciences, social sciences and humanities.

Concerto Competition announces three winners

This year's Cornell Concerto competition honored three students as winners.

Martin Davids, holding a violin, stands alongside David Yearsley in front of an organ. — Martin Davids and David Yearsley.

February 1: David Yearsley and Baroque violinist Martin Davids Album Release Recital

The newest album by False Azure Records, "In the Cabinet of Wonders with Scheidemann and Schop: Music for Organ and Violin from 17th-Century Hamburg," featuring violinist Martin Davids and organist David Yearsley will be presented in recital on February 1st at Anabel Taylor Chapel.

Barnes Hall with McGraw Tower in background — Barnes Hall with McGraw Tower in the background

Concerto Competition announces three winners

For the first time, the Cornell Concerto Competition winners will perform with the Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, and Wind Symphony

YAMATO The Drummers of Japan featured on Cornell Concert Series February 2

Described as the “epitome of the Japanese spirit,” Yamato will bright their show “Hito no Chikara”, The Power of Human Strength to Baily Hall.

a person with a virtual reality headset with other people watching

Exhibit highlights art/tech intersections in student work

The event invited undergraduate and graduate students from all disciplines to display their projects at the historic A.D. White House.

A canoe covered in written messages, in an exhibit hall

Things to do: Apple Bake-Off, orchestra and wind, Mohawk River exhibit

Enjoy symphony concerts this weekend among other campus activities.

Morton Wan awarded 2024 Thomas Hampson Fund grant by the AMS

The American Musicological Society has awarded its 2024 Thomas Hampson Fund grant to Morton Wan in support of his project, “Chao Yuen Ren’s Art of Songs.”

Things to do: Much music, Supreme Court panel, advice for aspiring filmmakers

Pick from several concerts, attend the Town-Gown Awards, consider the Supreme Court and get advice for a career in film at events around campus.

small orange handheld video game player with a spaceship backdrop

Nintendo music app ‘rivals major record labels,’ not just for gamers

Some of Nintendo's music has attained classic status, says music professor Roger Moseley.

Rachel Horner Awarded Lise Waxer Prize from SEM

The Popular Music Section of the Society for Ethnomusicology has awarded the Lise Waxer Prize to Rachel Horner, a PhD candidate in Music and Sound Studies. The honor recognizes the most distinguished student paper on popular music presented at the Society’s 2023 Annual Meeting.

Nic Vigilante taking a picture of themself in a mirror.