Students, faculty make art in the time of coronavirus
Making art addresses “the emotions of the times,” said Helena Maria Viramontes, director of the Creative Writing Program. “We should ‘speak, so that we can heal.’”
‘Bending’ to create homemade musical instruments
Students in an innovative class this spring made their homes not only classrooms, but also studio and laboratory spaces as they imagined and created unique musical instruments out of materials close at hand.
Join us for Virtual Reunion 2020, June 5-6
Even though we can't be together in person, we are looking forward to "seeing" you at our virtual Reunion 2020, Friday and Saturday, June 5-6!
Thousands connect virtually for Reunion 2020
Content has been viewed by alumni from six continents and 77 countries, from the Class of 1937 to the Class of 2020.
Recorded on tour, singers bring Sierra’s music home
The Cornell University Glee Club and Chorus perform on a new CD of works composed by Roberto Sierra, the Old Dominion Foundation Professor in the Humanities.
Israeli Chamber Project performs Oct. 20-21
On Wednesday, October 20th and Thursday, October 21st, current Steven Stucky Memorial Residency Ensemble the Israeli Chamber Project will finally be performing new works live by Cornell’s very own D.M.A composition students, including Joshua Biggs and John Eagle, as well as chamber music repertoire by Debussy, Milhaud, and Messiaen.Both Biggs and...
Wynton Marsalis with the Cornell Wind Symphony
Cornell welcomes Pulitzer and Grammy-winning artist Wynton Marsalis as A.D. White Professor-at-Large. The Cornell Wind Symphony, conducted by Barbara & Richard T. Silver '50, MD '53 Assistant Professor of Music James Spinazzola, along with Marsalis and his rhythm section, perform a wide-ranging program including ragtime, blues, and jazz. The...
Spinelli, Acosta nominated for President's Award for Employee Excellence
Stephen Spinelli and Tamara Acosta have been nominated for a President's Award for Employee Excellence for their project, ONEcomposer, which celebrates musicians whose contributions have been historically erased. Spinelli, a senior lecturer and Cornell's assistant director of choral programs, and Acosta, a visiting lecturer in voice, are up for...
Event Public Health Requirements
Please note the following public health requirements:All attendees who are current Cornell students or employees must show their Cornell ID for admission to the event. Cornell employees attending indoor events must complete the Daily Check prior to attendance.All attendees who are not current Cornell employees or students (such as alumni,...
Xak Bjerken releases new album
The Oberlin Concertos, a new album featuring pianist Xak Bjerken has just been released. Daydreams that became reality, the album is a result of what Bjerken calls, “lucky and close friendships with supremely talented composers.”For Bjerken, the project itself was inspired by “the need for all us pianists to have new, smaller piano concertos,...
Cornell ReSounds Festival Sept. 4-5
Cornell ReSounds aims to establish Cornell as a center for the design and creation of new musical instruments and a hub for Cornell’s creative artists – a dialogue between the future of instrument-building and collaborative artistic creation. Looking at tradition and past inventions as a way forward, Cornell’s technologists, engineers, and...
Congratulations, Dr. Ji Young Kim
Congratulations, to Dr. Ji Young Kim for receiving the Ph.D. in musicology with an outstanding dissertation, Innere Stimmen and Hidden Duets in the Piano Music of Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms. Dr. Kim’s study is a signal contribution to our understanding of the complex musical and personal relations within the Schumann-Brahms circle during...
Lee Kimura Tyson wins Sanjek Student Paper Prize
Graduate student Lee Kimura Tyson has won the 2021 Sanjek Student Paper Prize from the International Association for the Study of Popular Music-US Branch (IASPM-US); the title of their essay is “Trans Vocal Authenticity and SOPHIE’s Hyperreal Voices.” The award is given each year to the student who has written and delivered the most outstanding...
Beloved Professor Rebecca Harris-Warrick Retires
Rebecca Harris-Warrick, known affectionately as Becky by her colleagues, will retire June 30 after a thirty-four-year career in the Department of Music. A noted scholar of dance and dramaturgy in French baroque opera, Becky’s dual passions of scholarship and teaching will be sorely missed in Lincoln Hall. A California native, Becky and her...
Extraordinary Journeys series spotlights numerous music students
The College of Arts & Sciences' Extraordinary Journeys series features a wide range of graduating seniors' reflections on their pathways at Cornell, and this year, many of the students noted the importance of their musical experiences here. Read more about these students and their varied interests and connections to the music department!...
Peraino wins Russell Award
Professor Judith Peraino has been awarded Cornell University's Stephan and Margery Russell Distinguished Teaching Award. The Russell Distinguished Teaching Award is intended for professorial faculty, lecturers, senior lecturers and teaching assistants who have demonstrated their devotion to teaching, where teaching is understood to include...
Hurwitz and Krumhansl publish new research
Emily Hurwitz, a senior double-majoring in music and psychology, recently published an article with Professor Carol Krumhansl entitled "Shifting Listening Niches: Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic," in the journal Frontiers in Psychology. As part of the Music Cognition Laboratory, they studied how the music listening habits of undergraduate...
Utah Symphony performs Sierra's Sinfonietta
The Utah Symphony is performing Roberto Sierra's Sinfonietta April 8-10, in one of their first weeks back after resuming in-person concerts on March 25. The piece was premiered in February 2020 by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra under conductor Domingo Hindoyan.
Anti-Racist statement from the Department of Music
A statement from Professor Alejandro L. Madrid, Chair of the Department of Music:Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff Colleagues, The Department of Music at Cornell University stands in solidarity with Asian and Asian American students, faculty, and staff across campus. We strongly condemn the rise of acts of racism and violence against Asians and...
Newsletter 2021: Letter from the Chair
Dear Friends of Music,One year ago the Department of Music hosted “When Machines Rock: A Celebration of Robert Moog and Electronic Music”, a magnificent exhibition and a series of concerts and talks co-curated by Judith Peraino, Trevor Pinch, and Roger Moseley in early March 2020. It was a huge success, attracting overflow crowds to Klarman Hall...
Support Music on Giving Day, March 11!
Please visit our Giving Day landing page on March 11 to contribute! Cornell’s composers, performers, and music scholars shape the character of musical life in every corner of our campus, with an impact that continues far into the wider world. We provide opportunities for study and performance under the guidance of distinguished faculty, as part of...
Sierra world premiere featured in Rochester Philharmonic's new season
The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra announced its 21-22 concert season, the first under new music director Andreas Delfs. The programming will include the world premiere of a new Violin Concerto by Roberto Sierra, commissioned by the RPO. More information is available online.
Students and faculty show resilience and creativity in fall semester
Throughout the Fall 2020 semester, the students and faculty of the music department have shown remarkable resilience and creativity in order to continue their musical activities. The circumstances of the pandemic required innovation and adaptation, but the results allowed students to stay connected with each other and with audiences onscreen. Many...