Music News

Nicole Mitchell Black Earth Ensemble European premiere of "Mandorla Awakening"

Flutist-composer-ensemble leader Nicole Mitchell's award-winning Mandorla Awakening II project with the Black Earth Ensemble—joined by UCI colleague Ko Umezaki on Shakuhachi—will make its European premiere on February 9 in Stockholm

Choral Music of UCI Introduces AcaLove

The masterful melodies of seven choral groups came together in Winifred Smith Hall here on campus on January 26th for the first annual AcaLove: Southern California A Cappella Festival. This premier event was made possible by the director of UCI’s choral program, Dr. Seth Houston, and co-event...

Cecil Lytle, Mike Wofford, Joshua White, Kei Akagi & Tobin Chodos to play 5-piano concert

Five pianists walk into a room… That may sound like the set-up for a grand joke. But it is the very real scenario for what promises to be a singular performance at the 22nd Annual Concert to Benefit the Lytle Scholarship at UC San Diego. To be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 28, at the university’s...

La Jolla's Best Bets for Events

UC San Diego’s 22nd annual Lytle Scholarship Concert, “Jazz Piano Summit,” will feature a unique solo improvisation set from visionary musicians Cecil Lytle, Kei Akagi, Mike Wofford and Tobin Chodos, capped off by a show-stopping finale that will merge the talents of all four performers, 3 p.m....

Nicole Mitchell, an Innovative Flutist With an Afrofuturist Vision

Nicole Mitchell, 50, the artist-in-residence at this week’s Winter Jazzfest in New York, brings an eclectic ear and a frothy vigor to her instrument. The flute is rarely given much of a chance in jazz — maybe it seems too quiet, too liquid, too fey — but she has transcended all that,...

Kelly Moran's "Bloodroot" made Rolling Stone Magazine's 20 best Avant Albums of 2017

"New York pianist Kelly Moran turns the fuzzy, buzzy world of prepared piano into something more prismatic..."

Nicole Grimes, guest lecturer at UCSB

Nicole Grimes, Assistant Professor of Musicology, gave a guest leture at UCSB on December 29, 2017 called "A Disembodied Head for Mythic Justice: Brahms, Tantalus, and Gesang Der Parzen."

Nicole Mitchell Top Best Jazz Concert of 2017

The Chicago Tribune named Nicole Mitchell and Malian kora virtuoso Ballake Sissoko's September performance at the University of Chicago's Logan Center for the Arts one of the top jazz performances of the year for the "daring world premiere" of “Bamako*Chicago Sound System," calling it "intensely...

Alumni Composer Jeffrey Mumford had recent works performed at over a half dozen venues in 2017

Composer Jeffrey Mumford (BA, 1977) had recent works performed at over a half dozen venues in 2017: the  violin piece “eight musings . . . revisiting memories” (2005), was performed at Eastman School of music, Lawrence University and Chicago; “eight aspects of appreciation II” (2005...

Ry Bradley Nominated for California Country Artists in the Best Album category

Alumni Ry Bradley is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter rising to prominence in the country music scene. Bradley is based in California but travels frequently  to Nashville to perform and co-write songs with Nashville songwriters.  Ry performs constantly in venues ranging from bars to...

Nicole Grimes presented at the symposium Music Aesthetics in Britain in the Long Nineteenth Century

Nicole Grimes, Assistatn Professor of Musicology, presented a paper called "On Silencing Brahms: Ethics and Aesthetics in E. M. Forster's Howards End," at the symposium "Music Aesthetics in Britain in the Long-Nineteenth Century," King's College London, December 15-16, 2017.

Alumni Kelly Moran’s album “Bloodroot” was named one of the top 25 classical albums of the year by the New York Times

‘BLOODROOT’ Kelly Moran, keyboards (Telegraph Harp). When writing for “prepared” piano, some composer-performers focus on timbral effects to the exclusion of all else. Throughout this rewarding set of miniatures, Ms. Moran avoids this pitfall. The avant-garde touches she employs may be...

Nicole Grimes gave talk at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute

Nicole Girmes, Assistant Professor of Musicology gave a talk at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute on "Performing Wagner in Israel" on December 12, 2017.

Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble was Awarded an International Grant

Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble was awarded an international grant by USArtists International, a program of the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, to perform at the Edison festival in Sweden. For more information on the final grant recipients.

Nicole Mitchell was awarded top jazz album of the year by the New York Times

Nicole Mitchell was awarded top jazz album of the year by the New York Times for Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble, “Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds” on FPE records.

For Women in Jazz, a Year of Reckoning and Recognition

This year women in the music industry, especially jazz, has managed to break through the barriers of sexism and stereotypes. Espereza Spalding is a bassist and vocalist that has recorded an entire album titled "Exposure", a portrayal of self expression and form of breaking social norms. For 77...

Nicole Mitchell profiled by the New York Times as leader of a banner year for women in jazz:

Amy Bauer's Co-edited Collection of György Ligeti's Cultural Identities

Amy Bauer's co-edited collection György Ligeti's Cultural Identities was published this fall by Routledge.