Community Engagement

Listening our way forward

Mariefaith Lane — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 19:59:56 +0000

Listening our way forward Mariefaith Lane Fri, 10/09/2026 - 13:59

John Davis

Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies Annie Booth: Leading by listening.

The familiar phrase “music is the universal language of mankind” is most famously attributed to American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—but what does it mean?

On Sept. 23, I attended “The Sound of Success: Listen Your Way to the Top,” an interactive presentation co-hosted by the Entrepreneurship Center for Music and the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, featuring Associate Teaching Professor of Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Operations Visda Carson and our Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies Annie Booth.

Four of our students—Andy Carson (MME), Milo Lewon (MM Jazz), JJ Mazza (MM Jazz), Mateo Perez (BM Jazz/Leeds double major)—played John Coltrane’s “Mr. P.C.” three times. In the first pass, everyone played their own part well, but without any regard for what the others were playing—resulting in chaos. In the second, they listened a little, but the tempo drifted and each of them remained focused on themselves as the primary voice. In the third, they watched, listened and answered one another, and the music became a unified experience—same notes, same players, entirely different outcome.

Clearly, music is not universal because notes “translate”; rather, music is universal because listening is universal. Booth pointed out that you can land anywhere in the world without a shared spoken language and still build a shared repertoire, communicating in real time. The language isn't the sound, it’s the attention and respect afforded to each member of the exchange.

I believe that connections are what make music matter, and connections are made by listening first. From there, trust, inspiration, cohesion and a spirit of genuine servant leadership can turn a roomful of skilled individuals into an ensemble.

That’s why the College of Music’s universal musician approach to achieving our mission is more than a catchphrase: We are, in fact, very intentionally educating artists who can perform at the highest levels and also listen, collaborate and lead across disciplines, careers and cultures.

(Left to right) Louilarpprasert, Davis and Bowman: Connections are what make music matter.

Which brings me to Thailand. Last month, along with our Professor of Bassoon Yoshi Ishikawa, I visited the College of Music at Mahidol University outside Bangkok—one of Asia’s premier music schools where some 1,700 music students are studying classical performance, jazz, Thai music, popular music, music ed, composition, music technology, music business and more. I met with Dean Piyawat Louilarpprasert, Associate Dean for International Relations Joseph Bowman and Assistant Dean for Mobility and Exchange Junta Arakawa about how to strengthen our partnership. The campus is impressive and my new colleagues couldn’t have been more welcoming; I listened, and heard curiosity and receptivity.

In an increasingly global ecosystem, internationalization of education and research is paramount to student success, and it begins how last week’s jazz combo demonstrated: By listening, first.

When the world feels uncertain, the instinct is to hedge. I argue the opposite: Let’s push forward on what we’re good at, on what we aspire to be good at and, above all, what we’re hearing from our students. Real listening is the most dependable way forward.

With gratitude,

John Davis
Dean, College of Music

“When the world feels uncertain, the instinct is to hedge,” notes College of Music Dean John Davis. “I argue the opposite: Let’s push forward on what we’re good at, on what we aspire to be good at and, above all, what we’re hearing from our students. Real listening is the most dependable way forward.” Continue reading our dean’s exploration of what it means to make connections, pay attention and effectuate change by listening, first.

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College of Music welcomes non-music majors

Mariefaith Lane — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 12:19:50 +0000

College of Music welcomes non-music majors Mariefaith Lane Tue, 09/22/2026 - 06:19

Kathryn Bistodeau

The �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder College of Music offers many opportunities for non-music majors to engage, perform and deepen their understanding of music: Here’s how to get started!

Courses
Any course with the prefix MUEL (music elective) is open to all students. Course titles include Introduction to Songwriting, Wild West Soundscapes, Music of the Rock Era, Making Electronic Music, Words and Music, Music and Global Health—and more.

Additional courses without that prefix are crosslisted in other departments. For example, a Gendering K-pop course is available to non-majors by registering through the Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations.

If you take enough music classes, or if you’re interested in more music instruction, explore our music minor comprising 19 credits of music classes, and requiring a basic music theory course and participation in at least one music ensemble. The college also offers a Certificate in Music Technology that's open to non-majors, designed to provide a strong background in using technology to compose and produce music.

Ensembles
“In addition to courses for non-majors, the college also offers several cross-genre and world music ensembles,” says Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies + Enrollment Management Matthew Roeder—from our American Roots String Ensemble offered in the fall, and a blues ensemble with brass and rhythm section in the spring, to our African highlife ensemble, Japanese ensemble, Gamelan ensemble, Latin American ensemble and more. All music ensembles (EMUS) at the college are open to any �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder student, though some may require an audition to participate.

One of the largest ensembles open to non-majors is the college’s Golden Buffalo Marching Band (GBMB): More than 90% of the currently record-setting 270 members are non-music majors—and the GBMB represents nearly every school, college, student organization and major at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder.

Additionally, the college offers a colloquium series, and many educational events and speakers throughout the academic year.

“The College of Music is proud to offer multiple interdisciplinary offerings to students across campus,” adds Roeder.

Explore non-major studies

The �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder College of Music offers many opportunities for non-music majors to engage, perform and deepen their understanding of music. Learn more + join us!

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Symphony Orchestra presents “�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder at 150”

Mariefaith Lane — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 03:59:52 +0000

Symphony Orchestra presents “�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder at 150” Mariefaith Lane Thu, 09/17/2026 - 21:59

Adam Goldstein , Sabine Kortals Stein

Associate Professor of Composition Annika Socolofsky is a recent recipient of a Provost’s Faculty Achievement Award in recognition of her “ability to broaden the aesthetic and social narratives within the contemporary genres of classical, experimental and country music through [her] groundbreaking new composition, 'Detective Convention.’”

�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder’s Symphony Orchestra has evolved in myriad ways since the university’s formal founding in 1876.

That’s no wonder, considering the seismic shifts in the world of music in the past 150 years. In the figurative blink of an eye, human musical expression has run the gamut from Impressionism to hip-hop to atonal music to country, western and grunge.

Coming up with a program for orchestra that captures that kind of epic scope was hardly a straightforward proposition for Director of Orchestral Studies Gary Lewis. But in planning the Symphony Orchestra’s sesquicentennial celebration—Sept. 24 at Macky Auditorium—Lewis and his colleagues ultimately landed on a theme solidly rooted in the university and its history: The “�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder at 150” concert will offer audiences a musical perspective replete with connections to Boulder and its flagship university.

“We programmed works that were either written in the year 1876, or composers born in that year, or composers who are �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder faculty,” explains Lewis. “We wanted to share solid musical connections to the university history.”

Specifically, the evening will include a performance of Suite No. 2 from “The Three-Cornered Hat” ballet by Spanish composer Manuel De Falla, who was born in 1876; as well as the Symphony No. 5 by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev whose catalogue has been a longtime favorite of the Symphony Orchestra, and who was a visiting educator at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder during Rowland Dunham’s administration (Dunham joined the �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder faculty in 1927 and was appointed the College of Music’s first dean 11 years later).

But the centerpiece of Thursday’s performance will offer an even more direct connection to our college: Associate Professor of Composition Annika Socolofsky will bring her queer country alter ego EmmyJean Jenkins to the Macky stage, performing pieces from her original composition “Detective Convention” with the orchestra. “She wrote an entire cabaret show built around this singer and band,” notes Lewis. “The selections that we’re going to do have been orchestrated.”

Breaking down silos
Such creative, innovative programming comes naturally to Lewis, who is celebrating his 19th year at the College of Music. Indeed, he embraces the college’s universal musician approach to achieving its mission as an essential value in his work as an educator.

“My goal is to break down silos,” he shares. “Classical music can and should exist alongside more pop-type genres. I think it’s important for our students to be conversant in diverse styles.”

That’s not just lip service. Under his watch, the orchestra has collaborated with pop acts including Asleep at the Wheel and the Indigo Girls. What’s more, global engagement is a standard part of Lewis’ activities as an artist and educator: Most recently, he led a master class in Berlin, Germany which included observing a rehearsal with the Berlin Philharmonie and meeting with Gustavo Dudamel, new music director of the New York Philharmonic. He also taught in Paraguay this year, both at the university and in local music schools.

“Conducting is an accumulation of experience,” Lewis reflects. “The repertoire is so vast, inviting you to constantly grow and learn. That’s the fun of the journey for me, and one that continues—to help musicians grow in their knowledge and understanding of the repertoire, and in developing their sound.”

Explore �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder orchestras

Lewis with the Berlin Philharmonie conducting class.

Lewis with participants of the workshop at the National University of Paraguay, and members of the National Symphony of Paraguay who were the lab ensemble for the workshop.

Lewis receiving an award as “Honorary Citizen of Asución, Paraguay” from the mayor!

For all of the musical styles, expressions and idioms from across the world that the �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Symphony Orchestra has tackled in its storied history, its first fall concert will offer audiences a musical perspective replete with musical connections to Boulder and its flagship university. Meet Director of Orchestral Studies Gary Lewis + join us on Sept. 24 in Macky Auditorium!

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Presenting Korean traditional music as living practice

Mariefaith Lane — Thu, 10 Sep 2026 10:12:27 +0000

Presenting Korean traditional music as living practice Mariefaith Lane Thu, 09/10/2026 - 04:12

MarieFaith Lane

Gayageum master Eunsun Jung

This month, the College of Music welcomes two acclaimed Korean traditional musicians to campus for a weeklong exploration of performance, culture, teaching and collaboration.

Organized by Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology Stephanie Choi, the college’s first-ever Korean Traditional Music Artist Residency, Sept. 22-26, features gayageum master Eunsun Jung and percussionist Seojin Kim who will lead workshops and class visits, engage local K-12 schools, participate in conversations with students and faculty, and present a public guest recital on Sept. 23. Teaching Professor of Collaborative Piano Suyeon Kim—along with Choi—will perform in the recital as collaborators.

For Choi, the residency is an opportunity to present Korean traditional music as a living tradition—rooted in the past, but still taking on new forms in the present. “My goal is to introduce Korean traditional music not only as a cultural heritage from the past, but as a living musical practice that continues to shape our communities through performance and collaboration,” shares Choi, noting that direct participation is an important complement to more traditional forms of learning.

“I learned that there’s a profound difference between learning about music through a textbook or media and actually participating as a performer or listener. Direct participation allows you to become part of a musical community and to experience the culture and history embedded in the music in a more personal and immediate way.”

The timing of the public recital adds another layer of significance: The performance falls during the week of Chuseok, one of Korea’s major traditional holidays which will be observed on Sept. 25 this year. “I think the timing makes the recital especially meaningful as an opportunity for both the university and broader Colorado community to gather around Korean music and culture.”

For those encountering Korean traditional music for the first time, Choi hopes the residency challenges assumptions about what it means for a musical tradition to be “traditional.” “I hope audiences recognize that Korean traditional music is not something simply preserved unchanged from the past, but a living medium sustained through music making as a form of human interaction,” she shares.

Percussionist Seojin Kim

Through collaboration with the Center for Asian Studies and Center for Humanities & the Arts, the residency invites conversations that reach beyond music and into questions of culture, history and society. “I hope the residency encourages conversations about what we mean by ‘tradition’ in the first place—how traditions are preserved, transmitted, transformed and sometimes reinvented as societies change,” says Choi.

Korean traditional music provides a particularly compelling lens for those questions. While K-pop has become a powerful part of South Korea’s global cultural identity, the gayageum—an ancient Korean string instrument with origins dating to the sixth century—continues to embody cultural ideals of harmony and balance.

The residency also reflects the college’s universal musician approach by inspiring students to explore perhaps unfamiliar musical practices and consider music through multiple perspectives. “Engaging directly with Korean traditional musicians encourages students not only to broaden their musical knowledge, but also to think across performance, scholarship, education and cultural contexts,” Choi says.

In sum, students will have the opportunity to encounter music as connected to history, culture and human relationships—which Choi sees as essential to developing multiskilled and multifaceted musicians.

The residency is particularly meaningful to Choi as it’s the first event she has organized at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder. It brings together several dimensions of her own work—performance, research, teaching and community engagement—while laying the groundwork for future interdisciplinary collaborations.

The Korean Traditional Music Artist Residency runs Sept. 22-26 with the public recital at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 23, in Grusin Music Hall. The residency is co-organized by the College of Music and the Center for Asian Studies with support from the Center for Humanities & the Arts and the Roser Visiting Artist Program.

Explore musicology at the College of Music

Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology Stephanie Choi hopes a weeklong residency (Sept. 22-26) emphasizing performance, teaching and cultural exchange will challenge perceptions of “tradition” by presenting Korean traditional music as a living practice that continues to take new forms.

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SSCI grant to examine singing at altitude

Mariefaith Lane — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 16:56:55 +0000

SSCI grant to examine singing at altitude Mariefaith Lane Mon, 03/23/2026 - 10:56

College of Music

Nicholas Perna, associate professor of voice + director of vocal pedagogy—along with students Whitney Robinson (DMA ’28) and Alice Del Simone (DMA ’26)—demonstrates how the RespTrak system measures abdominal and rib cage movement.

The �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder College of Music is pleased to share that Associate Professor of Voice + Director of Vocal Pedagogy Nicholas Perna—and a team of collaborators including Jen Walentas Lewon (�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences), and Mona Abaza and Blair Whiteside (�鶹��Ѱ��Anschutz Department of Otolaryngology)—were awarded a $10K grant from the �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Division of Social Sciences (SSCI).

SSCI grants support initiatives focused on equity, interdisciplinarity, student success and staff/faculty support. This newly funded collaboration is a multiyear initiative that will examine why it's difficult to adapt to singing here in Colorado, and provide best practices for singers who tour through or move to our state “to keep their voices healthy and adapt to singing at altitude with efficiency,” says Perna, who directs the college’s vocal pedagogy program.

To start, a new RespTrak system—purchased with support from Perna’s �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Arts & Sciences grant last year and housed in the Berton Coffin Voice Lab—will measure abdominal and rib cage movement as singers adapt respiratory strategies upon arriving at altitude over several months. The SSCI grant funds a stroboscope system housed in the �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences (SHLS). “This is the first stroboscopic system on the �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder campus,” notes Perna. “This system will allow us to take high-definition pictures and videos of the vocal folds of a singer to determine function, normality and health of vocal fold anatomy.”

The screenings will provide SLHS graduate students with supervised experience performing stroboscopic exams on singers. Participating College of Music singers will benefit from the opportunity to have a baseline stroboscopic screening upon their arrival at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder and near the conclusion of their first year.

Congratulations to all awardees!

An innovative, ‘multiplistic’ approach to vocal pedagogy

A newly funded interdisciplinary collaboration will examine why it’s difficult to adapt to singing here in Colorado, and provide best practices for singers who tour through or move to our state “to keep their voices healthy and adapt to singing at altitude with efficiency,” says Nicholas Perna, associate professor of voice + director of vocal pedagogy.

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Beyond composition: A collaborative approach to creativity

Mariefaith Lane — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 22:48:28 +0000

Beyond composition: A collaborative approach to creativity Mariefaith Lane Wed, 02/04/2026 - 15:48

MarieFaith Lane

For composer and arranger Ilan Blanck (MM ’23), collaboration is integral to his creative identity and career success. When he reflects on his time at the �鶹��Ѱ�� College of Music, what stands out most is an approach to music making grounded in curiosity, openness and collaboration.

“I feel like my experience at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder really reinforced an approach based on an equal type of collaboration,” says the recent alum. “So much of that was influenced by the faculty and the composition department.”

Specifically, Blanck traces that mindset to the culture modeled by composition faculty members Professor of Composition Carter Pann, Associate Professor of Composition Annika Socolofsky and former Associate Professor of Composition Michael Theodore whose willingness to engage with unfamiliar ideas left a lasting impression. Blanck said his mentors treated each project as an opportunity to learn alongside their students.

“I spent so much time as the recipient of their curiosity,” he notes. “They were curious about things I was doing or conversations we’d have about all sorts of random things. That really stuck with me.”

That openness mattered especially because Blanck arrived at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder via an unconventional academic path: After completing his undergraduate degree, he spent a few years working in genres outside traditional classical music, including pop and fusion projects that emphasized arranging and producing as much as composing.

“I never felt like I was the most inspiring contemporary composer,” shares Blanck. “So I wasn’t sure who would be interested in what I had to offer.” Being accepted into the College of Music felt like a clear endorsement of his broadly based creative identity. “What I was told was, ‘We think what you’re doing is cool and we’d love for you to keep doing that here,’” he recalls. “That felt like explicit encouragement to continue to develop my skills beyond composition.”

While completing the formal requirements of his degree, Blanck was also able to bring his ongoing professional work into conversations with faculty. He sought advice on arranging sessions, production logistics and the interpersonal dynamics of working with musicians outside academic settings. Even when projects fell outside faculty members’ areas of expertise, the response was consistent. “When I came to them with projects that were unfamiliar, they’d say, ‘I don’t really know about that, but let’s find out together,’” he says. “Being around people like that made me willing to say the same thing to others.”

Teaching Introduction to Music Technology for two years further shaped how Blanck thinks about music technology, music theory and popular music. The experience clarified his belief in learning through doing, particularly across genres that are often separated in formal music education.

“The opportunity for musicians to explore their own musicality by actively composing, producing and writing songs became really important to me,” he continues. “Doing the work helped me develop a clearer sense of what feels meaningful, not just creatively but pedagogically.”

That philosophy continues to guide the projects Blanck pursues today. On Feb. 21, he’ll present ChamberSongs at the Chautauqua Community House, a concert featuring four artists closely connected to Boulder’s acoustic and Americana music scenes: Megan Burtt, Jayme Stone, Emma Rose and Alexa Wildish. Each artist will perform newly arranged versions of their songs accompanied by a string and bass ensemble made up entirely of �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder-affiliated musicians.

The ensemble includes alumni violinist Jordan Grantonic (MM ’23, AD ’25), violinist Laura Pérez Rangel (MM ’25, DMA ’28), violist Ryan Drickey (BME ’01, MM ’06), cellist Sophie Stubbs (MM ’23) and double bassist Will Kuepper (MM ’26). “All of the string players are �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder people in some capacity,” Blanck says. “These are artists I love, who are also my friends They’re people I associate with Boulder, not just geographically but musically.”

The project took shape slowly, beginning nearly a year in advance as Blanck aligned schedules, arranged 24 songs and managed the logistics himself. While he has extensive experience arranging and booking performances, taking on the entire scope of the project was a personal challenge. “I was honestly just trying to take a big swing,” he reflects. “This was the first time I really took on all of it.” He likened the arranging process to designing a machine: “Arranging is kind of like designing a spaceship—you make the plans and then it’s someone else’s job to figure out if it can fly.”

Beyond ChamberSongs, Blanck continues to collaborate with College of Music alumni on other large-scale projects including The Song of Pueblo, an oratorio portraying the history of southern Colorado. Orchestrated by Blanck and fellow alumnus Max Wolpert, the work brought together the �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Chamber Orchestra and the El Pueblo Ensemble, and is available for streaming on PBS. “That project keeps resurfacing in ways that remind me how much sustained effort and cooperation it took,” Blanck says. “It was meaningful for everyone involved.”

Looking back, Blanck sees a clear throughline from his time at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder to the creative life he has built since graduating—one shaped less by individual milestones than by long-term relationships. “It’s very easy for me to trace specific opportunities to specific people,” he notes. “Someone mentions someone else, who connects you to another person—and suddenly you’re doing work you care about.”

That belief shapes what he hopes audiences take away ChamberSongs. For Blanck, the Boulder event is not only about the music on stage but about the act of gathering itself. “I hope people come away feeling inspired to keep leaving their houses and gathering in rooms together, to listen to other people make music and have shared experiences. Those things feel at risk right now.”

As advice to emerging composers, Blanck resists offering prescriptions. Instead, he points to the practices that have sustained his own career over time. “To the degree that I’ve gotten anywhere figuring it out, it’s been by finding people whose work I admire, learning from them and keeping those connections going.”

For Blanck, connection is ongoing and deeply personal: The relationships he formed at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder continue to grow into new collaborations, new projects and new ways of listening to one another. “It’s not even that they’ve been valuable to my career,” he concludes. “They are my career.” All told, a creative life driven by the generosity of collaboration often leaves behind its greatest imprint in the community it builds.

For composer and arranger Ilan Blanck (MM ’23), collaboration is integral to his creative identity and career success. His College of Music experience encouraged curiosity, openness and a willingness to learn alongside others—an approach that continues to guide his work across genres including a community concert on Feb. 21 featuring several fellow alumni and students.

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Meet Mihai Marica, Takács Quartet cellist designate

Mariefaith Lane — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 14:00:32 +0000

Meet Mihai Marica, Takács Quartet cellist designate Mariefaith Lane Tue, 02/03/2026 - 07:00

Adam Goldstein

Mihai Marica has plenty of musical memories of the �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder College of Music’s Takács Quartet-in-residence.

The Romanian-born cellist can easily rattle off moments he fondly associates with the internationally renowned quartet, currently in its 51st season: Obsessively listening to Takács recordings of the Beethoven cycle with fellow musicians; watching the Takács perform as part of the prestigious Cliburn Competition 20 years ago and being “completely mesmerized”; playing alongside Takács’ violist Richard O’Neill at the Lincoln Center in New York … and more.

“They’re such an honest and natural-sounding group,” Marica notes. “The musical tastes of the Takács Quartet through the eras somehow align with what I like musically, too.”

Starting this fall, Marica will have many opportunities to create more memories with the critically acclaimed group called “the essential quartet of our time” by The New York Times; that’s when Marica succeeds cellist András Fejér—the last remaining member of the original Takács Quartet, who will retire at the end of the current season. Leading up to the transition, Marica will join the quartet for its final Boulder performance this season in Franz Schubert’s String Quintet in C Major, D. 956; on Sept. 1, he’ll step into his role as a full-fledged member, signing on for a season that includes high-profile performances in Boulder and worldwide.

For Marica, his new position is the latest in a long string of prestigious musical roles. He started studying cello at the age of 7 in his hometown Cluj/Koloszvar, Romania, with Gabriela Todor and later Mihaly Guttman, who taught chamber music. “The school of cello playing that I was brought up in was a mix between the old Soviet school and the Hungarian school,” he says. “We were kind of right in the middle of those huge entities.”

From these roots, Marica became a chamber music luminary with a global reach: After studying at Yale University with Aldo Parisot, he went on to collaborate with orchestras and ensembles globally—from Chile to Mexico and from Switzerland to Russia. An alumnus of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program, Marica has kept up a presence in that program and on that stage, and he’s called New York home for the past 15 years.

Moving to Boulder will be just one of many big shifts to come as part of joining the Takács Quartet, but Marica never hesitated in saying ‘yes’ to the invitation. “I still can’t believe my luck, that I was given this opportunity,” Marica says. “When I think about it, it’s a bit like the moment when Mr. Parisot said, ‘Why don’t you come and study with me at Yale?,’” Marica adds, referencing another seminal point in his career, “It’s life-changing.”

The Takács Quartet’s 2026-27 season will include works by Gabriela Lena Frank as well as more selections by Schubert, Carlos Simon, Johannes Brahms and Joseph Haydn. Beyond Boulder, the quartet will also bring its signature musical style to Carnegie Hall and embark on a North American tour with pianist Jeremy Denk.

While the composers, concerts and touring aren’t new for Marica, the chance to play with such an iconic ensemble feels novel. Stepping in for Fejér, whom Marica cites as a “model,” will carry its own significance; and aligning with the Takács’ dynamic approach onstage stands as a specific responsibility. “My ambition is to match their energy,” Marica says. “They’ve always blown me away on stage—they’re so direct in their music making, all qualities that I’m aiming to keep in the group dynamic.”

This fall, Romanian-born cellist Mihai Marica joins our internationally renowned Takács Quartet-in-residence. Get to know this accomplished artist!

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Living an artful life: Takeaways from a visit by Maria Rosario Jackson

Mariefaith Lane — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 03:20:12 +0000

Living an artful life: Takeaways from a visit by Maria Rosario Jackson Mariefaith Lane Wed, 11/12/2025 - 20:20

Kathryn Bistodeau

Photos: Johnette Martin

Urban planner, cultural policy expert and former NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson visited the College of Music on Oct. 24, hosted by the American Music Research Center.

Jackson visited AMRC Director Michael Sy Uy’s graduate seminar, Music and Prizes, to talk about cultural vitality in communities, what she learned while working at the Urban Institute and how that informed her position as chair of the National Endowment for the Arts.

DMA student Grace Stringfellow said the class visit was a great opportunity to talk to someone involved in arts funding and urban planning.

“The chance to learn more about the state of arts funding from a more general, multidisciplinary and administrative perspective was a rare treat,” they said. “I found it very inspiring that Dr. Jackson encouraged us to be more creative in the types of jobs we interview for and the types of projects that we involve ourselves in, expanding to roles outside of performer and teacher so that we can make the arts more impactful and community-focused.” MORE

Former NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson visited the College of Music on Oct. 24, hosted by the American Music Research Center. Learn more about her visit and the perspectives she shared with our community!

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Faculty Tuesdays event spotlights songwriting, individual expression

Mariefaith Lane — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 21:14:58 +0000

Faculty Tuesdays event spotlights songwriting, individual expression Mariefaith Lane Mon, 11/10/2025 - 14:14

Adam Goldstein + Sabine Kortals Stein

Associate Professor of Composition Annika Socolofsky and Associate Teaching Professor of Composition Mike Barnett are dedicated educators at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder’s College of Music who also play other roles outside of their status as professors.

Namely, both Barnett and Socolofsky are actively engaged composers and singer-songwriter artists who practice what they preach to their students when it comes to self-expression and creativity through music.

This week’s Faculty Tuesdays event, Nov. 11, offers the duo the chance to spotlight their singer-songwriter sides for our campus and community concertgoers. More broadly, the performance will represent the ways that the College of Music is evolving: Even as Barnett and Socolofsky bring their original compositions to the stage, opportunities for students’ self-expression as musicians, songwriters and artists are continually expanding.

“We were excited when Mike and Annika proposed their event for the Faculty Tuesdays series because it gives us the chance to more fully highlight the diversity of work being done at the �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder College of Music,” says �鶹��Ѱ��Presents Executive Director Andrew Metzroth. “It also gave us an opportunity to stretch the boundaries of what can happen in Grusin Music Hall.”

Specifically, Metzroth helped support audio engineering and supplemental lighting—as well as the extra funds needed to support a rock-style concert. �鶹��Ѱ��Presents in general manages event promotions and programs including for all Faculty Tuesday events.

“Mike and I are both so excited to bring songwriting to the Faculty Tuesdays series,” says Socolofsky. The event will feature 10 of her original songs as well as Socolofsky’s queer, country and Western alter-ego EmmyJean Jenkins.

“We’re starting two brand-new degree programs here at the College of Music: Songwriting and Music Production. We hope we’re the first of many songwriting Faculty Tuesdays that showcase the ways that the college’s offerings are branching out.”

Socolofsky will be joined onstage by an ensemble that includes Trace Hybertson on fiddle, isele phoenix harper on keyboards, alumnus Ilan Blanck (MM ’23) on guitar and Nicole Patrick on drums for a program including “a rather thorough needling of the patriarchy along with quite a few jokes about men named Brad ... or Brock ... or Brice ... or some name like that.”

Barnett’s portion of the program will draw on collaborations with Jazz Studies Lecturer Enion Pelta-Tiller on vocals and fiddle, Fritz Gearhart on fiddle and Assistant Teaching Professor of Percussion Carl Dixon on percussion for a showcase of eight of his original songs (plus one cover).

Barnett is an active musician in the Boulder community and beyond; he’s a regular attendee of local songwriting sessions and performs his self-described brand of “Outlaw Folk” in open mics and community performances. Like Socolofsky, he views this event as a chance not only to bring his music to the �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder campus, but to contribute to a deeper shift—in terms of focus, access and expression—in the entire community.

“We’re launching these new degree programs and we’re also in the process of building a multitrack studio,” he adds. “That’s going to open doors for all of our students. I think these efforts all speak loudly to what we’re doing here, building a more diverse and inclusive body of artistry.

“I think these efforts all speak loudly to what we’re doing here, building a more diverse and inclusive body of artistry.”

“Music belongs to everyone. There are so many voices that traditionally haven’t been heard in academia. It’s an important part of our mission—and the college’s universal musician approach to achieving that mission—to do these things.”

It feels fitting, then, that Barnett’s only cover tune during the performance will be Bob Seger’s 1971 folk ballad, “Turn the Page.”

As Barnett reiterates, this week’s event is part of a broader effort. “We’re helping to write a new chapter.”

Associate Professor of Composition Annika Socolofsky and Associate Teaching Professor of Composition Mike Barnett are actively engaged composers and singer-songwriter artists who practice what they preach to their students when it comes to self-expression and creativity through music.

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Innovation as a collaborative act

Mariefaith Lane — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 10:00:41 +0000

Innovation as a collaborative act Mariefaith Lane Thu, 10/30/2025 - 04:00

John Davis

From left to right: On Oct. 1-4, 2025, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies Margaret Berg, Assistant Dean for Strategic Initiatives Kate Cimino, Dean John Davis and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies Matthew Roeder welcomed participants of the National Association of Music Executives at State Universities (NAMESU) Annual Meeting to our campus and the brand new Limelight Boulder.

Greetings “from the road” where I’ve been engaged in two accreditation site reviews for the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM)—at institutions in Mississippi and New York—as well as a trio of October conferences: From hosting the National Association of Music Executives at State Universities (NAMESU) Annual Meeting right here on our campus and at the new Limelight hotel to the 61st Annual Conference of the International Council for Arts Deans (ICfAD) in Santa Fe, New Mexico to the College Music Society (CMS) National Conference in Spokane, Washington this week where I’ll be interacting with other deans and senior arts administrators engaged in public service and mentoring. Everywhere I go, I enjoy representing the unique achievements, aspirations and opportunities of our College of Music; along the way, I’ve been struck by the supportive camaraderie and timely shared learnings among my counterparts.

As noted by American theatre and opera director Anne Bogart, “We have been discouraged to think that innovation can be a collaborative act” and yet it’s exactly that—a collaborative act—that’s at the heart of institutions like ours.

It’s a collaborate act to not only innovate our curriculum in accordance with our universal musician approach—most recently including the launch of our songwriting degree emphasis, a new master’s degree in performance and pedagogy and the addition of a strings emphasis within our jazz studies degree programs; but also to sustain a healthy environment in which our students and faculty can advance their artistic integrity and imagination, and push back against ongoing pressures and pervasive feelings of despair—for example, when the Evergreen High School Cougar Pride Marching Band joined our Golden Buffalo Marching Band for a halftime performance on Oct. 11, marking a significant moment of healing for a community still recovering from a school shooting in September; and when our University Choir takes the spotlight at the National Collegiate Choral Organization Biennial Conference at Cal State Fullerton College on Nov. 7, among just 10 choirs selected to perform via a nationwide competitive application process.

These days, we’re constantly buffeted by events. In the 24/7 news cycle, it’s all too easy to catastrophize, to lose proportion. In response, among arts leaders nationally, I’m finding a palpable purpose to meet the moment with intentionality, resulting in more opportunities for energetic engagement based on shared values.

At ICfAD, I participated in several facilitated discussions including Building Coalitions Across Campus, Creating Cultural Buy-In, and Strategies for Leading and Building a Team; as well as a riveting presentation—Common Characteristics of the Most Successful Fundraising Deans by James M. Langley, a prolific author and successful pioneer of fundraising strategies in higher education. The result? My own deepening dedication to the college’s focus areas—offering relevant, adaptable curriculum and student opportunities; enhancing faculty and staff success; and sustaining a community of wellness and resilience—as well as refining, right-sizing or even shifting college priorities to ignite greater immediate impacts as well as future possibilities for our students.

In short, my notes from a month of travel on behalf of our college—where I’m enthusiastic about my second term as dean—reflect that we’re not alone in taking a fresh look at everything we do to ensure student, staff and faculty flourishing within a resilient community, no matter the external pressures on (and often misdirected passions against) universities, generally.

Through radical resourcefulness, and with your programmatic and scholarship support, I’m eager to redirect adversity into advocacy, and conflict into collaborative acts that elevate music making as a basic human right: A right that serves and sustains the human experience, that draws us together when words fail, that offers an inclusive place of refuge and that uplifts expression of the beauty within all of us.

Dean Davis shares reflections “from the road” where he’s been engaged in a trio of October conferences as well as two accreditation site reviews for the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM).

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Community Engagement

Listening our way forward

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College of Music welcomes non-music majors

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Symphony Orchestra presents “�鶹��Ѱ�����Boulder at 150”

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Presenting Korean traditional music as living practice

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SSCI grant to examine singing at altitude

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Beyond composition: A collaborative approach to creativity

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Meet Mihai Marica, Takács Quartet cellist designate

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Living an artful life: Takeaways from a visit by Maria Rosario Jackson

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Faculty Tuesdays event spotlights songwriting, individual expression

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Innovation as a collaborative act

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Symphony Orchestra presents “�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder at 150”