UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music

At UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music’s 2021 virtual commencement celebration , students from the departments of music, ethnomusicology and global jazz studies joined forces for a breathtaking performance of I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free by Nina Simone and Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing by Stevie Wonder. We hope you enjoy this inspiring rendition of both tracks by our School of Music students. To watch the beautiful performance, click the link below .... https://uclamusic.info/3zGYVDx See more

Join us for the End of Quarter Showcase for the spring quarter of 2021 Saturday, June 12 at 7 p.m. PT. Organized by the Undergraduate Student Advisory Board, the concert brings together student performances and collaborations from across departments and ensembles at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. The event will feature projects that students have worked on this quarter and throughout the year. Tune in to hear from performers across the School of Music, and come celeb...rate the end of the quarter and school year! To view the program and to watch the concert, click the link below . https://uclamusic.info/3gcj0d0

Join us as we celebrate the class of 2021 in our virtual commencement celebration today, Friday, June 11 at 4 p.m. PT. The event will feature student speakers and performers, as well as keynote remarks by GRAMMY nominated violinist and recipient of the MacArthur genius award Regina Carter. Watch the event on our commencement webpage at the link below . http://uclamusic.info/commencement

Meet Sarah Yocute who will graduate from UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music with a B.A. in Global Jazz Studies. Yocute has enjoyed her experience studying under expert faculty and among her talented peers. Following graduation, Sarah hopes to continue exploring her passion through her own compositions and among the growing community of artists in which she now finds herself. I love how open and broad this program and area of study is, said Yocute. It has given me the spac...e to explore the sounds and musical environments that my heart gravitates towards. Sarah will perform a unique rendition of the UCLA alma mater as part of our 2021 virtual commencement celebration on Friday, June 11 at 4 p.m. PT. Stream the event live at https://uclamusic.info/2TgTt9u. #UCLA2021 #Commencement #ThisisUCLA Music

We are proud to highlight the release of Reimagine: Beethoven and Ravel by UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music Head of Piano, Inna Faliks (Pianist Inna Faliks) and Navona Records Navona Records. The project features six of our amazing UCLA faculty composers including Peter Golub, Mark Carlson, David Lefkowitz, Tamir Hendelman, Ian Krouse (@ian_krouse) and Richard Danielpour , as well as composers Paola Prestini, Timo Andres and Billy Childs. This project, which responds to Be...ethoven's Bagatelles op. 126 and Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit, has been four years in the making, originally meant to mark Beethoven's 250th but now out as a pandemic project, recorded long distance, between UCLA and NYC, using both midi and audio, explained Faliks. The single, Billy Childs’ Pursuit reimagine’s Ravel's Scarbo and is inspired by current events, which is out now on all platforms in anticipation of the album’s full release on June 11. We are excited to Reimagine Beethoven and Ravel as we listen to Falik’s brilliant new work . Learn more and listen at the link below . https://uclamusic.info/3geaJ8y

Meet esteemed School of Music 2021 commencement speaker, Regina Carter. Carter is a GRAMMY nominated violinist and is a recipient of the MacArthur genius award. A prolific musician, she has been widely recognized for her musical style, spanning multiple genres including jazz, R&B, Latin, classical, blues and others. Carter has expanded artistic possibilities through her work while opening doors for female jazz musicians as artistic director of the New Jersey Performing Art...s All-Female Jazz Residency, a unique summer immersion program designed for aspiring female jazz professionals. Our talented young musicians and scholars are more important than ever as we navigate this unique time in our history. Their creativity and resilience have the power to unify us and facilitate much needed healing, Carter said. Experience Regina Carter’s keynote address and join us as we celebrate our UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music graduates at our upcoming virtual commencement on Friday, June 11 at 4 p.m. PT. Stream the event live via the link below . https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/students/commencement/ #UCLA2021 #ThisUCLAMusic

In honor of World Opera Day, Peter Kazaras, @UCLAalpert’s Director of Opera UCLA, shares what opera means during these challenging times and its contribution to our society. Opera has always provided an opportunity for people from different walks of life to come together at one time in one place in order to dream together, to be excited, to be moved and to voice their own passion, he said. In our pandemic era, it is fascinating and even inspiring to see how opera is chang...ing in order to meet the challenges of providing content despite the threat of illness. Many new scores are being composed, and creators are figuring out how to burst out of the confines of the Zoom format. He also notes how opera is empowering and foregrounding BIPOC artists and creators. Topics of new operas include racism, police violence, violence against women, prejudice against immigrants, urban gentrification and displacement, violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, and other social justice topics that are part of mainstream discussions in today’s world. The operatic literature is exploding outwards in ways that will inevitably help confirm that opera is an essential art form in the music pantheon. After all, the one essential instrument for any opera is the most expressive of all the human voice. #ThisisUCLAMusic #WorldOperaDay OPERA America

Our upcoming event, A Conversation With Randy Newman, scheduled for October 21, 2020 will be postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. We are working to reschedule this event very soon. Guests who have submitted an RSVP will receive an invitation once a new date is announced. We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to you joining us for this exciting event in the near future. #ThisisUCLAMusic

Make a gift for scholarships and support opportunities for young musicians. UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music is home to talented and generous alumni like Jay Dillon (’03, MM ’05), who is proud to support current Bruins. Scholarships help students from diverse backgrounds pursue their passion and achieve their dreams.... To make a gift, visit the link below. https://uclamusic.info/3j0A8AI

In recognition of National Hispanic Heritage Month, @UCLAalpert is proud to spotlight Sarah Yocute, a 4th year Global Jazz Studies student whose instrument of focus is her voice. As a first-generation Latina college student, there was so much pressure growing up from my community and early educators to chase after the ‘money-making’ careers, said Sarah. Because many of us grow up accustomed to financial insecurity, our dreams to pursue a career in the arts are often met wi...th negative feedback and dismissed. Over time, Sarah has freed herself from societal expectations limiting her creativity or preconceived notions of the type of musician she should be. It is important to her that BIPOC youth know they have a place in higher education music programs and are provided the space and liberty to discover their authentic styles and sounds. Coming from a culture that embraces community, hospitality, laughter and love, Sarah is constantly searching for these qualities in music. To be home with other artists who share the desire for a sense of family when creating music together is the most important and rewarding aspect of music for me. I have been fortunate enough to find this at UCLA with several people and performance ensembles that were willing to participate in this vulnerable type of music making. I know I will continue searching for this even after my time at UCLA. #ThisisUCLAMusic #HispanicHeritageMonth

UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music has received a generous endowed gift of $4.05 million from the estate of emeriti professors Bernice Wenzel and Wendell Jeff Jeffrey, who were known for their longstanding commitment to UCLA. The funds are part of a larger gift to UCLA to help advance the school’s goal of improving diversity, equity and inclusion, which will support undergraduate, transfer and graduate student scholarships in the Department of Music. Scholarships are of incr...edible importance as we welcome and support superlative students, regardless of their ability to fund their education, said Dean Eileen Strempel. We deeply appreciate Bernice Wenzel and Wendell Jeffrey’s generosity in making musical education more accessible for generations to come. To read the full UCLA Newsroom story, click the link below. https://uclamusic.info/3nHgY6i #ICYMI #ThisisUCLAMusic #Giving #Gratitude

Join us for a virtual conversation with renowned songwriter, film composer and Bruin, @RandyNewman, presented by the UCLA Center for Musical Humanities as part of the Robert U. Nelson Lecture Series on Wednesday, 10/21 at 5 p.m. PDT via Zoom. Known for his songwriting, live performances and memorable film scores, Newman was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. He is also the recipient of two Academy Awards, seven Gramm...y Awards and three Emmy Awards. Joining Newman will be Professor Robert Fink, Chair of the Music Industry Program at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, who will guide the conversation through Newman’s various careers, his influences, and approaches to the diverse media in which he has worked. This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required via the link below. https://uclamusic.info/2SSSusM #ThisisUCLAMusic

In recognition of National Hispanic Heritage Month, @UCLAalpert is proud to spotlight Herman Chavez, a third-year transfer student majoring in Ethnomusicology and Comparative Literature. Herman is a first-generation American who shared how his identity has shaped his sense of place and belonging. As a Bolivian-American, my specific country often goes underrepresented in both the United States and in international conversations about art and culture, said Herman. I am a pro...ud Boliviano and I carry my culture with me as a student and advocate at the School of Music. As the son of immigrants, his experience made him keen to the dissonance between his household and the majority of the U.S., guiding his curiosity on how aspects of migration and movement impact Latinx identity formation. His areas of research include: critical race studies, folkloric and Indigenous music, diaspora and migration, poetics and queerness in music, decolonial and post-colonial theory, and Latin American, Bolivian and Andean music. Herman also sits on the Changing the Culture Subcommittee as part of the school’s Anti-Racism Action Committee, which strives to improve the academic atmosphere at the school for racialized students. He has also been admitted to the Undergraduate Research Scholars Program where he is conducting research on Bolivian music with faculty mentor and musicology professor, Cesar Favila. In my time here, I hope to share the Bolivian and Andean identity in and out of musical spaces. #ThisisUCLAMusic #HispanicHeritageMonth

Pianist Inna Faliks' livestream concert series, Corona Fridays, began mid-March as Faliks said she was seeking a way to challenge herself as a pianist and continue to perform live despite the cancellation of in-person performances. Faliks, the head of piano at the UCLA Herb Albert School of Music, said while she uses a prerecorded format often, she records her Corona Fridays sets in one fluid take as a way to maintain the authenticity of a live performance. This isn’t done to make something perfect and something glamorous, Faliks said. This is just an immediate way to connect and to share music (with) those who want to hear it. I’m very much a performer, and I can’t live without performing.

Make a gift to student scholarships at the School of Music. UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music is home to talented and generous alumni like Ryan Svendsen (’10), who proudly serves as Chair of the school’s Inaugural Alumni Board. Scholarships help ensure that our young musicians and scholars can pursue their passion and achieve their goals regardless of their socio-economic circumstances.... To make a donation, click here: https://uclamusic.info/33JjYr3