News and Announcements

The Department of Music congratulates Professor Ken Ueno on his election to the Board of the Society of Fellows of the American Academy in Rome. Acomposer, vocalist, and sound artist whose work bridges performance, installation, and scholarship, Professor Ueno is a former Rome Prize...Read more about Professor Ken Ueno Elected to the Board of the Society of Fellows of the American Academy in Rome

Over the course of three concerts in the Fall of 2025, the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra demonstrated a remarkable wealth of talent through a curriculum of engaged, diverse programming. What began with the distinct Americana of Copland and the grandeur of Beethoven evolved into...Read more about UCBSO Closes Season with Two Sold Out Performances of the Lim Fantasy of Companionship

The Department of Music has long been recognized as a vital contributor to Berkeley’s tradition of excellence. Recently, we put together a video highlighting the opportunities we provide to our students. Centered on Music major Momoka Yanagisawa, the video details how private music lessons...Read more about Video Details the Wealth of Opportunities Provided to Music Majors

Assistant Professor Matthew Evan Taylor has been named an Artistic Consultant for BMI Foundations New Music Grants program. In this role, Dr. Taylor (alongside a panel of Artistic Consultants made up of musicians and music industry veterans) will help adjudicate grants providing up to three...Read more about Professor Matthew Evan Taylor Named Artistic Consultant for Non-Profit Music Grants

Exciting news! The Oxford Handbook of Spectral Music is now available in print. The volume features new chapters by UC Berkeley Professors Ken Ueno and Edmund Campion, each offering distinct perspectives on contemporary compositional practice.

Ueno’s essay, “Embodied Practice in Ken Ueno...Read more about Professors Ken Ueno and Edmund Campion Publish in The Oxford Handbook of Spectral Music

On November 7th and 8th, the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra & Chorus will perform Beethoven's 9th. In advance of this, Department of Music Professor and renowned Beethoven scholar Nicholas Mathew...Read more about Video details importance of Beethoven's 9th in advance of UCBSO & Chorus performance

The Department of Music is pleased to announce that three graduate students in Musicology were recently recognized by the American Musicological Society (AMS) for their outstanding research.

Ryan Gourley is the 2025 recipient of the William F....Read more about Music Graduate Students Receive Fellowship and Awards from American Musicological Society

Professor Ken Ueno has guest-edited a special issue of Sonic Ideas, the journal of CMMAS (Mexican Center for Music and Sound Arts), dedicated to the theme of AI and Music.

The edition features contributions from leading voices including George Lewis, De Kai, Michael...Read more about Professor Ken Ueno edits special edition for CMMAS on AI and Music

CNMAT OpenLab, focused on generative AI in audio. Space is limited to 30 attendees. Fill out this quick form to register.

What: A full-day event with talks on...Read more about CNMAT to Host OpenLab Looking at Generative AI in Audio on Friday, August 29

The Department of Music's newest faculty member, Chris Batterman Cháirez, is already making the news. Joining the department as an assistant professor of ethnomusicology, Batterman Cháirez's research and experience are documented in a recent article from Berkeley News, linked below.

...Read more about New Music Faculty's Work Highlighted by Berkeley News

In late June, the Department of Music hosted a five-day workshop that explored the world of early choral music. Officially titled the “Summer Institute for Late Medieval Polyphony”, the workshop was organized by Associate Professor Emily Zazulia, along with faculty from...Read more about Summer Workshop Explores Performance and Interpretation of Early Choral Music

The Department of Music is saddened to share the news of Emeritus Professor Michael Senturia's passing.

Speaking on Michael's passing, Department Chair David Milnes said “Michael’s contributions over three decades helped shape the department we see today. Devoted to his craft,...Read more about Department Mourns the Passing of Emeritus Professor Michael Senturia

Carla Shapreau, Curator of the Department of Music's Ansley K. Salz Collection of Stringed Instruments, was featured in the New York Times and Le Monde for her research into a Stradivarius violin that went missing in Nazi Germany during World War II. The instrument—which originally belonged to...Read more about New York Times, Le Monde, Cover Department Curator's Research on Stolen Stradivarius

From Chen Yi’s Landscape Impressions in Berlin to Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra in Krakow, the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra’s (UCBSO) ten-day journey across Central Europe was equal parts whirlwind and wonder. Composed of more than...Read more about UCBSO European Tour Enchants Audiences, Creates Lifetime Memories

The Department of Music is pleased to announce that two of our Music PhDs—Donna Lee Kwon (PhD, Ethnomusicology, 2005) and Inderjit Kaur (PhD, Ethnomusicology, 2016)—have been promoted to tenured faculty positions at top universities in the country.

...Read more about Pair of Ethnomusicology PhDs Join Faculty at Prestigious Universities

The Department of Music is pleased to announce that Mary Ann Smart, Professor of Musicology, is a recipient of the 2025 Berkeley Faculty Service Award (BFSA). Each year the BFSA honors two members of the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate who have contributed through...Read more about Professor Mary Ann Smart Receives Berkeley Faculty Service Award

Max Jefferson Awarded 2025 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship

Awards Support 45 Early-Career Doctoral Students Pursuing Innovative Dissertation Research

The Department of Music is proud to announce that...Read more about Max Jefferson Awarded 2025 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship

With the academic year at a close we want to celebrate the outstanding students who earned special recognition through departmental awards this year. Below is a comprehensive list of those...Read more about Recipients of 2025 Department of Music Prizes Announced

On Sunday, May 18th, the Class of 2025 was celebrated by the Department of Music with a commencement ceremony in Hertz Concert Hall. Family and friends cheered on loved ones in a warm, uplifting ceremony that highlighted the bright future awaiting these students.

Department Chair...Read more about Department of Music Celebrates the Class of 2025, Its Largest Ever

Professor Ken Ueno delivered the keynote address at Stanford’s Graduate Music Symposium on May 17, 2025. In his talk, Ueno examined the limits of musical representation when tools like notation, genre, and pedagogy are shaped by histories of exclusion. Arguing that representation in music must...Read more about Ken Ueno Keynote at Stanford Symposium Explores Music, Embodiment, and Representation