News and Announcements

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

The Department of Music congratulates Owen Klein, one of the five finalists for the University Medal this year.The University Medal—Berkeley’s highest undergraduate honor—was established 154 years ago in 1871, three years after the University of California was...Read more about Music Major Among Finalists for University Medal

Myra Melford, Professor of Composition and Improvisational Practices in the Department of Music, has been named the 2025 Composer of the Year by...Read more about Myra Melford Wins Composer of the Year from Jazz Journalists Association

On April 24, 2025, the Northern California chapter of the American Musicological Society (NorCal AMS) announced that Rubina Hovhannisyan—a graduate student in the Department of Music—was the recipient of the NorCal Prize in Musicology for her paper “Why Organ? Forming the...Read more about PhD Student awarded the NorCal Prize in Musicology

On Sunday, May 4th at 8pm the Department of Music will welcome Hélène Papadopoulos to Wu Performance Hall for a...Read more about Acclaimed Pianist to Perform Bach, Faculty Work at Free Concert on Sunday, May 4

The end of Spring semester is almost upon us, and the Department of Music is gearing up for Summer Sessions. Join more than 16,000 students on UC Berkeley campus—including more than 5,000 visiting students—for these high quality, innovative academic courses taking place...Read more about Summer Classes Offer Great Opportunity to Get Credits, Learn New Skills

On Sunday, April 13 the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra (UCBSO) hosted a fundraiser at the Faculty Club to support the upcoming UCBSO Summer 2025 tour to Europe. Many supporters of the Department of Music were in attendance, showcasing the strong support that our performance...Read more about UCBSO Hosts Fundraiser to Support European Tour

In early April, Assistant Professor of Composition Matthew Evan Taylor was honored by Miami University's Frost School of Music for their Centennial Celebration. For the Centennial event, the school brought together 100 alumni who represent the best of the Frost School, celebrating composers,...Read more about Composition Faculty Honored at Frost School of Music Centennial

The Met recently announced their production of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, scored by Berkeley Music alumnus Mason Bates (PhD, Composition, 2008)....Read more about Music PhD Scores Production for The New York Metropolitan Opera

On Sunday, March 16, faculty, donors, staff, and colleagues from campus gathered to celebrate the official opening of Wu Performance Hall. The San Francisco...Read more about San Francisco Chronicle covers Inaugural Celebration for Wu Performance Hall

The Department of Music is proud to celebrate the opening of our first new performance space in decades: The Helen and Thomas Wu Performance Hall. Wu Performance Hall serves a vital need for the Department of Music, offering a professional recital space for music, arts, and talks...Read more about Wu Performance Hall Offers New Opportunities to Show Your Support for Berkeley Music

For 50 years, he’s written about the Japanese American internment. Now, he’s turning to opera.

UC Berkeley professor and playwright Philip Kan Gotanda tells the story of a young...Read more about Berkeley News Highlights Upcoming Chorus and Eco Ensemble Performance

This spring, the Department of Music will welcome a new ensemble to the fold: the Latin American and Caribbean Music Ensemble, which will introduce students to a number of Latin American and Caribbean musics, including Cumbia, Merengue, Salsa, Mambo, Danzón, and more....Read more about Department of Music forms New Ensemble to Study Musics of Latin America & Caribbean

To welcome and honor visiting Bloch Professor Ana María Ochoa, the Department of Music is putting the finishing touches in place for the inaugural lecture of Professor Ochoa’s series of five Bloch Lectures on February 7th. Titled “Sonic Extractivisms: Historiographies of Music...Read more about Ana María Ochoa to give Inaugural Bloch Lecture on Feb. 7