On Sunday, May 12th, the Department of Music celebrated the Class of 2024 with a commencement ceremony in Hertz Concert Hall. Family and friends filed into the concert hall to recognize loved ones in a warm, uplifting ceremony that highlighted the bright future awaiting these students.
Department Chair David Milnes kicked off the festivities, speaking on the importance of the day and the significant accomplishments of the students. With much of the Music Department’s faculty in attendance, Professor Milnes then paid tribute to two retiring faculty: Jocelyne M Guilbault, professor of Ethnomusicology in the Department of Music since 1998; and Cindy Cox, professor of Composition in the Department of Music since 1991. Both faculty received a hearty round of applause from students as well as their fellow faculty for decades of exceptional service.
Following the recognition of Professors Guilbault and Cox, undergraduate Audrey Chandler, recipient of the 2024 Department Citation & Matthew William Fisher Memorial Award in Music, took the stage to address her contemporaries in the Class of 2024. Celebrating the accomplishment of graduation, Audrey drew attention to how this was just the beginning of a journey for these students as they take the skills they’ve learned in the department and apply them in the real world.
After Audrey came Ph.D. graduate Sarah Plovnick, who was receiving her doctorate in Ethnomusicology. Sarah’s graduate research was on the sonic narratives that exist between Taiwan and Mainland China, and this research led Sarah to remark on the important role of communication and cultural practice in our world. Sarah shared warm remarks on her faculty advisors as well as fellow graduate students, with whom she’d grown close over years of hard work.
Once the remarks had finished, graduates were awarded their diplomas. The graduate students in attendance—Anne Greenwood, Sarah Plovnick, and Hallie Smith—received their doctorates from their faculty advisors. These doctoral presentations were followed by the Department of Music’s largest graduating class ever, with more than 50 undergraduate students walking.
A reception for these graduates and their families immediately followed the commencement ceremony just outside of Hertz Hall. Family and friends gathered to celebrate everyone walking and take in a picturesque Berkeley day.
Congratulations to everyone who graduated, and thank you to everyone who attended the ceremony. Photos from the commencement and reception are linked below, as is the YouTube recording of the commencement.
Recording of Commencement Ceremony
