UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music - The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music

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WELCOME BACK TO THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC

WELCOME BACK TO THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC

The School of Music is excited to welcome new and returning students back to campus. This page includes COVID-19 policies specific to the School of Music, links to campus resources for learning, teaching and safeguarding our musical community this fall.

Please check back here regularly. We will update this page as new information becomes available.

Welcome Back to the School of Music

UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music Distinguished...

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UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music Distinguished Professor Terence Blanchard recently became the first Black composer to debut an opera at the Metropolitan Opera in their 138-year history.

To celebrate this historic opera, The Herb Alpert School of Music has collaborated with the General Manager Peter Gelb and The Metropolitan Opera team to bring a special simulcast of Fire Shut Up in My Bones to the Bruin community. This showing will be held in Lani Hall at 9:45 am, on Saturday, October 23 and will be preceded by an opening message from Distinguished Professor Blanchard. Members of the Bruin community are invited to join The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music as we share in the success of one of our own in this historic moment in opera history. RSVP: Link in Bio ⬆️

UCLA’s own soprano alumna, Angel Blue (M.A. 2008) stars as Destiny/Loneliness/Greta. Blue has become an international opera sensation since earning her master’s degree in music performance in 2008, with a career spanning over 30 countries.

Students of the GRAMMY-winning, world-renowned jazz trumpeter and educator were invited to a special Los Angeles screening of the opera, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, in advance of Saturday’s planned simulcast in Lani Hall. READ MORE: Link in Bio ⬆️ @terence_blanchard @angeljoyblue @metopera @fathomevents @ucla

It’s the #blueandgoldchallenge! The School of ...

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It’s the #blueandgoldchallenge! The School of Music asks for your help to support incredibly students like Kobe with a gift of any amount to the Equity, Diversity, Access & Inclusion Scholarship:⠀
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"Financial assistance for BIPOC and underrepresented students creates a necessary sense of safety, security, and encouragement to students who are historically disadvantaged in the realm of academia."⠀
-Kobe, First-Year Music Education student⠀
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Those who give $10 or more during the #uclablueandgold challenge will be mailed a special Bruin gaiter.💙💛 ⠀
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Link in bio ⬆️

The Undergraduate Student Advisory Board and ...

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The Undergraduate Student Advisory Board and Graduate Student Council are proud to present the first-ever “Back to School Night” School of Music Showcase. Come see the first live student concert since March 2020, featuring 35+ performances from 70+ students from every department the School of Music has to offer, including a number of student-organized ensembles, several original songs and compositions, and some live premieres! There will be over three and a half hours of music packed into two days - showcasing the talent, creativity, and dedication of students of the School of Music. ⠀
Schoenberg Hall Auditorium⠀
Oct. 15 @ 7PM - 9:30PM⠀
Oct. 16 @ 4PM - 6:30PM

As the School of Music’s associate dean for ...

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As the School of Music’s associate dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and co-chair of @UCLAalpert’s Anti-Racism Action Committee (ARAC), Global jazz studies professor Arturo O’Farrill (@pianitis) works constantly to diversify music education and bring safe spaces to the music realm – both at UCLA and in the U.S.⠀
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In a recent Daily Bruin (@dailybruin) article, O’Farrill was spotlighted for his work in creating an inclusive community at UCLA through music. For O’Farrill, one of his overarching motivations is to dismantle elitism within the music world. ⠀
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“Art is service,” O’Farrill said. “Art … should be seen as part of life. … It should not be seen as a separate and elite structure.”⠀
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To act on marginalization in music, O’Farrill has worked to build spaces like ARAC and his non profit organization, the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance (@afrolatinjazz), where musicians can collaborate, learn, perform and practice – all to help musicians connect to their community. 🎹⠀
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To learn more about O’Farrill and his work in community building, click the link in our bio ⬆️.⠀
#ThisisUCLAMusic #CreatingMusicalCommunity #Diversity #Music #GlobalJazz

The BTS Show. We could not be more proud and ...

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The BTS Show. We could not be more proud and thankful to have the UCLA Bruin Marching Band grace us with their talent, along with UCLA’s first K-Pop Dance team Koreos and the UCLA Spirit Squad. Watch the incredible performances above☝️and in the link in our bio⬆️ to witness the first live performance from BTS, featuring pop artist Sia, and none other than the UCLA Bruin Marching Band, with their song “ON.” #Repost @uclaband
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Presenting the @bts.bighitofficial Show! Our show featured Dynamite, Butter, and On! Shoutout to @koreosucla and @uclaspiritsquad for joining us!
Click the link in our bio to watch the whole show on our new YouTube channel! #BTS #ARMY #UCLARMY

“Mariachi music is such a lively type of music. ...

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“Mariachi music is such a lively type of music. When you play in person, you really feel the emotions. You really feel all the energy.” - Saveena Patel (@saveenapatel) Ethnomusicology 23’ and member of @UCLAAlpert’s Mariachi de Uclatlán ensemble. After months of online rehearsals, the student performers of the Mariachi de Uclatlán (@uclatlan) are excited to be returning to in-person learning. In an article by the Daily Bruin (@dailybruin), students described their experience learning in a remote setting and what they are looking forward to in-person. Members of the group are preparing to focus on smaller details of a performance in a physical space and are ready to take their performances to the next level. 🎺🎻 “A pandemic like COVID, it’s not going to stamp (mariachi) out,” Skye Hoffman, violinist in the ensemble and design media arts student said. “Because it’s folk music, it speaks to the soul. And as long as people have souls, there’s going to be mariachi.” We are thrilled to have the UCLA Mariachi de Uclatlán ensemble back on campus as part of our musical community! 🎵 To read the full article and learn more, click the link in our bio ⬆️. #ThisisUCLAMusic #Music #Mariachi #Ethnomusicology

Join us on Monday, October 4 at 6 p.m. PT in Lani ...

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Join us on Monday, October 4 at 6 p.m. PT in Lani Hall or virtually as @UCLAAlpert welcomes rapper, artist and producer, Jason (IDK) Mills (@idk) to discuss the history, issues, and ongoing struggles faced by the music industry’s leading artists — often Black artists, female artists, and other artists of color — as compared to the industry’s executive and professional ranks. 🎵⠀
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Moderating the discussion is Daniel Seeff, the Director of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA (@hancockinstitute) and the host of KJazz’s(@kjazz881) Thursday night show “Excursions” (@excursionsradio). ⠀
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This event is part of the special edition of LA Sounds Now, which integrates with the Still Waiting speaker series that brings together two vital cross-school initiatives to offer a unique window into the current state of equity, diversity and inclusion in the music industry. ⠀
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To learn more and to RSVP for the event, please click the link in our bio ⬆️.

#ucla10Questions is back! Catch all the vibrant ...

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#ucla10Questions is back! Catch all the vibrant conversations, including the school of music's Diane White-Clayton, Lecturer in Ethnomusicology on Oct. 25 and Arturo O'Farrill, Associate Dean of EDI & Professor of Global Jazz Studies on Nov. 22. - RSVP → Link in Bio ⬆️ @dianewhiteclayton @pianitis

Interested in the graduate programs 🎓 at ...

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Interested in the graduate programs 🎓 at @UCLAAlpert? Applications are open through Wednesday, December 1, 2021 🗓. To learn more about the graduate application process, please visit the link in our bio ⬆️. ⠀
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#ThisisUCLAMusic #GraduateSchool

Trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard discusses...

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Trumpeter and composer Terence Blanchard discusses his latest album and the upcoming opera "Fire Shut Up In My Bones" at The Metropolitan Opera. Link in Bio ⬆️ On Monday, 9/27 when the curtains rise, the professor of Global Jazz Studies at the School of Music will make history as the first Black director to create a mainstage Met production, performed at the prestigious and historic institution. Blanchard is also featured on the cover of BOTH the September issue of Opera News... ...AND the October issue of Jazz Times! Join us in congratulating Blanchard on this incredible achievement and celebrating this profound moment in history. @terence_blanchard @ucla @metopera @opera.news @jazztimesmag #ThisIsUCLAMusic

@ucla 📣 Let’s hear it for the #1 public ...

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@ucla 📣 Let’s hear it for the #1 public university, 5 years in a row! 💙 🐻 💛 Visit the link in bio for full announcement + details. #1UCLA

Southeast Asian music ensembles have been ...

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Southeast Asian music ensembles have been prominent in UCLA’s Ethnomusicology program since its beginnings in the 1950s. Central to the program was the novel idea of bi-musicality: that researchers of foreign music ought to learn to perform in the traditions they study. Join the Fowler Museum at UCLA on September 13 at Noon (PT) for a presentation by Supeena Insee Adler, curator of UCLA's World Music Instrument Collection, and Ph.D. Candidate in Ethnomusicology, Otto Stuparitz on ensembles from Bali, Java, Philippines, and Thailand—among the first Asian ensembles established at UCLA. Learn about the history of these instruments, including the spectacular, ornately decorated Mon gong circle exhibited at the Fowler now; and discover how they continue to enrich the lives of students, faculty, and community members.

Make sure you register to vote by Aug. 30th to ...

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Make sure you register to vote by Aug. 30th to vote in California's upcoming Recall Election and make your voice heard. As an added bonus, getting registered to vote in California NOW will also help towards completing the residency process. Learn how to vote, what will be on your ballot, and other important resources: Link in Bio ⬆️

⭐️ Alumni Spotlight ⭐️
Congratulations...

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⭐️ Alumni Spotlight ⭐️
Congratulations to @UCLAAlpert alumnus and Alumni Board Chair Ryan Svendsen '10 who worked as the music supervisor for the recently released feature film The Protégé, starring Michael Keaton, Maggie Q and Samuel L. Jackson. Check out Ryan's work and watch this action-packed film, in theaters now!

“We needed music...more than ever before,” ...

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“We needed music...more than ever before,” said Natasha Pasternak (@natashapasternak), songwriting lecturer in the music industry program at @UCLAAlpert, while reflecting on songs that spoke to the upheaval of 2020 and the rising hope of 2021 in the curated playlists created by her and Professor of Global Jazz Studies Arturo O’Farrill (@pianitis), Chair of the Music Department and Professor of Music and the Wind Ensemble Conductor Travis J. Cross (@travisjcross), and the SOM’s Inaugural Dean Eileen L. Strempel (@uclamusicdean). The 2020 playlist consists of songs that range from Céline Dion’s “All By Myself” and “This is America” by Childish Gambino, to Thom Yorke’s “Suspirium” and “Four Questions” by O’Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra featuring Cornel West, which Strempel found deep inspiration in from her beloved colleague. The 2021 playlist looks at the year of reemergence from BTS’s “Dynamite” to Alain Pérez’s “Shorcito” that will make you want to dance whether standing or sitting, and “Hunting Season” by Hands & Teeth, giving you all the feels of looking forward to meeting people and partying. To hear the full 2020 and 2021 playlists, click the links in our bio ⬆️.

Huge congratulations to Music alumnus Ryan ...

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Global Jazz Studies major Sophia James’s ...

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Global Jazz Studies major Sophia James’s (@Sophiajamesmusic) first ever EP “Stand Beneath the Sky” is out now on Spotify, Apple Music and iTunes. ⠀
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The EP is a direct reflection and translation of how James has experienced feelings of love, loss, pain and hope from the past couple of years. ⠀
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“I’m particularly proud of this EP because it is the most deeply honest, authentic work I’ve ever let myself share with the world; with you,” said James. “I hope it brings you peace, hope, or healing of any kind.”⠀
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James is also going to perform a live virtual acoustic interactive concert on Saturday, July, 31 at 5 p.m. PT. ⠀
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To learn more, click the link in our bio.

⭐️ Alumni Spotlight ⭐️⠀
...

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⭐️ Alumni Spotlight ⭐️⠀
Congratulations to @UCLAAlpert alumnus Philip Graulty M.M. ’05 on the release of his debut solo EP, “Won’t You Help To Sing?”⠀
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Graulty’s work was created in response to the murder of George Floyd and is a collection of hymns and protest songs serving as a call to action against racial injustice. The second piece titled “Breathe” is an original composition dedicated to the memory of George Floyd.⠀
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“The suite’s title is borrowed from the chorus to Marley’s anthem,” said Graulty. “The question it poses is an invitation for us to not only sing these songs of freedom, but to embody their messages through our actions. Won’t you help to sing?”⠀
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To listen to this moving new album, click the link in our bio ⬆️.⠀
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#ThisisUCLAMusic

Have a safe and restful Fourth of July. ⠀
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Have a safe and restful Fourth of July. ⠀
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May we continue to be independent free thinkers, respectful of one another and be the change we want to see. 🇺🇸

Join us as we honor Distinguished Professor of ...

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Join us as we honor Distinguished Professor of Ethnomusicology A.J. Racy as he retires from @UCLAAlpert following a 40+ year career of teaching, performance and research in a special virtual reception celebrating his many accomplishments on Wednesday, June 30 at 5 p.m. PT. ⠀
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“The things I will miss most after retirement include the peaceful ambiance of the UCLA campus, the guest lectures on various related topics and world music performances at university venues,” said Professor Racy. “I will also miss many colleagues and staff, as well as the undergraduate and graduate students with whom I have worked.⠀
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We will miss Professor Racy and thank him for being an integral part of our UCLA community! 💛 💙 ⠀
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In honor of his expansive career and dedication to student success, the School of Music has established the A.J. Racy Scholarship in Ethnomusicology to support graduate and undergraduate scholars in their studies. ⠀
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To learn more and to attend his upcoming reception, click the link in our bio ⬆️.⠀
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#ThisisUCLAMusic #Ethnomusicology

@UCLAalpert on Instagram

First Met opera by a Black composer to be simulcast at UCLA

UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music Distinguished Professor Terence Blanchard recently became the first Black composer to debut an opera at the Metropolitan Opera in their 138-year history. Students of the GRAMMY-winning, world-renowned jazz trumpeter and educator were invited to a special Los Angeles screening of the opera, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, in

Music Industry Leaders to Discuss Influence of EDI in Special Edition Event Series

On September 27, The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music returns with LA Sounds Now in a special edition integration with the Still Waiting Speaker Series. This fall, join a provocative set of conversations with music industry professionals, artists and special guests representing the rich diversity of the Los Angeles music ecosystem offering unique perspectives

Global Jazz Studies professor will make history with Metropolitan Opera production

On Monday, September 27, when the curtains rise at The Metropolitan Opera, Terence Blanchard, professor and Kenny Burrell Chair in Global Jazz Studies at the School of Music, will make history as the first Black director to create a mainstage Met production with opera "Fire Shut Up In My Bones."

The Indo-Persian Musical Confluence Welcomes Attendees From Across the Globe

The School of Music’s Department of Ethnomusicology held eight virtual panels and performances as part of “The Indo-Persian Musical Confluence” series November 2020 – May 2021. This attracted participants from across the globe, including Europe, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Canada and numerous regions within the United States.

‘Zoom for the piano’ helps professor record new CD during pandemic

It took many hours online to bring Inna Faliks’ ‘Reimagine: Beethoven & Ravel’ to life

Arturo O’Farrill Joins Universal Music Group’s Blue Note Family, Releases Upcoming Musical Work and Discusses Future Plans

Arturo O’Farrill is a five-time GRAMMY Award-winning artist, global jazz studies professor at UCLA and the associate dean for equity, diversity and inclusion at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

Ethnomusicology

Ethnomusicology
The study of musical traditions from around the world through hands-on performance training and academic study.
Music

Music
The study of Western classical music with specializations in performance, composition, conducting, and music education.
Musicology

Musicology
The scholarly study of the histories, cultures, and critical interpretations of music and music-making.

Global Jazz Studies

Global Jazz Studies
A cross-disciplinary curriculum pairing music performance, studio instruction and musicianship courses with African American Studies.
Music Industry

Music Industry
A practical program helping students discover and prepare for music-related careers though coursework, events, and internship opportunities.

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