On Tuesday, June 30 at 4 p.m. PDT, Professor of Musicology, Shana L. Redmond will host a stimulating virtual conversation and event with acclaimed spoken word artist, poet and musician, Saul Williams.

This week on the Innovating Music Podcast, we talk with Music Business Association President, Dr. Portia Sabin, about the ways in which the music business is connected as a community. We discuss her journey through the music industry from performing as an artist to running a record label. We also look at other aspects of the music business and how they have been affected in light of the pandemic. This includes trade associations and their advantages for independent labels especially during the pandemic and other ways in which cities can centralize their local music businesses to connect the music community at large.

Terence Blanchard, Professor and Kenny Burrell Chair in Jazz Studies at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, who recently worked on the score for “Da 5 Bloods” with director Spike Lee, shares an opinion piece with NPR on protests taking place across America’s cities.

Innovation often answers the call to action made by changing environments. In this week’s podcast, we talk with Jay Gilbert, photographer and co-founder of Label Logic, about the new challenges artists in the music industry face in light of social-distancing and what their “new normal” will be as the world regains its rhythm.

On Saturday, June 13 at 12:30 p.m. PDT, the School of Music will welcome internationally-renowned vocalist and performer Sir Bryn Terfel for a public discussion and Q&A with opera and voice students.

The UCLA Percussion Ensemble collaborated to develop a performance using household items, aptly titled “Scavenger Music” by Christopher Deane. Students used a variety of objects to create percussion sounds such as tissue boxes, pots, bottles and kitchen utensils.