Press

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Russell Kelban
Director, Strategic Communications and Marketing
(310) 486-8953
rkelban@schoolofmusic.ucla.edu

 If you have general questions regarding public relations, image requests, or would like to be added to our mailing list, please email us at communications@schoolofmusic.ucla.edu.

Most of our faculty are available for news media interviews by arrangement. Please contact Russell Kelban, Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing, for assistance. Our faculty are leaders in their fields and include a boundary-pushing medievalist, a leading scholar of the American musical, jazz legends, masters of traditional world music instruments, a punk scholar, in-demand composers and others who are fostering transformative critical thinking about music and musical practices. Other areas of expertise include:

  • African diaspora, critical race studies, social movements, nationalism, national anthem
  • Rap, hip-hop, jazz, blues, funk, R&B, soul; pop music, rock n roll, Motown
  • East Asia, Korean music
  • Film and TV music
  • Jewish music, Klezmer, Jewish liturgical music
  • Music business, streaming media, technology and entertainment, copyright
  • Music and politics; music, gender, and sexuality
  • Opera studies
  • And more…
Justin McManus to Lead UCLA Marching Band
On July 1, the Solid Gold Sound welcomes a new leader. Justin McManus, most recently the director of athletic bands at the University of Connecticut, will join The UCLA Herb
Kay Rhie's "H'on" Receives its World Premiere by the LA Philharmonic
(San Francisco Classical Voice): Kay Rhie’s piece is called H’on, which “means ‘spirit’ or ‘soul’ in Korean,” she explained. “For me, it’s [asking the question] ‘What does the spirit of Korean sound
Julio Frenk's Inauguration Ceremony is Music to His Ears
With vocals and instruments echoing through Royce Hall, The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music helped bring to life the June 5 inauguration ceremony for UCLA’s seventh chancellor, Julio Frenk.
Kay Rhie's Piece H'on to Premiere with LA Philharmonic
Composition professor Kay Rhie’s most recent work was commissioned by the LA Philharmonic and will premiere on June 6, 2025.
Composing Her Path: Meet Mia Ruhman, 2025 Undergraduate Commencement Speaker
On the morning of January 7, 2025, a fire had started in the Santa Monica mountains and Mia Ruhman, a fourth-year music composition major at The UCLA Herb Alpert School
Answering the Call: Meet Wade Dean, 2025 Graduate Commencement Speaker
In December 2024, just before the start of Spring Semester, Wade Dean received some bad news. At the time, He was teaching courses in music theory and jazz history at

Press Releases

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Award-Winning Scholar and Musicologist Michael Beckerman Named New Dean of The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
Acclaimed higher education scholar and author Michael Beckerman has been named the new dean of The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. He will begin his role at UCLA on
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music Receives Gift from Mike Curb Foundation for State-of-the-Art Student Recording Facility and More
Through a special pledge by Mike Curb, California’s former lieutenant and acting governor, and music industry veteran, The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music will begin construction on a new
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music Receives $5 Million to Establish Gramian-Emrani Center for Iranian Music
New academic center bolsters UCLA as a major force in the study of Iranian culture Through a $5 million pledge by Haleh Emrani in honor of her late husband, Ahmad
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