Our students, faculty and alums have had a busy summer. We’ve been collecting their dispatches from Italy to Mongolia, from the Hollywood Bowl to Mannheim, Germany, from South Korea to Long Beach, and we’re pleased to share them with you here.
Student Dispatch: Indianapolis, IN
Jackson Bacon (trumpet performance, class of 2026), Diego Vogel (euphonium performance, class of 2027), Aud Sherrill (percussion performance, class of 2026) and Kobe Sanders (percussion performance, class of 2025) played with the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps in the Drum Corps International (DCI), a massive touring competition of performance groups across the United States. The championship round this year was held in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium in August. Jackson writes: “The Blue Devils are considered the most successful group of all time with the most championships won (21). Our tour this summer covered over 6,000 miles and 20 states over 65 days.”
DCI.org writes: “Blue Devils earned an impeccable 16th-consecutive season finishing the summer with at least 97 points, and a medal. The Concord, California corps took second in Visual Proficiency Saturday night.”
Student Dispatch: Long Beach, CA
Habin Kim, an incoming graduate student in opera and voice performance. writes to say she made her professional debut with Long Beach Opera this July, presenting the first-ever live interpretation of Pauline Oliveros’ work, Bye Bye Butterfly, which was a critical engagement with Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. Check out notes from the production on the Long Beach Opera’s website.
Student Dispatch: Hollywood, CA
Emma Breen (master’s 2023 and current doctoral student in trumpet performance) writes: “Just wanted to share that I played at the Hollywood Bowl for the first time this summer. I was part of the BarbieLand Sinfonietta playing Barbie: The Movie in Concert. Here’s a picture from the audience in the Bowl that a friend sent me during the performance. Super cool because it was an all-women and majority women-of-color orchestra.”
Alumni Dispatch: Des Moines, IA
Shyheim Selvan Hinnant (voice performance, class of 2023) attended the Des Moines Metro Opera Apprentice Artist Program this summer where he premiered the role of Clarence in Damien Geter’s world premiere of American Apollo and covered the First Nazarene in Strauss’ Salome. He will be making his symphonic debut with the Virginia Symphony as the bass soloist in Handel’s Messiah in December, and will be pursuing a master’s in voice and opera at Yale University this Fall.
Student Dispatch: Hustai National Park, Mongolia
SUMMER DISPATCH from our students – MONGOLIA – Cassandra Carraher (music industry, class of 2026) just returned from a two-week trip through the globally-acclaimed Hustai National Park, sponsored by the American Center for Mongolian Studies. Cassandra writes: “I had the opportunity to interview a number of Mongolian musicians on traditional music like throat singing and the horse head fiddle at the Naadam Festival. I also observed species such as Przewalski’s horses, marmots, and gray wolves.”
Student Dispatch: Hollywood, CA
Miriam Adhanom (ethnomusicology, class of 2028) writes: “In May, I performed in Disney’s The Lion King 30th Anniversary Celebration at the Hollywood Bowl as a part of the live-to-film choir. The concert will air as a special on Disney+ later this year!”
Faculty Dispatch: Zaamin district, Jizzakh region, Uzbekistan
The Second International Forum of Maqom Art drew artists from more than 30 countries to participate in concerts of traditional music, engage in intercultural dialogue, and support cultural diversity and creativity. Mohsen Mohammadi, the director of Indo-Persian music in the ethnomusicology department of The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, served on an international jury for the international competition.
Faculty Dispatch: Mannheim, Germany
Christoph Bull, organ professor, checked in from Germany. He writes: “On Saturday, July 20, 2024, I gave an organ concert to a full-capacity and most enthusiastic crowd in my home town of Mannheim in my home suburb of Neuostheim at St. Pius Church on two organs built by Orgelbau Stuetzle and Orgelbau Vier.”
Faculty Dispatch: Tel Aviv, Israel
Neal Stulberg, director of orchestral studies, conducted concerts with the orchestra of the Buchmann Mehta School of Music, Israel’s leading conservatory. He writes: “The experience was extraordinary on many levels. The program—uniquely for this orchestra—consisted entirely of American music (Ives “Three Places in New England,” Bernstein “Halil” for flute and orchestra; Copland Suite from “Appalachian Spring” and Gershwin “An American in Paris”). The performances were at a fully professional level. And the focus, receptivity and positive spirit of the young musicians—especially given the sustained challenges of wartime—were remarkable. This was a challenging program under any circumstances, but the students responded ardently, and seemed wholly comfortable with the American musical values of openness, discovery and swing.” During the trip, Stulberg also led master classes in conducting and chamber music at Buchmann Mehta and at the Jerusalem Academy for Music and Dance. He observed, “While conversations with family, friends and colleagues were uniformly sobering, the musical experiences I had this month in Israel were truly memorable.”
Faculty Dispatch: Estonia and Finland
Lily Chen-Hafteck, professor of music education, writes: “I was in Tallinn, Estonia and Helsinki, Finland to attend two International Society for Music Education (ISME) conferences in July and August. ISME world conferences are held every two years. I have been active in ISME for many years. In the past, I served as the chair of their early childhood commission, young professionals focus group, and have been a member of the society’s board of directors.
“Currently, I am the chair of the music in schools & teacher education commission (MISTEC) of ISME. I led the commission to organize the 2024 MISTEC Seminar that took place from July 22-26, 2024 at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EAMT) in Tallinn, Estonia. The last time we had an in-person ISME conference, it was 2018. Since then, we had to meet remotely in 2020 and 2022 due to the pandemic restrictions. I am very pleased that finally, we were able to gather in person in the beautiful city of Tallinn in Estonia this year. The conference featured the work of over 70 presenters representing 19 countries from Europe, Asia, Oceania, North America and South America.
“After the MISTEC Seminar, I went to Helsinki for the ISME World Conference (July 28-Aug 2) to present my research, chaired the MISTEC sessions, and attended board meetings. Frank Heuser and Johanna Gamboa-Kroesen also presented their work at the conference.”
Faculty Dispatch: Korea, Japan, Australia … and Westwood
Travis Cross, director of bands, writes: “It’s been a busy summer! I hosted the annual UCLA Wind Conducting Workshop from June 23 to 27, welcoming 26 conductors and band directors from across the United States and Canada to campus for five days of musical learning. The guest clinician for 2024 was Jerry F. Junkin, director of bands at the University of Texas at Austin and artistic director and conductor of the Dallas Winds. More than a dozen UCLA student musicians played in the demonstration ensemble for the workshop. I also served as keynote speaker for the 2024 Australian National Band and Orchestra Conference in Melbourne, Victoria, from July 4–7. I presented four sessions, co-taught a conducting symposium, and guest conducted the Yamaha (Australia) Wind Orchestra at the closing concert. In addition, I guest conducted the Brooklyn Wind Symphony in concerts in Japan (a shared concert with the Omiya Wind Symphony at RaiBoC Hall in the Tokyo area on July 23) and as part of the 2024 World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) in Gwangju-Gyeonggi, just outside of Seoul, Korea. The ensemble played concerts in the Namhansanseong Art Hall on July 20 and in front of Namhansanseong Fortress on July 19.”
Faculty Dispatch: Japan, Italy, Arizona and Wisconsin
Inna Faliks, professor of piano performance, writes: “I had my concerto debut in Tokyo this July, performing three concerti in one night—Clara Schumann, Beethoven’s Third, and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with the Tokyo Sinfonia and Robert Ryker.” In June, she repeated her “Manuscripts Don’t Burn” program in Chigiana Primavera Academy and Festival – having debuted it at the Broad Santa Monica Main Stagein May. Joined by her students Grace Chen and Rubi Choi, she was in residence at Chigiana as the member of the piano faculty of its Global Program with colleague Richard Danielpour. Following this, she performed at Flagstaff Piano Festival in Arizona, was Guest Artist at the Music Teachers Association of California and judged the Music Academy of the West concerto competition. In August it was off to the Peninsula Festival in Door County, Wisconsin where she was reunited with colleague Wendy Richman, who plays viola in the orchestra.
Faculty Dispatch: Ewha Women’s University to The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
Gamin Kang, director of the Music of Korea ensemble, curated a workshop themed “Globalization of Korean Music” with international students from the prestigious Ewha University in Seoul, South Korea. The event featured 45 Korean Music majors from Ewha Women’s University and UCLA students providing a unique opportunity to engage with international peers, share music, and explore each other’s cultures. Kang writes: “We were pleased to have about 25 people attendees from on and off campus, including our very own Kathleen Hood. Doctoral student Jennifer Jo gave a presentation “Sounds of Coexistence: Traditional East Asian Flutes and Their Impact on Contemporary Western Flute Repertoire and Performance Practices,” offering a thoughtful analysis of how traditional East Asian music has influenced Western flute repertoire.”
Kang continued with more news: “In addition, the Music of Korea ensemble received a generous gift of instruments and costumes from Ewha University, which will greatly enhance the growth of our ensemble. Before the event, we held a small ceremonial gathering among faculty to celebrate.”
