Music News

Experimental Jazz Quartet Amirtha Kidambi and Elder Ones Transcend Sound, Mind, and Body

The New University covers experimental musician Amirtha Kidambi and her jazz quartet Elder Ones for the performance as UCI’s first in-person music event of the year at Winifred Smith Hall on Sept. 30.

Take it From the Class of 2022: You Got This

By Lauren Knight, B.A. ’21  There are four classes of students heading back to Claire Trevor School of the Arts this fall, but only one class has spent a full year on campus. It’s crazy to think that half of our CTSA community has never stepped foot on campus before Welcome Week! We know...

UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts to Launch Distinguished Artist Speaker Series

The series launches with renowned professionals in both entertainment and art Irvine, Calif., Sept. 29, 2021 – UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts (CTSA), a national arts research and education leader, will launch an inaugural Distinguished Artist Speaker Series in October 2021 as part of the...

Mari Kimura Explores Music’s Intersections with Technology and Science

By Richard Chang Mari Kimura, a professor of music at UCI’s Integrated Composition, Improvisation and Technology program, is connecting students, disciplines and departments with her groundbreaking work. She’s fostering collaboration and interaction during times when the coronavirus pandemic has...

Emerging Brighter

UCI student artists discovered and honed new skills in 2021 By Christine Byrd When UCI moved operations online a year and a half ago, everyone gained new skills: creating an at-home studio, mastering Zoom meetings and troubleshooting technology. But as artists struggled to keep their creative...

Kevin Kwan Loucks named CEO of Chamber Music America

After an extensive national search, Chamber Music America (CMA), the national network of ensemble music professionals, has named Kevin Kwan Loucks (B.Mu. ’04) as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective Sept. 1, 2021. Loucks brings over 15 years of national and international music and...

Dr. Rajna Swaminathan joins the UCI Music faculty

The Department of Music is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Rajna Swaminathan as Assistant Professor of Music. Professor Swaminathan holds a Ph.D. in Music from Harvard University’s Creative Practice and Critical Inquiry program and is an improviser, composer, and scholar. Her...

UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts Names Ten New Medici Scholars

UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts (CTSA) is pleased to announce the 2021 Medici Circle Scholars. Ten awards were given to both undergraduate and graduate students offering an opportunity to take their education beyond the classroom and collaborate with academics and artists in our community and...

Zooming to UCI

Artists from around the world paid virtual visits to UCI students, opening new windows of opportunity By Christine Byrd When music major Cassandra Leisher asked the New York Philharmonic’s Ryan Roberts, a classical French horn and oboe player, how he calms pre-audition nerves, she was...

Women in Global Music (WIGM): Network Launch

The Department of Music is pleased to support the online launch of the Women in Global Music (WIGM) Research and Industry Network, co-founded by Dr. Joe Davies, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellow, and Dr. Yvonne Liao, from the Oxford Research Center in Humanities. The official launch events...

The Magnitude of Mari Kimura: Prolific Composer and Academic

"To say that the Claire Trevor School of the Arts professor Mari Kimura is one-of-a-kind is an understatement. An award-winning composer, violinist and instrumentalist, Kimura’s innovative approach to sound foresees vast technological advances..."

2021 Dean's Scholarship Awardees

Congratulations to the 2021 Dean’s Scholarship awardees! A very special thank you to the Giving Day donors who made these scholarship funds possible. As the leading campus in the nation providing access to all qualified students, no matter what their background, our students rely...

Finding the Beat: UCI’s Jazz Studies

On May 26th, UCI’s Claire Trevor School of the Arts (CTSA) will present their second virtual “Jazz Small Groups Concert.” Read more about the concert from Irvine Community News.

Prof. Darryl Taylor presented two masterclasses at the New England Conservatory

World-renowned countertenor and founder of the African American Art Song Alliance, Darryl Taylor will held two master classes as part of the NEC Song Lab, a brand new and unique curriculum for singers and pianists. Student participants included graduate students in Vocal Performance and...

Alumni Headed to the Grammys

Kalbasi (B.Mu, ’10) performed as a soloist and with the Los Angeles Master Chorale on “IVES: Complete Symphonies,” nominated for Best Orchestral Performance. Allen (M.F.A., ’14) performed on “Choirmaster” by Ricky Dillard, which has been nominated for Best Gospel Album. Kalbasi is a SAG-AFTRA...

Alumni Ryan Rost, M.F.A. ’14 produces new album

Jazz musician and UCI Music alumnus Ryan Rost released his jazz trio album, “I Was Here,” on Oct. 29, 2020. The album features Doug Carter on piano, Peter Buck on drums and Rost leading on bass, and explores Rost’s curiosity through a unique compositional framework. “I’m constantly asking...

Rachel Fine discovers her calling by leading arts organizations

by Richard Chang Not everyone who studies piano and music in college grows up to be a world-class, professional artist. Some grow up to be world-class, professional arts executives. Rachel Fine attended UC Irvine in the 1990s as a transfer student, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta...

College Arts Programs Display Pliancy, Resilience While Navigating Pandemic Restrictions to Bring Arts to Audiences

The Claire Trevor School of the Arts’ theme for this year is arts and well-being. In pursuit of spreading that message, the department is taking advantage of this time to develop projects that will broaden the scope and reach of the arts