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In the News

Bringing you the latest news from the UC San Diego Department of Music's faculty, student and alumni networks.


 February 2024

Music AI Capturing Creativity with Computation for Music AI

We know it when we see it, but what is creativity and can it be quantified? In a paper that could help guide future artificial intelligence (AI) development, a team from UC San Diego’s Jacob School of Engineering, Department of Music and Qualcomm Institute (QI) has discovered answers in the context of musical collaboration. READ MORE



Meyer Meyer Sound Collaborates with Researchers at the University of California San Diego on Cutting-Edge Spatial Sound Experiences

Meyer Sound collaborated with staff and researchers at the University of California San Diego’s Department of Music to beta test NADIA, the next generation processor of Meyer Sound’s Constellation acoustic system. Cutting-edge spatial sound and variable-acoustics technology upgrades were installed in the department’s Experimental Theater, which enabled real-time development with faculty and students while offering the opportunity to gain skills, learn in interactive ways, and accelerate experimental music research. READ MORE



Olivia-copy.jpeg Take 10 with a Triton: UC Alum Olivia Rochelle on Mental Health Days and Making Music

A graduate of UC Riverside with a bachelor’s degree in business economics, Rochelle manages financials and funds at the Department of Music. READ MORE



 January 2024

2024-AnthonyDavis-1200x628-copy.jpeg A Standing Ovation for Opera Icon Anthony Davis

UC San Diego’s pioneering composer is inducted into the Opera Hall of Fame. READ MORE





Kartik Sitar virtuoso, Pandit Kartik Seshadri heads for his India tour

Sitar virtuoso, Pandit Kartik Seshadri heads for his India tour to perform in some of the most prestigious music festivals which are a part of the “Music Season” there. The 15-day tour from December 30 - January 16 will cover nearly 11 concerts in 15 days, including a return to the SAPTAK in Ahmedabad, where he performs on January 8th. SAPTAK is a 13-day festival presenting some of the greatest and senior most musicians of the tradition. READ MORE


 November 2023

News Image 02 A message from our CAO

Welcome all to a new academic year!  It is exciting to see folks back on campus and participating in events, activities, and courses.  Campus is almost back to normal, as we all adapt to the new post-COVID normal.  READ MORE


News Image 03The Department of Music Welcomes Associate Professor Karola Obermüller!

Karola Obermüller composes in search of the unknown, with layers upon layers of obscured material buried deep beneath a surface that is sometimes sumptuous, sometimes bristling with rhythmic energy. Her unique voice began forming in collages of sound made with tape recorders as a child and evolved later with composition degrees from the Meistersinger-Konservatorium Nürnberg, the Hochschule für Musik Saar, and the University Mozarteum Salzburg. Her sense of rhythm and form was forever changed by studying Carnatic and Hindustani classical music in Chennai and Delhi, India. READ MORE


News Image 04 Karola Obermüller's Summer in Germany

This past summer Karola enjoyed time in Germany in residence with the Leipzig Gewandhaus, living in the apartment that Hanns Eisler was born in and composing an octet for the Gewandhaus Ensemble. READ MORE


News Image 05 The Department of Music Welcomes Gris Arellano as new CAO!

Gris Arellano received her BS in Business and Information Systems from the University of Phoenix.  She has been part of the UC San Diego staff since April 1990. Beginning her career as a Financial Assistant in Biology, she then went on to work as a Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Cognitive Science. READ MORE


News Image 06 The publication, Xenskis Creates in Architecture and Music: The Reynolds Desert House, co-authored by Roger and Karen Reynolds was reviewed in the July issue of Tempo Magazine (London).

The authors’ succinct … summary belies the generous expansiveness of this book. … it gives a remarkable insight into the development of a project, in parallel with – and intimately linked to – the lives of those involved. … a question immediately arises: why did a composer, living in Paris, offer to design a house for his friends in the Anza- Borrego desert of southern California? READ MORE


News Image 07 Two recent book publications have included a chapter on Reynolds.

In June, Neuma records released a boxed set of CDs and Booklet entitled For A Reason. Including four of Reynolds’ works (Here and There, Shifting/Drifting, Sketchbook for “The unbearable lightness of being” and Dream Mirror), it has received broad critical acclaim. READ MORE


News Image 08 In July, Reynolds was invited to deliver the keynote talk at the international consortium, ACTOR’s Year-5 conference in Strasbourg, France: “CO-EXISTENCE: For instrumental septetand algorithmic computer sound”.

The presentation was a collaborative exploration between Reynolds and McGill University Professors, Stephen McAdams and Robert Hasegawa. READ MORE


News Image 10 Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and UC San Diego music professor Anthony Davis has been inducted into the Opera Hall of Fame.

Anthony Davis is an internationally recognized composer of operatic, symphonic, choral, and chamber works who has been on the cutting edge of improvised music and jazz for over four decades. Davis was written eight operas, including X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X (1986), Under the Double Moon (1989), Amistad (1997), and Wakonda’s Dream (2007). READ MORE


News Image 11 Susan Narucki's recording of This Island, named a Critic's Choice in Opera News Magazine

This Island, (released on AVIE) was reviewed and named a Critic's Choice in Opera News Magazine. READ MORE



News Image 12 Susan Narucki curated an exhibit "Approaching Kurtag" at the Art Around Books Gallery in Bellows Falls Vermont

The exhibit was on view from August 11 through September 22, 2023, and featured the work of five visual arts whose works resonated with Kurtag's iconic vocal chamber music work, Kafka Fragments. READ MORE







News Image 13David Borgo released a new album of original music titled "Pathika"

David Borgo released a new album of original music titled "Pathika" inspired by his recent travels in India, Kenya, Jordan, Cyprus, Croatia, Morocco, and Portugal. READ MORE



News Image 17Professor King Britt has partnered with the famous Big Ears Festival

Professor King Britt has partnered with the famous Big Ears Festival in Knoxville to bring Blacktronika programming in 2024. In addition to a week long stellar line up, he will be doing daily workshops focusing the Blacktronika : Afrofuturism in Electronic Music pedagogy. READ MORE


News Image 18 Professor King Britt has partnered with stellar streaming service Tidal, to bring an official monthly updated Blacktronika Radio playlist.

"Professor King Britt created a class at the University of California San Diego, "Blacktronika: Afrofuturism in Electronic Music", with the explicit aim of honoring all innovators of color in Dance & Electronic. READ MORE


News Image 19 King Britt & The Minimoog Model D

Professor King Britt has written a special entry for Moog Music's exclusive Mini Moog Factory dedication website. He writes about his love and first experiences with the legendary synthesizer, including a special playlist. READ MORE


JULY 2023

Gris ArellanoMusic Welcomes Gris Arellano as New Chief Administrative Officer

Gris Arellano received her BS in Business and Information Systems from the University of Phoenix.  She has been part of the UC San Diego staff since April 1990. READ MORE





Ken Anderson UC San Diego Named 5-Star College by Money, Ken Anderson Recognized

The University of California San Diego has earned 5 stars–the highest rating available–in Money’s Best Colleges in America 2023 list. The outlet, which annually recognizes colleges that combine quality and affordability, named UC San Diego one of only 13 public universities in the nation to receive a 5-star rating. READ MORE


Lei Liang Gift Launches Lei Lab at the UC San Diego Qualcomm Institute

With the goal of breaking barriers among music, visual arts, theater, engineering and oceanography, Boston-based philanthropist (Snow) Dan Qin has made a donation to create a residency for UC San Diego composer Lei Liang at the Qualcomm Institute (QI) at UC San Diego. The gift establishes the Lei Lab at QI. READ MORE

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