LSU School of Music

If you were unable to attend last week's commencement ceremony in person, a recorded version is now available on the LSU College of Music & Dramatic Arts YouTube channel!

Congratulations to all of our Spring 2024 graduates – we are so proud of you and can't wait to see how you change the world!

Spring 2024 Commencement Activities Join us as we celebrate our latest graduating class from the College of Music & Dramatic Arts!The culminating celebration of commencement is one of the most ...

Due to technical difficulties in the Union Theater, a livestream of today's commencement ceremony is unavailable. We have recorded the event in full and will post it to the LSU College of Music & Dramatic Arts YouTube channel as soon as possible!

LSU College of Music & Dramatic Arts The official YouTube channel of the Louisiana State University College of Music & Dramatic Arts. For more than a century, LSU has cultivated a rich tradition of musical and theatrical art forms. We proudly carry that heritage into the 21st century, by preparing students for modern leadership roles a...

If you stop by our buildings, you might notice something new! 👀 Visit the link to learn more about the project.

3 locations on LSU’s campus are getting a new interactive lobby kiosk experience thanks to LSU College of Engineering's own first-generation senior and LSU College of Music & Dramatic Arts student worker, Caleb Langley.

Langley fully designed and coded this new experience, which you’ll be able to experience first-hand soon! Read more about where you'll be able to see the kiosks and their new features here: https://www.lsu.edu/cmda/music/blog/public/2024/240510-interactive-signage.php

The concert season is officially complete, and finals week is (sadly) here. This has been an amazing year for our School of Music! We are extremely appreciative of the support and dedication from everyone in our community.

Good luck on finals, and Geaux Tigers! 💜

We are thrilled to have Dr. Lewis continue in his role as Assistant Director of Bands! Please join us in congratulating him. 🎉

Weston Lewis Named Assistant Director of Bands | LSU School of Music The LSU School of Music and LSU Department of Bands are pleased to announce Weston Lewis will continue in his role as Assistant Director of Bands.

Help us celebrate another new faculty member entering the LSU School of Music family! We are pleased to announce that Andrew W. Parker will be joining us as Associate Professor of Oboe.

As an avid orchestral and chamber musician, Parker has performed with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Oklahoma City Philharmonic, and Wichita Symphony Orchestra, among many more. He received his bachelor’s degree from SUNY Purchase College, master’s degree from Yale University, and Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Texas at Austin.

Learn more about him here: https://lsu.edu/cmda/music/blog/public/2024/240502-andrew-w-parker.php

Andrew W. Parker Joins LSU Music | LSU School of Music LSU is pleased to welcome Andrew W. Parker as Assistant Professor of Oboe.

Congratulations to Griffin Campbell, Franklin Bayhi Alumni Professor of Saxophone, and the LSU Wind Ensemble on their spectacular season-finale performance of David Maslanka's "Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble" yesterday evening.

After 40 years of service to LSU, Dr. Campbell will retire at the end of this academic year with the rank of Professor Emeritus. Thank you, Dr. Campbell, for your tireless contributions to the university, the state of Louisiana, and the world of music!

Join us tomorrow night as we send off the LSU Symphony Orchestra with an epic performance of Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2, plus appearances by the two second place winners of our Dean’s Concerto Competition. Brandon Hebert will play the third movement of the Haydn Trumpet Concerto, while Zi-Yun Luo will play the third movement of the Lalo Cello Concerto.

Want a behind the scenes view of our orchestra program? Check out this profile made by Tiger TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN4MIr-tMBM 🎻

LSU Symphony Orchestra is creating new opportunities for students Composed of both music and non-music majors, as well as undergraduate and graduate students, the LSU Symphony Orchestra works together to perform complex pie...

On Wednesday, the LSU College of Music & Dramatic Arts, LSU Foundation and LSU Office of Academic Affairs hosted a reception celebrating the launch of our new Bachelor of Music Therapy degree program!

We welcomed several distinguished guest speakers, including Dr. Joanne Loewy, Director of the Louis Armstrong Center for Music & Medicine at the Mount Sinai Health System, and LSU Senior Vice Provost Jane Cassidy, who spoke to both the growing importance of music therapy in modern medicine and the history of music therapy research here at LSU.

None of this would be possible without the generosity of Ava and Cordell Haymon, whose generous donation of $1.2 million in 2019, establishing the Ava & Cordell Haymon Chair in Music Therapy, paved the way for this new program to take flight.

We are proud to announce three of our faculty members have been named recipients of LSU’s 2024 University Faculty Awards! They continue to set a high standard for excellence at our university by embodying discovery, teaching, engagement, and creativity within their given areas.

These recipients are Inessa Bazayev (Music Theory), Cecilia Kang (Clarinet), and Ana María Otamendi (Collaborative Piano). All award winners will be honored at a ceremony on Tuesday, April 23 open to the entire LSU community.

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Due to today's weather and campus closure, the Constantinides New Music Ensemble's Spring 2024 concert has been cancelled. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to announce a rescheduled concert date in the near future!

Constantinides New Music Ensemble – Spring 2024 Concert ***Due to inclement weather, this event has been cancelled. We will attempt to reschedule the event for a future date.*** The Constantinides New Music Ensemble (CNME) presents their spring concert, featuring the world premiere of Hush! Whisper by Armando Bayolo, with guest conductor Weston Lewis and...

We are thrilled to announce our new Assistant Professor of Saxophone, Kendra Wheeler, who will be joining us next semester!

A trailblazer in the field of saxophone performance, Wheeler has distinguished herself by embracing new performance mediums and strongly advocating for new repertoire and diverse programming, as shown through her work with groups such as the Medusa Saxophone Quartet. She earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Minnesota, as well as a Doctor of Musical Arts in saxophone performance from Michigan State University.

Learn more about her at the link: https://lsu.edu/cmda/music/blog/public/2024/240409-kendra-wheeler.php

Congratulations to Christopher Trapani, Assistant Professor of Experimental Music & Digital Media, whose composition "no window without a wall" will receive its New York premiere with Ensemble Modern at Carnegie Hall next week!

"[This piece] pays tribute to late trumpeter/composer Jon Hassell and a style he termed "Fourth World," remixing African, Indian, and European concepts into a personal amalgam he called "a proposal for the coffee-colored classical music of the future."

Ensemble Modern | April 13, 2024 Concert in NYC Ensemble Modern at Carnegie Hall. Saturday, April 13 at 7:30 PM in Zankel Hall. A program including Tania León’s “Indígena” and “Rítmicas.” Official Site.

We can't wait for this concert! You won't want to miss it.

We're halfway through and, thanks to 14 generous donors, we've already raised $2,850 for School of Music scholarships!

We greatly appreciate this vital financial support for our students; if you want to learn more about how you can make an impact, be sure to visit: https://givingday.lsu.edu/pages/college-of-music-and-dramatic-arts

Today is , and we’re ready to show the world what it means to put scholarship first and support the performing arts! Your generosity will have a ripple effect.

Learn more about how you can make an impact at the link: https://givingday.lsu.edu/pages/college-of-music-and-dramatic-arts

On Saturday, we presented our annual Double Reed Day! From middle school to college, attendees of all skill levels were able to participate in workshops, reed making classes, and masterclasses to deepen their knowledge as double reeded musicians.

At the end of the day, the students came together to perform arrangements of pieces under the direction of our very own wind conducting graduate student, Lawrence Williams.

To find information on other upcoming camps and workshops, visit this link: https://www.lsu.edu/cmda/music/events/ 🎶

We're back from Spring Break and ready to send March out like a lion! The students and faculty of the Turner-Fischer Center for Opera and LSU Orchestral Studies are excited to welcome you for two showings of Rodgers & Hammerstein's classic, "Carousel," this weekend at the Shaver Theatre. Don't miss out; visit the link for showtimes and tickets!

🔗 https://lsu.edu/cmda/events/

ICYMI: Last Friday, we hosted the first performance of the inaugural LSU Women In Jazz Concert Celebration Series, a new initiative designed to highlight the significant contributions of female composers and musicians to the world of jazz, while also encouraging more female K-12 students to learn and perform jazz repertoire.

Check out this recap of the event from The Reveille!

New LSU concert program raises awareness for women's contributions to jazz Jazz is a genre of music rich with cultural and historical significance, especially in Louisiana. Yet, both the local and national jazz scene do not accurately reflect women’s contributions to

Congratulations to Paula G. Manship Professor and Director of Bands Damon Talley, who was elected to membership in the prestigious American Bandmasters Association!

Talley will be recognized at the 2024 ABA National Convention, held this week in Washington D.C., where he will conduct the United States Air Force Band in a performance of Floyd Werle's "Glider Pilots Reunion March."

Damon Talley Elected to American Bandmasters Association | LSU School of Music LSU's Paula G. Manship Professor and Director of Bands Damon Talley was elected to membership in the prestigious American Bandmasters Association (ABA), considered one of the highest honors in the nation for a wind band conductor.

The LSU Jazz Ensemble and Doug Stone, Associate Professor of Jazz Studies, visited Marigny Studios in New Orleans this past weekend to work on recording an album!

Some of the works you can look forward to in the eventual release include Stone's “Fatherhood Suite,” arranged by Justin Haynes, Kevin McMann‘s funky arrangement of “Blue Monk," and “Uncle Bernie Meets Miss Marcia” composed and arranged by graduate student Kasey Allan Ball.

Stay tuned for more information later this year on how to get yourself a copy!

Join us in welcoming acclaimed mezzo-soprano Lindsay Kate Brown to LSU as Assistant Professor of Voice!

Brown is a rising opera star praised for her rich, expressive voice. An active performer and advocate for education in the arts, she founded the non-profit organization United in Opera in December 2020 and boasts extensive stage experience, including recent debuts with the Metropolitan Opera and Santa Fe Opera, and recent roles as a Studio Artist with the Houston Grand Opera. She is represented by Promethean Artists.

Learn more about her at the link!

Lindsay Kate Brown Joins LSU Music | LSU School of Music LSU is pleased to welcome mezzo-soprano Lindsay Kate Brown as Assistant Professor of Voice!

Several of our Music Education graduate students recently had the opportunity to present their latest research and discoveries to peers at the Mid-South Music Education Research Symposium. Their work covered a wide variety of topics, including the culture of peer learning in The Golden Band From Tigerland, the influence of African American musicians embedded in the military on the development of jazz in New Orleans, and more.

LSU Music Education Graduate Students Present at Regional Symposium | LSU School of Music Earlier this February, Dr, David Saccardi, Assistant Professor of Music Education, and several graduate students from LSU's Music Education area attended the Mid-South Music Education Research Symposium, held at the University of Mississippi in Oxford.

Congratulations to our own Dr. Inessa Bazayev, Paula G. Manship Professor of Music Theory and Faculty Senate President, who was named as the 2023–24 Erich and Lea Sternberg Honors Professor by the LSU Ogden Honors College!

"Dr. Bazayev's dynamic teaching approach, skillfully intertwining music theory with history, literature, and visual arts in her Honors seminars, reflects her integral role in providing students with a truly interdisciplinary perspective," said Ogden Honors College Dean Jonathan Earle.

We are excited to announce Dr. Inessa Bazayev as our 2023-24 Sternberg Professor, the highest award conferred to faculty by the Ogden Honors College! Her groundbreaking work in Russian and Soviet music enriches the academic tapestry at LSU.

MORE: https://bit.ly/3Ig9ToI

LSU School of Music LSU

Time for a road trip! 🚌💨

The LSU Symphonic Winds are ready to kick off their tour this week to the College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Southern Division Conference, hosted at the University of Memphis, where they will give an exhibition performance. Join them tonight in the Union Theater at 7:30 p.m. as they perform their tour program, "Shoulders of Giants," for the first time right here at home!

Learn more about the tour here: https://www.lsu.edu/cmda/music/blog/public/2023/230626-symwinds-cbdna.php

Join us in welcoming two new Assistant Professors of Music Education – David Dockan and Faith Hall – to LSU! David and Faith are both highly accomplished researchers with a combined decade of experience in K-12 public schools across Virginia, Arizona, and Iowa. We’re excited to have their expertise in elementary/general and instrumental music education.

Learn more about our two amazing new colleagues at the link!

David Dockan & Faith Hall Join LSU Music Education | LSU School of Music LSU is pleased to welcome David Dockan and Faith Hall as the newest Assistant Professors of Music Education, beginning August 2024.

We've seen a lot of smiles this week as Time for Three joined us for so many amazing activities! From visiting Baton Rouge Magnet High School, to sharing their knowledge and career lessons with current LSU students, this is a special group that we have been thrilled to host. Don't miss their epic finale concert – LSU School of Music Presents: Time for Three with the LSU Symphony Orchestra – tomorrow evening at the Union Theater!

LSU Department of Bands 🤝 The University of Texas Bands

At this year's TMEA Convention, our very own Weston Lewis (Visiting Assistant Director of Bands) joined Jerry Junkin (Director of Bands, UT Austin) for a unique "Hot Ones" style interview, exploring topics such as music, art, and life, all while the heat was slowly dialed up on some delicious wings! Check out the full interview on YouTube at the link. 🔥

Tastemakers: A Conversation on Music with Jerry Junkin TMEA 2024 - Henry B. Gonzalez Convention CenterFriday, February 9th, 2024LSU Assistant Director of Bands Dr. Weston Lewis and UT Director of Bands Prof. Jerr...