News

Flannery Cunningham Premiers Composition dowsing//divining as Part of MATA Presents
Flannery Cunningham, (Ph.D. candidate in Composition), presented the world premiere of her piece, dowsing//divining, a chamber work for viola, cello, (Erin Busch, Ph.D candidate in Composition), and mezzo-soprano, as part of MATA Presents in their first live concert since 2019. dowsing//divining is sonic exploration of transformation and persistence in which every sound affects the rest and notation is created in the moment of performance

Shelley Zhang Organizes Event Exploring Historic Collaborations Between Chinese and American Musicians
Often hailed as the father of Western classical music in China, Li Delun 李德伦 was a conductor, multi-instrumentalist, and advocate for the arts in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). From 1946 to 1949, Li was a Communist guerilla musician for the Communist Party of China during the Chinese Civil War. Following the establishment of the PRC, he served in various artistic leadership roles in Beijing, including as conductor of the Central Philharmonic.

Shelley Zhang featured on Penn Today's 'Understand This...' Podcast
In the latest episode of Penn Today’s ‘Understand This …’ podcast series, Obed Arango of the School of Social Policy & Practice, alongside Shelley Zhang, (Ph.D. candidate in Ethnomusicology, and a Wolf Humanities Center Graduate Fellow, discuss migration, the arts, and identity. Listen to the podcast on Penn Today's website.

Ania Vu featured on Penn Today: Composing an interplay of music and language
Ania Vu, PhD Candidate in Composition, is featured in Penn Today's section on Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences: As a Ph.D. candidate in music, Composer-Pianist Ania Vu brings her Vietnamese roots, Polish upbringing, and experiences studying in America to her compositions and poetic lyrics. She is now writing the music and the libretto of an original opera for her doctoral dissertation, to be premiered in Philadelphia. Read the full article on Penn Today's website.

Presidential Assistant Professor of Music, Tyshawn Sorey Receives Acclaim for "Monochromatic Light (Afterlife)," Commissioned by DACAMERA and Rothko Chapel
The premiere of "Monochromatic Light (Afterlife)," new work by Tyshawn Sorey took place on Saturday, February 19, 2022 at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas. The highly anticipated event is ahead of a staged presentation at the Park Avenue Armory in New York this fall, and has received recognition from the New York Times, the Washington Post, The New York, and NPR. See below for more information!

Ania Vu named 2022-23 Center for Contemporary Composition Postdoctoral Researcher
Ania Vu was recently named the 2022-23 Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Chicago’s Center for Contemporary Composition. In her role, Vu will develop new works to be performed by the Grossman Ensemble and other guest artists during the upcoming season. She will also teach an undergraduate course, provide composition lessons, and participate in the Center’s workshops and events.

OMNIA Feature: Celebrating the Life and Music of James Primosch
In honor James Primosch and the Celebration and Remembrance concert on Sunday, February 27 in the Annenberg Center, OMNIA has featured the longtime professor of music and acclaimed composer in a long form article. To read the piece, please visit the OMNIA website. For more information about the concert, please visit the event page on our website.

A Tribute to George Crumb
A Tribute to George Crumb

New Works for Sō Percussion
The Penn Sound Collective (PSC) is pleased to present six new works for percussion, written for and recorded by Sō Percussion. This collaboration began in fall 2019 with a series of workshops at Sō’s Brooklyn studio, with the concert scheduled to take place at Penn Live Arts (formerly the Annenberg Center) in April 2020.

James Diaz named one of Washington Post's "22 for '22"
In Washington Post's annual list of composers and performers to watch, Michael Andor Brodeur, Classical Music Critic, included another Penn Graduate Student Composer in the list, 22 for '22: Composers and performers to watch this year - James Diaz!