News
Wed, 09/11/2024
KU School of Music professor receives top researcher award
Christopher Johnson, professor of music education & music therapy, has been named the 2024 recipient of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Senior Researcher Award.
Wed, 08/21/2024
KU School of Music welcomes new faculty
The KU School of Music is pleased to announce eight faculty appointments for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Mon, 08/19/2024
New KU faculty and staff choir forming this fall
A new KU faculty and staff choir titled the Bales Choral Society is being formed this fall. Employees can meet other faculty and staff from across the university while singing choral music in the resonant space of the world-class Bales Recital Hall, located on the northwest side of the Lied Center of Kansas.
Mon, 08/19/2024
Two ‘ultra-musicians’ will premiere works atop mountain
Stephanie Zelnick, professor of clarinet, is out to prove wind players can benefit from extreme athletes’ training methods. She and a partner will give a concert atop Mount Elbert in Colorado, premiering two new pieces for clarinet duo, as part of her long-term research project on how altitude affects wind musicians.
Thu, 08/01/2024
Experience the KU School of Music’s annual Collage concert—a free musical event
It’s the best way to kick off the school year! The University of Kansas School of Music is pleased to announce the return of the highly anticipated annual Collage Concert! This thrilling concert is free for the public and takes place September 14th, 7:30 p.m. at the Lied Center.
Wed, 07/10/2024
Kansans help expand trombone repertoire with new recording
A new recording by KU School of Music faculty members Michael Davidson and Ellen Sommer also features contributions from musicians and music educators from across the state.
Mon, 07/01/2024
KU opera professor named finalist for the 2024 American Prize
Stella Markou, soprano, opera director and KU Voice area coordinator for the School of Music, has been selected as a finalist for The American Prize in Directing- The Charles Nelson Reilly Prize (college/university opera division).
Tue, 06/25/2024
Globe-trotting trumpet professor featured in Spanish Olympics fanfare
Musical talent, hard work and networking take Stephen Leisring around the world — recently to Madrid, where he played first trumpet on a piece for Radio Television Española's upcoming coverage of the Paris Olympics.
Fri, 06/14/2024
KU music therapy, speech-language-hearing scholars provide interdisciplinary services in rural Bulgaria
A unique partnership between University of Kansas faculty members in speech-language pathology and music therapy provided KU students with a hybrid clinical and experiential study abroad program in Bulgaria and Greece during the intercession between the spring and summer semesters.
Thu, 05/30/2024
Professor applies theoretical work to his metal music
Brad Osborn, KU professor of music theory, channels his inner black-metal musician into one-man band D’Archipelago, which has now released its fifth recording. “EVILSIZOR” continues the trend of pop music that ignores the old verse-chorus structure.
Wed, 05/08/2024
KU expert to speak in French-British film series
Colin Roust, associate professor of musicology, is heading to London to introduce the screening of a film scored by the 20th century French composer about whom Roust wrote the first, definitive biography, “Georges Auric: A Life in Music and Politics.”
Tue, 05/07/2024
Spencer Museum announces 2024 Brosseau Creativity Award recipients
The awards honor innovative and risk-taking creative work in the categories of writing and diverse media from KU undergraduate students in any area of study. The winners are Laryn Anne Elliott-Langford and Matthew Kurniawan. Alice Lubin-Meyer received an honorable mention.
Tue, 04/16/2024
KU School of Music Student Named Winner of Prestigious Bob Dylan Center Songwriter Fellowship
Lawrence, KS – The University of Kansas School of Music is pleased to announce that a current student has been selected as one of two winners in the highly esteemed Bob Dylan Center Songwriter Fellowship program. ...
Thu, 03/28/2024
Pianist Eddie Moore pursues a pure vision
A Kansas City musician and lecturer in the School of Music, Eddie Moore has released a new solo live recording, "Aperture."
Tue, 02/13/2024
A box of Barnes: Group records all professor’s symphonies
James Barnes, professor emeritus of music, has a boxed set of all nine of his symphonies, released this year by the Osaka Shion Wind Orchestra. The 70-piece group was rehearsed and performed for a month under the baton of the dean of the KU School of Music, Paul Popiel.
Mon, 02/12/2024
KU School of Music Presents "Signed, Sealed, Delivered—The Music of Stevie Wonder" Concert
Mon, 02/05/2024
KU to stage ‘Sweeney Todd,’ opening Feb. 16
Before the Broadway national tour begins, a local production of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a Musical Thriller” will explore the psyche of the villain and bring Stephen Sondheim’s brilliant melodies to the community with the help of KU’s Opera and Symphony Orchestra.
Wed, 01/31/2024
Brandon Draper's recording dam to burst in 2024
Percussionist Brandon Draper, faculty member in the School of Music, will make the Draper Family Band’s debut blues-rock recording the first of 10 he will release in 2024 under a new deal with Symphonic Distribution LLC.
Mon, 12/18/2023
KU School of Music Presents Prairie Winds Festival with The Westerlies
The University of Kansas School of Music is thrilled to announce the Prairie Winds Festival, featuring multiple wind ensembles and the genre-defying brass quartet, The Westerlies. The event is scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 3, 2024, at the Lied Center in Lawrence, Kansas. ...
Tue, 12/12/2023
Paul Popiel named dean of KU School of Music
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas has selected Paul Popiel as the next dean of the KU School of Music. Popiel has served as the interim dean since January. He has been a professor of music at KU since 2010. ...
Tue, 12/05/2023
15 KU students named 2024 Global Scholars
LAWRENCE — From around the world and across diverse academic units, 15 University of Kansas second-year students have been selected as the 2024 cohort of Global Scholars. ...
Tue, 11/21/2023
Opera singer, director aims to embody music’s epic storytelling
LAWRENCE – For Stella Markou, opera is a ticket to a magical world where she can embody not only life’s ecstasy and agony but even inhabit the skin of the greatest singer of all time. ...
Tue, 11/14/2023
The KU Wind Ensemble Receives the 2023 American Prize in Band/Wind Ensemble Performance
Mon, 10/30/2023
Author details how Czechs overlaid politics onto Mozart
LAWRENCE – Even though Mozart lived mostly in Vienna and only visited Prague four times, German- and Czech-speaking residents of Prague have fought over his legacy ever since, trying to make it support their nationalistic beliefs. ...