Students in composition and theory combine private composition lessons with seminars in composition, analysis, orchestration, and related topics. The IonSound Project, the music department's ensemble-in-residence, gives a concert of works by graduate student composers each spring.
Each semester the Department of Music presents visiting scholars who are leaders in their fields. All lectures are free to the public. For more information call 412-624-4125 or e-mail concerts@pitt.edu.
Friday, November 6, 1:30 PM
Frick Fine Arts Auditorium
Faculty members Mathew Rosenblum and Michael Heller will each participate in interdisciplinary presentations by the Department of English during the month of September.
Jeff Weston, a doctoral candidate in composition and theory, has received a commission from the Ernst Krenek Institut Privatstiftung. Weston will compose a 10–15 minute chamber work to be premiered by Klangforum Wien in 2018. His commission will include a three week residency at the Ernst Krenek Institute in Krems, Austria in fall of 2017.
Associate professor Amy Williams has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar for 2017–18 at University College Cork, Ireland. During her Fulbright year she will split her duties between teaching and composing. Williams intends to compose several pieces including a Koussevitsky commission for soprano Tony Arnold and Jack Quartet.
Laura Schwartz, a PhD candidate in composition and theory, has received significant recognition for Wreathes, a new piece for strings (Jan 2017). Wreathes was the winning submission for the sixth annual Dead Elf Music Award for an outstanding composition by a University of Pittsburgh graduate student. The composition also won the Margaret Blackburn Composition Competition awarded biennially to a female student composer.
Congratulations to the Class of 2017! Graduates of the BA, MA, and PhD programs gathered together with faculty, staff, and family members for a meal and recognition ceremony for our artist/scholars and the milestones they have achieved. Faculty advisors summarized each graduate’s area of focus and accomplishments in way that was highly personal and indicative of the close collaboration that occurs between our faculty and students. Thanks to all the Graduates and family members who joined us for this wonderful time of celebration!
Charles Lwanga has had a productive and rewarding spring, including the premiere of a new duet for trombone and percussion and being appointed Visiting Assistant Professor at Skidmore College. Lwanga completed his PhD at Pitt in composition/theory and is preparing to defend a second PhD in ethnomusicology, so he is particularly well suited to a position at Skidmore that will call on him to teach both music theory and ethnomusicology courses.
The Department of Music is pleased to announce that four of our doctoral candidates have been selected as Andrew Mellon Pre-doctoral Fellows for the 2017–18 academic year. Jazz studies doctoral candidate John Bagnato, composer/theorists Ryan McMasters, and Brian Riordan, and musicologist Juan Fernando Velásquez Ospina are each poised to complete innovative research and creative work during their fellowship years.
PhD Candidate Jeff Weston’s composition Ruler Piece No. 3: Slow Power Chord has been selected for performance in the 2017 Mise-En Music Festival. Ensemble Mise-En will perform the work during its festival taking place in New York City from June 20–25. Weston’s work was one of 49 chosen from over 1,100 submissions and will be part of a festival representing composers from around the world.