Music

Student actors stand on a darkly lit stage

UMBC’s latest graduates in the arts forge new creative paths despite a challenging year

The past pandemic year saw arts communities unable to connect with audiences in traditional ways. Usually reliant on people gathering together to experience their work, creators and performers were thrust online. Some artistic experiences were rendered impossible, but the challenging situation didn’t slow the creative efforts of visual and performing artists of UMBC’s Class of 2021. Continue Reading UMBC’s latest graduates in the arts forge new creative paths despite a challenging year

Five rectangular pieces of white paper with red, black, and yellow prints.

UMBC expands arts opportunities for K-8 students in Baltimore through Charlesmead partnership

Two UMBC projects have taken flight this spring, designed to support the academic, creative, and social success of Baltimore City students through arts opportunities. Both projects are funded through the UMBC-Charlesmead Initiative for Arts Education, which was established in 2018 with a $500,000, five-year gift from the Charlesmead Foundation. Continue Reading UMBC expands arts opportunities for K-8 students in Baltimore through Charlesmead partnership

Girls on a Dirt Pile

UMBC’s newest arts grads forge ahead with creative work, despite a year apart

As the pandemic surged across the country last spring, university arts venues closed their doors, but that didn’t stop UMBC artists from creating. Without the traditional opportunities for collaboration that can be so important in dance, music, theatre, and the visual arts, they turned to new approaches and to individual projects with determination and passion. Continue Reading UMBC’s newest arts grads forge ahead with creative work, despite a year apart

Daniel Pesca

Library of Congress commissions UMBC’s Daniel Pesca to bring new work of music to the public during pandemic

Pianist Daniel Pesca will participate in the Library of Congress’s Boccaccio Project, in which ten composers will be paired with ten performers. The newly commissioned musical compositions will be presented in a series of online broadcasts. Continue Reading Library of Congress commissions UMBC’s Daniel Pesca to bring new work of music to the public during pandemic

Creating new pathways: Meet ten UMBC arts graduates advancing their fields

Majoring in the arts requires intense levels of stamina and self-discipline — long hours rehearsing, creating, writing, designing, interpreting — coupled with an inner drive for inquiry and perfection. UMBC’s undergraduate and graduate students in the arts are no exception, reaching forward even in this era of social distancing. Continue Reading Creating new pathways: Meet ten UMBC arts graduates advancing their fields

Linda Dusman

Linda Dusman, professor and chair of music, named Bearman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship

Linda Dusman, professor and chair of music, has been named The Herbert Bearman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship for 2020 – 2023. The three-year appointment will enable Dusman to further her work with EnCue, an audience engagement app she co-designed for use during classical music performance. Continue Reading Linda Dusman, professor and chair of music, named Bearman Foundation Chair in Entrepreneurship

UMBC's gamelan, a unique Indonesian musical instrument

Beat of a Different Drum: UMBC’s Unique Musical Instrument, the Gamelan

In the corner of the Music Box theater, a spacious room on the first floor of the Performing Arts and Humanities Building, lives a curious collection of gold-colored instruments. Organized in an ensemble on the floor, all of the pieces make up the gamelan, one of the most unique musical instruments on campus. “Take your shoes off and find a spot to jump right in,” says instructor Gina Beck, M.A. ’90, ethnomusicology, as she invites her students to sit on floor mats behind each individual piece of the Indonesian instrument. They file in toward the gamelan and choose their places.… Continue Reading Beat of a Different Drum: UMBC’s Unique Musical Instrument, the Gamelan

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