Alumni
In his year-end message, Dean John Davis reflects on the college's commitment to both refining and expanding our offerings: "Our faculty members, advisors and other staff are highly motivated to ensure that our students not only master their chosen craft, but also emerge as well-rounded, adaptable professionals prepared to take on the opportunities and challenges of a rapidly changing world."
Cody Goetz (MM ’19, piano performance + pedagogy) was part of the first cohort to graduate from the College of Music with a Graduate Certificate in Arts Administration. Today, he’s executive director of Mundi Project.
College of Music Jazz Studies Lecturer Matt Smiley has been awarded a MacDowell Fellowship enabling him to advance his compositional goals by exploring the intersection of jazz and contemporary classical music, and embracing improvisation and innovative composition techniques that challenge the boundaries of both genres.
The College of Music has had an alternatively-sized keyboard on loan since April 2023. Recent graduate Abigail Terrill shares how the narrower keyboard is helpful, why it’s needed and what her thesis research found about the process of transitioning between pianos.
At the CU Â鶹ӰԺ Entrepreneurship Center for Music, students can find the skills and tools they need for their music careers. This spring, the ECM awarded $5,820 in grants to support eight student-led professional development and community engagement projects.
At the College of Music’s commencement ceremony on May 9, we’ll welcome esteemed music educator Joshua Russell back to campus—and present him the College of Music’s 2024 Distinguished Alumnus Award!
Join us on March 7 for student performances celebrating women-identifying composers.
The CU Â鶹ӰԺ College of Music community mourns the recent passing of alumnus Ben Pollack (BME ’14). As a band and choral music educator with a track record of success, Pollack sought to influence large-scale changes in education through music and community.
Known for her heartfelt philanthropy on both local and national levels, Anna Sie left a powerful legacy of impact at CU Â鶹ӰԺ, including establishing a transformational student scholarship in the College of Music with her husband, John, and endowing several faculty chairs.
Three College of Music alumni recently launched the Scheherazade Music Festival—an incubator for innovation and connection through chamber music, pushing the art form forward and bringing performers, composers and audiences together.