Professor Kurt Rohde—a musician who plays viola, teaches, and
composes—received a 2024 commission from the Serge
Koussevitzky Foundation in memory of Andrew W. Imbrie
(1921–2007) to write a new work for Brightwork New Music.
In 2023 Professor Mika Pelo was selected for a composer residency
by the Peterson-Berger Foundation at Sommarhagen, the home of
the late Swedish composer Wilhelm Peterson-Berger. As part of the
residency, Pelo composed a new
work, Akvareller (“Watercolors”).
This past spring Catherine Adoyo (B.A. music and Italian,
’98) was featured in the PBS documentary DANTE:
Inferno to Paradise. The film contained interviews
with the world’s foremost scholars on Dante including
Adoyo.
UC Davis Choral Director Nicolás Alberto Dosman is the author
of Growing Your Choral Program: A Practical Guide for
New Directors, which was recently published.
Mariana Da Silva Gabriel, Ph.D. student in musicology, was
awarded the Northern California Prize in Musicology for her
paper “More Than Words: A Study of Chico Buarque and
Gilberto Gil’s ‘Cálice’ and ‘Covert’ Musical Protest.”
Pablo Ortiz, Distinguished Professor of Music, will have an
opera, Kassandra, premiered
at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on
August 23, with performances until September 1. The
opera features text by the Uruguayan playwright Sergio
Blanco.
Lecturer in voice Jonathan Nadel will sing in the chorus for
Beethoven’s Ninth—sung in Ukrainian—at the
Kennedy Center on Aug. 4 with the Ukrainian Freedom
Orchestra.
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Music Anna Maria Busse Berger
was awarded the Edward A. Dickson Emeritus Award by the Emeriti
Association and Vice Provost of Academic Affairs, UC Davis. The
award will augment Busse Berger’s research project on music in
Moravian mission stations from 1732 to 1950.
Chris Froh, continuing lecturer, received the 2024 Undergraduate
Teaching Award from the Academic Federation. Froh is known for
teaching courses that include Theory, Rock Music, History of the
Beatles, percussion ensemble and individual percussion students.
Professor Kurt E. Rohde’s composition seeking all that’s
still unsung will receive its world premiere at Brandeis
University performed by the Lydian String Quartet on
April 6.
Professor Carol A. Hess has recently received the Lifetime
Achievement Award from the Society for American Music, which
promotes music of the Americas. The presentation was made on
March 23 during the society’s annual conference.
Robert S. Bloch, UC Davis professor emeritus of music, died on
November 4 at age 89. He was a member of the faculty from 1974 to
2000, primarily teaching violin and music theory in addition to
giving concerts. The UC Davis Music Department remains
grateful for the musicianship Bloch shared on stage and in the
classroom. Theodore Karp, a prior faculty member (1963–73) who
went on to teach at Northwestern University, previously described
Bloch as “A quiet man with a ready, genial wit.” He was also
self-admittedly restless, which showed in the breadth of his
endeavors.
Colin Minigan, a graduate student in music composition, was
invited by Professor Margaret Laurena Kemp, chair of the
Department of Theatre and Dance, to set music to the Bard’s words
and write underscoring for William Shakespeare’s As You Like
It. The production is a contemporary staging of the classic
comedy and is directed by alum Josy Miller (Ph.D., performance
studies, ‘15), and with Minigan’s added music it has a “folksy
indie pop” feel to it.
Miguel Petris (B.A. music, ’21) was recently selected for a
prestigious internship with Silkroad—the arts, education, and
social-impact nonprofit organization founded by Yo-Yo Ma in 1998.
Professor Carol A. Hess was named an honorary
member by the American
Musicological Society on Sept. 15. The society recognizes
recipients for their extraordinary contributions to the study and
teaching of music.
Tito Talamantes, who directs the UC Davis Mariachi Ensemble, was
featured by Fox 40 News. Talamantes now directs the Advanced
Mariachi Ensemble at Cesar Chavez High School in Stockton, where
he began as a student.
Matilda Hofman, a lecturer in music at UC Davis, has been named
the new Artistic Director of the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble
beginning with their 2023–24 season. Left Coast is based in the
Bay Area and has gained a reputation for bringing to light
treasured works alongside new creations by living composers.
