News

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tasso and Music Symposium will now take place via Zoom video conference during the April 17-19 weekend (9:30am-12:30pm each day). Over a dozen music historians and literary scholars from North America and Europe will present papers on the musical legacy of 16th-century Italian poet Torquato Tasso.

When Ryan Hollander ’17 (Vocal Jazz Performance) saw many of his favorite artists presenting live streamed performances during the COVID-19 pandemic, it struck a chord. The result is COVID-Stock, a rolling series of performances organized by Hollander featuring the talents of over 40 alumni of the UMass Amherst Music and Dance Department.

Kayla Werlin ‘90MM has been named one of this year’s Music Teachers of Excellence by the Country Music Association Foundation. The award honors teachers of all musical styles who “demonstrate exemplary teaching and student learning, and are committed to making a positive impact on their school and community while raising awareness for the broader cause of music education.”

In full support of the efforts across the University and our region to contain the coronavirus COVID-19, the Department of Music & Dance will not be hosting any live events for the remainder of the spring semester. More info

The New Immigrant Experience, composed by 2018 Guggenheim Fellow and UMass music professor Felipe Salles, will be released on March 20, 2020 on Tapestry Records. The two-CD/DVD set, featuring the 18-piece Felipe Salles Interconnections Ensemble, is a powerful new multimedia work inspired by the lives of “Dreamers,” the almost 700,000 individuals currently protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Matt Naeger, a senior trumpet major, was chosen to perform with this year’s Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Jazz Orchestra (MACJO) in Rockville, MD. Seniors Jacob Kaplan, saxophone; Ben Powell; guitar, as well as freshman Coleman Hovey, piano (alternates), also performed on selected pieces at this prestigious event.