UNC Department of Music

06/18/2026

Caroline blue sky ✅
Birds ✅
Breeze ✅
Shade ✅
Live music from a nearby rehearsal ✅✅✅

The perfect Carolina summer afternoon 🩵

06/15/2026

Next week is the Summer Jazz Workshop! Don’t miss the incredible free performances every day next week. Swipe to see what's coming up and check out our online calendar for all the details at https://music.unc.edu/calendar/.

06/11/2026

Proof to not let that idea you had last week, last semester, or last year dwindle away – maybe it just needs time to marinate, as this paper did for Professor Mark Katz.

“This article began life as an idea I had while I was an undergrad 30+ years ago. I kept setting it aside because it was always just a side project, though occasionally I worked on it as a way to avoid my higher priority projects,” wrote Dr. Katz. “Eventually, I found the time to focus on it properly, and I was delighted that it was published by the Journal of the American Musicological Society in 2024. And yesterday, it received the Frances Densmore Prize from the American Musical Instrument Society. Thank you, AMIS!”

Congratulations, Professor Katz!

06/08/2026

“The festival was kicked off in style by the Carolina Bluegrass Band, featuring recent graduates of the University of North Carolina’s Bluegrass Initiative. These young pickers proved that the tradition is in excellent hands, delivering a set that was as technically precise as it was soulful. “

Congratulations to the Carolina Bluegrass Band on a knockout performance at the recent 2nd Annual Carrboro Bluegrass Festival! Read the full reviews of the festival in Bluegrass Today and the Daily Tar Heel at https://bluegrasstoday.com/rain-or-shine-a-recap-of-the-2026-carrboro-bluegrass-festival/ and https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/27681253-16fa-458b-b851-3e605e4ab31d

📸: Andrew Sellers / The Daily Tar Heel

06/05/2026

It’s New Music Friday, and we’re so excited to share that Dr. Kelariz Keshavarz recently published her composition “Mourn” with Theodore Presser! “'Mourn' is a powerful soliloquy of unsettling grace, written in memory of innocent civilians who have lost their lives in times of war and conflict,” notes the publisher. “This slow, unmetered work develops through contrasting thoughts that are explored and interrupted. The work grew out of the composer’s own flute improvisations during a period of reflection.”

Check out the sheet music for “Mourn” at https://www.presser.com/114-42555-mourn.html. Congratulations, Dr. Keshavarz!

06/02/2026

“To ‘play pretend’ is to embody who you aspire to be, to shift out of rumination and into reality. And that goes for our dreams, goals, and love. I hope you can find yourself in the themes of this album, and that it can mean even a fraction to you what it means to me.”

Congratulations to rising senior Cogan McMichaels on the release of his debut album, Play Pretend, yesterday! Though this is his debut album, the music major and business administration minor is no stranger to creating music. Having released over 20 singles and an EP already, Cogan considers this album the next big step in his musical journey. Being raised by a musician and an artist, creativity and music have always been a large part of his life, though he didn’t enter his undergraduate years at Carolina as a music major. Instead, this decision came in his sophomore year after realizing that his passion for music was more than just a hobby. “I went into winter break obsessed with everything I’d learned, writing songs using the Nashville Number System, and newly confident in some musical terminology,” Cogan reflected. “That same semester, on the night of my 20th birthday, I had an epiphany … I decided that I would major in music.”

“I’ll never stop writing and producing my own music, and I’m looking for others who feel the same way. The fourth song on the album, ‘Melodies,’ is about realizing my life will always revolve around music. I don’t know where … Read more

05/29/2026

✨Graduate Student Appreciation Post✨

We’re so proud to have such phenomenal graduate students teaching and researching alongside our esteemed faculty. From conference presentations and hosting the 15th Annual UNC-KCL Music Conference in Chapel Hill to earning awards and scholarships for their research and teaching undergraduate and community courses, music graduate students impressed on all fronts. In May, we capped off another wonderful academic year by celebrating three new M.A. graduates and five new Ph.D. graduates at the department commencement ceremony. Read about some of this year’s impressive accomplishments of this incredible group of scholars via the link below!

The department is proud to have phenomenal graduate students teaching and researching alongside our esteemed faculty.

05/26/2026

“Multiple times, in different countries, people have just kind of waved me over and asked me who I am, what I’m doing and then say, ‘Would you like some tea?’ and I end up sitting and having tea with people I’ve never met. There are a lot of friendly, welcoming people all over the world. I like to think that if you just open yourself up to being approachable and friendly, those are the times I feel good about the world.”

Congratulations to Distinguished Professor Mark Katz on his recent Fulbright U.S. Scholar award! Katz is no stranger to global travel, research, and teaching. Among many projects, he founded Next Level in 2013, a global hip-hop diplomacy program funded by the U.S. State Department. Katz plans to use the Fulbright Award to conduct research in Korea next year.

📸: Donn Young

Professor Mark Katz, recently awarded a Fulbright U.S. Scholar award, uses music and technology for American diplomacy.

05/22/2026

“I like to tell my students that there are many ways to build knowledge and talk about history. Who we are matters and how that story is told. I think music makes us human. By hearing and understanding music, we learn a lot about each other.”

Distinguished Professor Naomi André began her musical journey as a pianist but quickly changed course to pursue her first love: singing. And that’s how she found her calling — specifically in studying opera, both as an art form and a reflection of life. Now, Dr. André is an opera scholar who describes her work as examining opera in both expected and unexpected places, ranging from the opera stage in the United States, Europe, and South Africa to teaching opera in prisons.

“I have a wide scope in how I think about opera,” she said. “I was trained in a traditional opera canon, and I wrote my dissertation on Giuseppe Verdi. I’m currently teaching a first-year seminar on Verdi’s operas. However, I am also a founding member of the Black Opera Research Network, with members across the U.S., South Africa and Europe. We think about Black composers, performers and librettists and how Blackness is represented in opera.”
UNC College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Naomi André is an opera scholar who describes her work as examining opera in both expected and unexpected places

05/19/2026

“The creative sound design projects I completed in Music Production I with Professor Pablo Vega became a central part of my graduate application portfolio. The technical foundations and mentorship I received from Prof. Vega were truly pivotal in helping me reach this next step.”

Recent graduate Will Kim, who earned his Bachelor of Science in Statistics and Analytics earlier this month, is headed to Duke University this fall to pursue his Master of Engineering in Game Design, Development, and Innovation. “As I’ve been reflecting on my journey to this program, I realized how much the Music department shaped my path. I originally started taking classes like Fundamentals of Tonal Music (MUSC 121) to fulfill a general requirement, but I ended up following my interest into Rap Lab (MUSC 157) and Music Production I (MUSC 161) with Professor Pablo Vega,” he reflected.

The gratitude and admiration that Will has for Prof. Vega are mirrored in Vega’s pride for his former student. “Will is an exceptional student, and his acceptance into the Master of Engineering in Game Design is a testament to what we’re building here at UNC,” wrote Prof. Vega. “Teaching these last five years has been a highlight of my professional career, and moments like this reinforce my commitment to educating the next generation of industry professionals.”

Congratulations to Will on his graduation and his acceptance to the Master's program at Duke!