Alumni Stories

Linda Jung (BA ’18, Linehan Scholar) will continue her studies at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) after graduating from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University with her master’s degree. She will be pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance under the tutelage of Mr. Michael Chertock with a graduate assistantship in Opera Accompanying.

Congratulations to Linda!

You can find out more info and reserve tickets here.

Congratulations to Ellington!

Dorsey engages students of varying ages to investigate life-based concepts through a creative process. His impact can be seen throughout the state, having facilitated courses on cultivating creativity with UMBC, Loyola University Maryland, University of Maryland, College Park, and Towson University, as well as leading collaborative curriculum/ project planning with Prince George's, Queen Anne's, and Baltimore City Public Schools.

You can read more about Dorsey's journey in this story in the UMBC Magazine.

The award will be presented at the 2023 Alumni Awards ceremony on Thursday, October 26, 2023 at 6:30pm in the Linehan Concert Hall. More information about the event can be found here and a livestream can be viewed here. 

Join us for UMBC’s 13th annual Livewire new music festival, an exploration of new sounds presented in six concerts over four days, October 18 to 21.

What is the role of music in our society? What are the inherent powers that lie within music to transform our lives? These are the questions that will be pondered in this year’s Livewire 13: Transformation festival through music, featuring ensembles and works that specifically address music’s role in bringing about transformation on a personal and global level. Meaningful participation in music, whether as a listener, creator or performer requires reflection on the intent behind the music and how best to connect with it on a personal level. Each concert is intended to open up the myriad of ways in which we listen and draw inspiration from music.

The festival opens with pianist Idith Meshulam Korman, who has witnessed firsthand how music directly delivers hope and possibilities to residents in a correctional facility. She will be joined by poet-creator Reese Basile on his original composition, and will perform works that were regarded as some of the most impactful.

Decoda Ensemble, a featured ensemble of the festival, has made a lasting impact on many vulnerable communities in the United States. They will present a wide-ranging program with composers from varied backgrounds and works with poignant themes.

This year’s festival will celebrate five world premieres that were all created from composers’ personal experiences and explore critical social issues in our society.

Livewire’s presentation of Decoda is supported in part by the UMBC’s Center for Innovation, Research and Creativity in the Arts.

Additional co-sponsorship for Livewire has been provided by the Linehan Fund for Excellence in the Arts; the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, and the Office of the Provost.

Read the article here: https://umbc.edu/stories/qa-bentley-corbett-wilson-trumpets-the-pep-band-and-school-spirit/

Sunstrider, including UMBC music majors Miles Malone and Zach Powell and UMBC music alumni Ricky Jefferson ('20) and Pat Clark ('20)

Love for Strangers, including UMBC music tech majors Connor Lefevre, Jefferson Hirshman, and Danny Stuckenschnieder

and Kosmo (UMBC Music alum Nick Kosmas, '22)

Doors are at 8pm and showtime is 9pm. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. Tickets are available here.

Christian Hartman ('20, cello performance) will be performing a solo cello work by Kathryn Blake ('21, composition) at the District New Music Coalition's New Music DC 2022 Conference. Kathryn's piece Threnody for the Prematurely Departed will be part of the 1:00 P.M. concert on Sunday, October 16th at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park. A full schedule of events and tickets for the conference can be found here.

Kathryn's piece was also featured in an August 2022 article on the Hong Kong Cellist Society's blog entitled "Why You Should Learn This Piece" by Brian Patrick Bromberg. The article includes a recording of Christian's performance and describes the technical and musical aspects of the work that make it engaging to perform.

Congrats to Kathryn and Christian!

Congrats to Kathryn!!

Program note for Just Ordinary (2019) by Kathryn Blake:

In the midst of a stressful period, a listen to the world around me helped create this piece. I based Just Ordinary on the sounds I heard and catalogued on a typical day – doors opening and closing, cars and busses driving by, chatter, insects, wind, and birdsong – and reinvented them into a percussive world for a solo performer. The piece mixes these sounds which were taken from morning to night, and layered them on top of one another, leaving some sections quiet and gentle, while others are lively and full of color. I gave the performer the freedom to select the instruments based on loose descriptions of a desired sound (e.g., wood, resonant and non-resonant metals), thus giving them the freedom to design their personal interpretation of the world around them. This piece provides an opportunity to reflect on the environment in which we live, to notice how we view the world through different lenses, and to appreciate the things in life that we think are Just Ordinary.