News Stories

Andy J. Normann, a Ph.D. student in ethnomusicology, is heading to the University of the Witwaterstrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, for one year as a recipient of a Research Award from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. While there, he’ll conduct fieldwork for his dissertation on the South African music industry.

John Bimbiras, a Butler School of Music Ph.D. student in ethnomusicology, won a fellowship this week from the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute. Housed in The City College of New York, the $10,000 award will send him to the institute to scour through its vast archival and library resources for his dissertation research. 

The Butler School's Percussion Ensemble 2020, led by professor Thomas Burritt, released a 50-minute-video based on Yaz Lancaster's piece dis[armed]. It explores gun violence in the U.S., particularly mass shootings and the killing of unarmed Black people by police, and encourages a thoughtful reflection on where our country can go from here. Supporting works include Joseph Pereira (Mallet Quartet), Devonté Hynes (Perfectly Voiceless), and a world premiere of (Elysium Infernum) by UT Percussion DMA student Cy Miessler.

Thomas Rodriguez, a 3rd year undergraduate student at the Butler School, will compose a piece on April 22nd inspired by Joel Perlman’s Square Tilt for the annual Landmark event. Due to the pandemic, performances this year are virtual. 

Bion Tsang, a Butler School professor of cello, performed virtually Saturday Night in a Chamber Music International concert. Playing alongside four other relatively unfamiliar violinists and violists, Scott Cantrell, writing for the Dallas Morning News, said the group sounded "like they had been playing together for years."

The Harry Ransom Center awarded Butler School of Music Professor Luisa Nardini along with two graduate students, Kyrie Bouressa and Andrea Klassen, a fellowship for the 2021-22 academic year. The group is tasked with cataloging and indexing Chant Manuscripts from the medieval period.

Jonathan Villela, a graduate student in conducting in the Butler School of Music, was recently named a Henry Luce Scholar, a fellowship program created by the Henry Luce Foundation in 1974 to enhance the understanding of Asia among potential leaders in American society.

By Mariane Gutierrez

Professor of Voice Darlene Wiley was recently named to the American Academy of Teachers of Singing, a select group of internationally recognized voice teachers and singing voice experts with the purpose of contributing to the singing profession in an advisory capacity. She began her career as a lyric coloratura at the Staatstheater Darmstadt, and she has now accumulated more than 1,500 opera performances. Wiley has performed at more than 25 opera houses and received awards such as that of Distinguished Professor at Myong Ji University. We recently caught up with Wiley about her recent induction.

Nathaniel Brickens has been awarded funding for a “global career launch” (international internship program) to partner with two UT alumni in Zurich, Switzerland: David Garcia, a trombonist in the Zurich Orchestra, and Bill Thomas, a trombonist in Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich. Students will receive mentorship and coaching from trombonists of these historic orchestras and will also attend auditions and performances. At the completion of the internship, students will present a trombone octet concert at a Zurich venue.