News Stories

Hak Min Kim (D.M.A. opera directing 2009) has been named director of the Korean National Opera in Seoul, Korea. This position is one of the most important arts positions in the country and comes at a time when opera is gaining a strong audience in Korea. Kim had established himself as the premier opera director in Korea prior to being named to the National Opera and is also an associate professor of theater and film at Kyung Hee University.

Kelly Kuo, current interim music director of the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and conductor of the Sarah and Ernest Butler Opera Center, is one of five finalists selected to audition to be the next leader of the 32-member Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. The finalists were winnowed from a field of 200 applicants from three continents during a six-month review.

Brian Heim (B.M. Composition 2014) was selected as one of the recipients of the 2015 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. While a student at the Butler School, he studied under professors Dan Welcher and Yevgeniy Sharlat. Selected from an application pool of more than 600 submissions, the 28 young composer award-winners were recognized at the annual ASCAP Concert Music Awards at Merkin Concert Hall in New York.

NBC News spent a day at the Butler School's third annual summer Mariachi Camp. The brainchild of Butler School Lecturer Ezekiel Castro, the camp "aims to immerse young U.S. Latinos into the rich heritage of the beloved Mexican musical genre."

Texas Standard reports, and current Butler School clarinet doctoral candidate Roy Park comments. Listen for him at 0:47.

Professor of Ethnomusicology Robin Moore, along with co-author Alejandro L. Madrid, was interviewed by the International Association for the Study of Popular Music, U.S. Branch regarding his new book, Danzón: Circum-Caribbean Dialogues in Music and Dance.

The Midwest Clinic, an international band and orchestra conference, has awarded Professor Jerry Junkin the Midwest Clinic Medal of Honor.

Senior Lecturer and Instructor of Violin Sandy Yamamoto was named Best Instrumentalist at the 2014-2015 Austin Critics' Table Awards for her performance of Franck: Sonata in A Major. See the full list of winners here.

In this multimedia piece in the Austin American-Statesman, Director Ezekiel (Zeke) Castro and his MariachiParedes - UT Mariachi Ensemble are profiled.

Scott Hanna has been named the new director of the Longhorn Band at The University of Texas at Austin.