News

Tusa retires from the university after a Remarkable 40-year career at the Butler School

The University of Texas Trombone Choir wrapped up the semester with an impromptu concert at the alumni center. They spread Christmas cheer with a number of classics, including Feliz Navidad, Winter Wonderland and We Three Kings. "I feel like this is a perfect way to wrap things up," said D.M.A Trombone student Jared Dickerson, who played trombone and conducted a number of tunes during the concert. "We had a lot of serious concerts during the year, which is great to be back in the concert hall, but this is also part of the live music, just super casual playing for people."

The Hispanic Caribbean Ensemble played their final concert of the semester recently outside a local market in Central Austin. The group performed a number of acoustic and electrified dance pieces in a casual setting for a public crowd. They played along with the Butler School's Tex-Mex Conjunto and Middle Eastern Ensemble for a comprehensive showing of the school's world music groups.

"The best part of the concert was when we saw all these people towards the last couple of tunes come up into the front and start dancing and moving around," said J.A. Strub, a doctoral student in Ethnomusicology who sang vocals and played a variety of instruments during the concert. "We saw interactions from people of all different generations."

The Butler School is proud to announce the 2021-22 Rainwater Grant winners. Students who were selected through a competitive process will receive funding to implement their proposed projects. Founded in 2017, the Rainwater Fund for American Music was established with a $5 million endowment created by the late UT Austin alumnus Richard E. Rainwater (B.A., Mathematics, 1966), a Fort Worth investor and fund adviser. 

Master's student in piano pedagogy Moegi Amano's article "Where to Begin" was recently published in Piano Magazine. Amano details the process for learning a new piece successfully, from identifying the title and how it's expressed in the piece, to creating characters and a story line in order to better imagine the piece.

Go inside rehearsal with the University of Texas Symphony Orchestra as they prepare for the final performance of the semester. Students discuss their love for the music, their shared experience and beloved conductor, the orchestra's Director of Music Farkhad Khudyev, who brings passion and energy to every rehearsal and concert.

The Caribbean Ensemble makes its annual Bates Recital Hall performance this Wednesday, November 10 at 7:30 pm. Led by Ethnomusicology Professor Robin Moore, they play a variety of musical styles including acoustic and electrified dance music mainly from the Spanish speaking Caribbean countries of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The ensemble consists of graduate Ethnomusicology students and undergraduate freshman, and it's a space where students of all skill levels can learn, grow musically and, most importantly, have fun!

Understanding the importance of playing with other musicians, Professor of Bassoon Kristin Wolfe Jensen resolved to find a way for her students to play together safely after the pandemic hit in spring 2020. That's how she came up with the October Bassoon Ensemble Festival. Her students put on a physically distanced live performance at Mueller Park, just a few minutes north of UT Austin's campus, to the delight of anyone in the park that day willing to watch and listen.

Jensen and her students had so much fun it's now an annual tradition! "At the end of the day, music is just about connecting with other people," said Quincey Trojanowski, a junior in bassoon performance who played in this year's performance. 

We go behind the scenes to see how the Butler Opera Center's resident designer, Aaron Kubacak, creates costumes for shows. Working closely with the show's director, he begins with research and drawings, then brings them to life. Kubacak is a UT Austin alumnus having earned his master's degree in costume design from the Department of Theatre and Dance within the College of Fine Arts.