A Symposium at UCLA October 1-3, 2026 This three-day symposium welcomes scholars, practitioners, and students to join the international Black Opera Research Network (BORN) for papers, a workshop, a performance, and the North American premiere of an opera film. Highlights include a performance by composer Yvette Janine Jackson and her Radio Opera Workshop ensemble; a presentation on the launch of BORN’s Black Opera Critical Editions series; and a screening of the South African opera film Nkoli: A Fierce and Fabulous Life, about anti- Apartheid and AIDS activist Simon Nkoli, with an introduction by the composer and music director. For the most up-to-date information and further details about the symposium please visit our event website: This event is made possible by the UCLA Chancellor’s Arts Initiative, the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, the UCLA Center for Musical Humanities, the UCLA Walter H. Rubsamen Music Library and the UCLA Music Library’s Hugo and Christine Davise Fund. Yvette Janine Jackson and the screening of Nkoli are presented in partnership with CAP UCLA at the UCLA Nimoy Theater. This program is made possible by the Joyce S and Robert U. Nelson Fund. Robert Uriel Nelson was a revered musicologist and music professor at UCLA, who, together with his wife, established a generous endowment for the university to make programs like this possible.

The Berry Gordy Music Industry Speaker Series celebrates the 30th anniversary of Stones Throw Records with founder, DJ, producer, and label visionary Peanut Butter Wolf (Chris Manak). Founded in 1996, Stones Throw has built an influential independent music community by championing distinctive voices and music that crosses the boundaries of hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, electronic music, and beyond. The conversation will explore three decades of independent music-making, artist development, creative risk-taking, and building a record label guided by curiosity and a commitment to the art of music making as well as the label’s upcoming three-day, 30th Anniversary, music festival in Highland Park where the label’s past, present, and future will come together for an all-ages outdoor extravaganza of over 30 artists.

On the 100th anniversary of John Coltrane’s birth year, The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music’s global jazz studies program will celebrate this giant of the saxophone, this jazz innovator and spiritual/artistic icon of the Black Arts Movement, this patron saint of avant garde. This symposium will honor Coltrane in words. The keynote address will be delivered by  Archbishop Franzo King, co-founder of the Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church. The keynote address in addition to remarks by the archbishop will feature music from members of the church. Symposium Schedule Opening remarks Salim Washington   Panel 1 (2:10 pm) Moderator Steve Loza Andy Beta, “Infinity as Autobiography”: Alice Coltrane’s Reimagining of John Coltrane’s Late Recordings” Beta examines the critical reception of Alice Coltrane’s Infinity recording, and the ways in which the recording reflected upon her development as an artist. Nadia Milad Issa, “Saint Coltrane, the Dance Eulogy, and the Spirit Veil, ‘A Love Supreme’ as Ancestral Mediation”. This paper positions Coltrane’s canonization b the St. John Coltrane church not as an isolated action of Bay Area devotion but as a template for choreographic and religious practice alike: testimony converted into ritual, grief converted into repeated form. Martin Hundley, “Alice Coltrane, Sound of Free Universe: Performance Practice, Technology, and Feminist Epistemology” This paper explores the ways in which Alice Coltrane’s musical sound and instrumental performance practice expresses the complexity of her identity, world view, spirituality, and travels, both geographically and temporally. Hundley employs and ethnographic and musicological approach to Coltrane’s recording Translinear Light.   Special Guest Speaker (3:40 pm)     Panel 2 (3:50 p.m.) Moderator Regina Carter-Garnett Scott B. Spencer, “Meme and Variations: How Video Mashups of John Coltrane’s ‘Giant Steps’ Became a Thing” The intent of this study is to explore John Coltrane’s online legacy, use it to expand our field’s toolset to better deal with digital texts, and to tease out their various cultural contexts. Aaron J. Johnson, “Africa/Brass and the Communal Experience of Engaging the Music of John Coltrane” With the vision of Reggie Workman and Charles Tolliver Africa/Brass has afforded the uncommon opportunity for musicians to communally share the experience of performing Coltrane’s music and invoking his spirit. John-Carlos Perea, “Versions as Relations: Naima, John Coltrane, and Jim Pepper” This paper considers the original 1959 recording of “Naima” and the subsequent versioning of it by Jim Pepper as a sonification through which to amplify Pepper’s relationship to Coltrane via Pepper’s experiences through Southern Plains Intertribal powwow musical practices.   Keynote Address (5:20 pm) Archbishop Franzo King and members of the African Orthodox Church of John Coltrane “The Continued Relevance of John Coltrane” Theodore A. Harris, Coltrane’s Thunderclap, 1998, paper collage. 11X17in   ABOUT THE ART WORK Theodore A. Harris, Coltrane’s Thunderclap. 1998, paper collage, 11×17 in. Theodore A. Harris (1966-) is a Philadelphia-based visual artist and poet. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is in private and public collections such as Libraries and Museum University of Delaware, Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center, University of New Mexico Art Museum, Saint Louis University Museum of Art, La Salle University Art Museum, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, McGill University Visual Arts Collection, Center for Africana Studies; University of Pennsylvania, Kislak Center Rare Books and Manuscript Library; University of Pennsylvania, and the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art, and the Winston and Carolyn Lowe Collection. Harris is the co-founder of the Anti-Graffiti Network/Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. Harris has also co-authored and authored books including Our Flesh of Flames (2019), Malcolm X as Ideology (2008) with Amiri Baraka, TRIPTYCH with Amiri Baraka and Jack Hirschman (2011), i ran from it and was still in it with Fred Moten (2007), and Thesentür: Conscientious Objector to Formalism (2017). He is the Founding Artistic Director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Black Aesthetics. LEARN MORE: THEODORE A. HARRIS – Home

Eclectic jazz musicians come together to honor John Coltrane: jazz innovator, spiritual icon of the Black Arts Movement and patron saint of the avant-garde. Regina Carter-Garnett. Frank Lacy. One extraordinary night of jazz. Meditations/Infinity comes to UCLA’s historic Schoenberg Hall. Featuring Camille Thurman-Greene Quartet String Quintet (Juliette Jones) Frank Lacy Quintet   Featuring: Frank Lacy, trombone, trumpet, French horn; Salim Washington, flute, tenor sax, oboe; Johnathan Blake, drums; Yayoi Ikawa, piano with special guests: Hitomi Oba, tenor saxophone; Jacques Lesure, guitar; Steve Loza, trumpet; Cheryl Keyes, flute; Regina Carter, violin   Theodore A. Harris, Coltrane’s Thunderclap, 1998, paper collage. 11X17in   ABOUT THE ART WORK Theodore A. Harris, Coltrane’s Thunderclap. 1998, paper collage, 11×17 in. Theodore A. Harris (1966-) is a Philadelphia-based visual artist and poet. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is in private and public collections such as Libraries and Museum University of Delaware, Fort Garland Museum and Cultural Center, University of New Mexico Art Museum, Saint Louis University Museum of Art, La Salle University Art Museum, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, McGill University Visual Arts Collection, Center for Africana Studies; University of Pennsylvania, Kislak Center Rare Books and Manuscript Library; University of Pennsylvania, and the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art, and the Winston and Carolyn Lowe Collection. Harris is the co-founder of the Anti-Graffiti Network/Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. Harris has also co-authored and authored books including Our Flesh of Flames (2019), Malcolm X as Ideology (2008) with Amiri Baraka, TRIPTYCH with Amiri Baraka and Jack Hirschman (2011), i ran from it and was still in it with Fred Moten (2007), and Thesentür: Conscientious Objector to Formalism (2017). He is the Founding Artistic Director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Black Aesthetics. LEARN MORE: THEODORE A. HARRIS – Home

Join us for the first of six workshops as part of the Modal Interchange: Conversations on 21st-Century Performance Practices series with Vicki Ray, a Los Angeles based composer and pianist, who will join Wendy Richman in a conversation about concert programming and commissioning new works. Concert Curation IS Composition! Every musician presenting a concert is: a composer! In this talk I’ll explore different ways to think about concert programming and how the works you program constitute a meta-composition. Using musical examples I’ll explore the way connections between worlds – musical and otherwise – can create fresh, interesting juxtapositions that challenge (and hopefully delight!) the performer as well as the listener. Folded into this approach is the opportunity to commission new works that can tie previously unrelated pieces together and expand the repertoire of our instrument. Bio Described as “phenomenal and fearless” Vicki Ray is a pianist, improviser and composer. She has commissioned and premiered countless new works by today’s leading composers. Ray is a founding member of Piano Spheres and was, for many years, the head of keyboard studies at the California Institute of the Arts where she was named the first recipient of the Hal Blaine Chair in Musical Performance. She has appeared on numerous international festivals and was a regular member of the faculty at the Bang On a Can Summer Festival at MASS MoCA. Ray has been featured on the Los Angeles Philharmonic Green Umbrella Series as soloist and collaborative artist. Her widely varied performing and recording career covers the gamut of new and old music: from Boulez to Reich, Wadada Leo Smith to Beethoven. Notable recordings include the first Canadian disc of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire with the Blue Rider Ensemble, the premiere recordings of Steve Reich’s You Are (Variations) and the Daniel Variations with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the first recording of John Cage’s Europeras 3 and 4. Her recording of Cage’s The Ten Thousand Things on Microfest Records received 2013 Grammy nomination. Vicki can also be seen playing the chromelodeon in the Los Angeles based PARTCH ensemble. Vicki Ray is a Steinway artist. More about Modal Interchange: Conversations on 21st-Century Performance Practices The personality of Los Angeles’s new music scene mirrors its city’s culture and geography as a whole: equal parts diversity and decentralization, in a battle for recognition and relevance that crisscrosses 650 freeway miles. The Modal Interchange series casts a wide net around LA’s new music community, hosting a diverse group of individuals who might not otherwise share the same artistic and academic spaces, in a series of lecture-workshops geared to an audience of performers. Modal Interchange is a series of six workshops through 2026-27. Each workshop focuses on an element of 21st-century performing, programming, and music-making in the world of contemporary music, with special focus on the topics’ relevance in greater LA: histories of experimental music and the avant-garde, commissioning new works, concert programming, listening as an audience member, listening as a performer, score-reading and part-marking, learning and practicing contemporary works, improvisation practices, and arts activism. This series is conceived and hosted by violist Wendy Richman and produced in partnership with the UCLA Center for Musical Humanities. Dr. Richman is Lecturer in Performance Studies, Director of uclaFLUX, and a founding member of the International Contemporary Ensemble. For the full schedule, please visit our website:

Join the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music for a screening of the film “Arnold Schoenberg and That Ol’ Atonal Music: A Conversation” featuring interviews with Larry Schoenberg and Alex Ross in the Schoenberg Rockingham house, followed by in-person discussion with Schoenberg family members, Alex Ross and the makers of the film.

Huib Schippers argues that the history of ethnomusicology shows an organic development towards public-facing work, and discusses the skill sets needed in the field to improve lives through music. Abstract: An interesting thing happened to ethnomusicology on its way to the 21st century. While beginnings in the 1800s kept it carefully away from direct interaction with the people who make music, culture and context became increasingly important in the second half of the 20th century. Towards 2000, an awareness had dawned that the musicians we work with and their communities perhaps should be at the center of our efforts. This first manifested as “giving back” research outputs (such as recordings) to the community, and later expanded into working with communities on an equal footing to serve their agendas in and through music. In this talk, I will argue that this very short history constitutes an organic development towards public-facing work, and discuss how applied ethnomusicologists require new skill sets to engage successfully with an exciting range of contemporary applied work in the realms of social justice, health, institutions, media, cultural sustainability and crisis recovery. Bio: Huib Schippers is one of the world’s leading scholars on the crossroads of music education, community music, music industry, cultural diversity, and sustainability. In over three decades of leadership roles in arts and academia, he founded the World Music School in Amsterdam (1990-1996), the World Music & Dance Centre in Rotterdam (2001-2006), and Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre in Australia (2003-2015). Next, he directed Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (2016-2020), served as UC Regents’ Professor at UCLA (2022) and as Visiting Professor at CCOM in Beijing (2023). In 2025, he was proclaimed Distinguished Changjiang Professor and became Founding Director of the International Centre for Cultural Sustainability at Zhaoqing University in China. Schippers has initiated applied projects on five continents and published over 200 publications for scholarly and general audiences, mostly on cultural diversity, artistic research, systems of learning, and cultural sustainability, including Facing the Music: Shaping Music Education from a Global Perspective (Oxford University Press (OUP), 2010); Sustainable Futures for Music Cultures (OUP, 2016) and Music, Communities, Sustainability (OUP, 2022).

Join The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music for the second annual UCLA Bassoon Day. Spearheaded by John Steinmetz, director of the bassoon studio, this event will feature a full day of bassoon classes, performance, reedmaking, bassoon band, with bassoon related vendors showing instruments, reeds, and accessories. This event will take place in the Band Room (1345) and is open to students of all levels.

Join us for a two-day celebration of the 65th anniversary of the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive. The event will feature a symposium, workshops, and concerts. International, national, and local archivists, alumni, faculty, and community members will come together to explore the history and evolving role of ethnomusicological archives in preserving and sustaining musical traditions.   The event is also in celebration of World Day for Audiovisual Heritage.   Saturday’s featured guest artists will be LA’s 33 Strings, who will lead a Japanese music workshop, and Kinnara Gagaku, who will present a gagaku concert. Kinnara Gagaku was taught for more than 35 years by Suenobu Togi, a former musician of the Japanese Imperial Court who directed UCLA Ethnomusicology’s Music of Japan Ensemble from 1961 to 1993. Professor Robert Garfias, who founded the Music of Japan Ensemble at UCLA in 1958, will introduce the concert.   Sunday’s featured guest artists will be Masanga Marimba, led by UCLA Ethnomusicology alumnus Dr. Ric Alviso. Masanga Marimba will lead both a workshop and the Sunday evening concert.   Established in 1961, the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive is a world-renowned research archive dedicated to the study of musical traditions from around the globe. The Archive’s collection of more than 160,000 audio, video, print, and photographic items documents musical expressions throughout the world and includes unique field recordings as well as rare commercial recordings. As part of UCLA’s Department of Ethnomusicology, the Archive preserves and makes accessible over 60 years’ worth of audio and video recordings of the department’s famed concerts and also of lectures by legendary scholars and performers, ranging from Mantle Hood to Ravi Shankar to Dizzy Gillespie. In addition to preservation and access, the Archive offers a wide range of research, outreach, and educational services. From international scholars to local community members and UCLA students and faculty, the Archive is recognized locally and internationally as an important center of ethnomusicological research and discovery.   Sponsored by The UCLA Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance, the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive, the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology, and the Dean’s Office, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

Join us, Saturday, 24 October 2026, 3:45-4:45pm in the Ostin Ensemble Room, 110A Evelyn & Mo Ostin Music Center, UCLA. A WORKSHOP with LA’s 33 Strings (三十三絃の会), a distinguished Japanese music ensemble based in Southern California, dedicated to the preservation and evolution of Japan’s musical heritage. Featuring instruments such as the koto, bass koto, and shamisen, the group performs a wide variety of music, ranging from classical pieces and folk songs to contemporary works, including anime and film scores, bringing together members and audiences through a shared appreciation of Japanese music. LA’s 33 Strings has appeared at a range of notable events, including a collaboration with the globally renowned video game Silent Hill f, the Newport Beach Film Festival, Anime Expo, and the Dream Asia Food Festival in Las Vegas, as well as numerous community events throughout Southern California. The ensemble has also performed at venues such as Bowers Museum, Descanso Gardens, and other Japanese gardens, libraries, art galleries, and cultural festivals. In addition, LA’s 33 Strings has produced hands-on workshops throughout the LA community with the endorsement of the Consulate General of Japan. These educational programs help deepen appreciation and understanding of Japanese musical traditions while creating opportunities for participants to experience the instruments and music firsthand. As its presence continues to grow, the ensemble looks ahead to future engagements, including its annual fall concert on November 21st. This special evening will reflect not only the cultural richness and musical refinement of Japanese music, but also the spirit of community at the heart of LA’s 33 Strings. LA’s 33 Strings is generously supported by grants from the California Arts Council, LA County Arts and Culture, Japan Foundation, and the Eastside Arts Initiative. This workshop is presented in conjunction with the symposium “Music Alive in the Archive: Legacy and Promise–65 Years of the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive,” a two-day event in celebration of the 65th anniversary of the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive. Sponsored by the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive, the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology, and the Dean’s Office, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

Kinnara was formed in 1969 by Rev. Masao Kodani and several members of Senshin Buddhist Temple and includes a Gagaku group of 15-20 musicians and dancers and a Taiko group. It sponsors study groups and conducts seminars on Buddhist culture and performing arts. Gagaku is the oldest existing tradition of orchestral music and dance in the world, representing the court music and dance of ancient Asia (central Asia, southeast Asia, India, China, Manchuria, Korea, and Japan). It is the collective music of these areas up to the 10th century and as early as the beginning of the common era. This music is preserved and performed to this day in Japan and, to a lesser degree, in Korea. In Japan, it became part of the liturgical music and dance of our Jodoshinshu sect in the 17th century and has been performed in our temples in America since the early 1900s. Kinnara had the rare opportunity to study gagaku under the guidance of Professor Suenobu Togi, emeritus professor of the Department of Ethnomusicology at UCLA and musician in the Imperial Household Department of Court Music in Japan. He taught the group from 1969-2010. Kinnara Gagaku continues to perform at various temples for special services, as well as at cultural centers and universities. In October 2023, Kinnara Gagaku performed at Walt Disney Hall in downtown Los Angeles for the celebration of their 20th anniversary. This concert is presented in conjunction with the symposium “Music Alive in the Archive: Legacy and Promise–65 Years of the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive,” a two-day event in celebration of the 65th anniversary of the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive. Sponsored by the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive, the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology, and the Dean’s Office, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

Join us for a WORKSHOP by Masanga Marimba! In this workshop you will learn parts for 2-3 musical selections on Zimbabwean-style marimba. This ensemble consists of multiple soprano, tenor, baritone, and bass marimbas, along with percussion. You will learn several marimba parts, singing, historical background on the development of the Zimbabwean marimba ensemble, and cultural background of the music selected. Masanga Marimba performs traditional and popular music from Africa and Latin America. The instruments used in this ensemble consist of 7 Zimbabwean marimbas of various sizes along with vocals, drums, and percussion. The word “Masanga” comes from a Shona word that means the coming together of rivers or roads representing the meeting of African and Latin musical traditions in this group. Masanga Marimba formed in the year 2000 and has performed at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles County Music Center, Grand Performances, Getty Center, Skirball Cultural Center, Ford Amphitheatre, California Worldfest, Millpond Music Festival, Strawberry Festival, and many other high profile music venues. The ensemble has opened for Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Beck, Lana Del Rey, John Mayer, Nora Jones, Father John Misty, Los Lobos, Ziggy Marley, Pink Martini, and many others. The group is led by Dr. Ric Alviso (UCLA Ethnomusicology PhD 2002), Professor of World Music at California State University Northridge. Professor Alviso studied traditional African music in Senegal, Zimbabwe, and Ghana. The members of Masanga have degrees in percussion performance, music composition, jazz performance, and music therapy. Masanga is one of the only marimba ensembles in the U.S. that combines Latin and African traditions. For more information go to: www.masanga.com This workshop is presented in conjunction with the symposium “Music Alive in the Archive: Legacy and Promise–65 Years of the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive,” a two-day event in celebration of the 65th anniversary of the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive. The event is FREE and open to the public. Sponsored by the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive, the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology, and the Dean’s Office, Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA.

Masanga Marimba will perform a selection of pieces from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Cameroon, Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico on Zimbabwean-style marimbas, mbira, drums, and percussion. Participation is appreciated! Masanga Marimba performs traditional and popular music from Africa and Latin America. The instruments used in this ensemble consist of seven Zimbabwean marimbas of various sizes along with vocals, drums, and percussion. The word “Masanga” comes from a Shona word that means the coming together of rivers or roads representing the meeting of African and Latin musical traditions in this group. Masanga Marimba formed in the year 2000 and has performed at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles County Music Center, Grand Performances, Getty Center, Skirball Cultural Center, Ford Amphitheatre, California Worldfest, Millpond Music Festival, Strawberry Festival, and many other high profile music venues. The ensemble has opened for Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Beck, Lana Del Rey, John Mayer, Nora Jones, Father John Misty, Los Lobos, Ziggy Marley, Pink Martini, and many others. The group is led by Dr. Ric Alviso (UCLA Ethnomusicology PhD 2002), Professor of World Music at California State University Northridge. Professor Alviso studied traditional African music in Senegal, Zimbabwe, and Ghana. The members of Masanga have degrees in percussion performance, music composition, jazz performance, and music therapy. Masanga is one of the only marimba ensembles in the U.S. that combines Latin and African traditions. For more information go to: www.masanga.com This concert is presented in conjunction with the symposium “Music Alive in the Archive: Legacy and Promise–65 Years of the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive,” a two-day event in celebration of the 65th anniversary of the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive. Sponsored by the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive, the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology, and the Dean’s Office, UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

UCLA Nazir Ali Jairazhboy Colloquium Dawn Norfleet: Beyond Being Alice Coltrane and Betty Davis As the centennial celebrations of John Coltrane and Miles Davis reach sunset, we will shine light on the unique artistry of two exceptional musicians, Alice McLeod Coltrane and Betty Gray Mabry Davis.  These women played significant roles in the lives and music of jazz luminaries John and Miles during their brief marriages; even more importantly, they were impactful music and culture creators whose full recognition may have been overshadowed by their iconic husbands until recent years.  Beyond being John’s collaborator, Alice Coltrane was a music visionary fusing improvisation, jazz, gospel, and Indian traditions in her compositions and recordings. Her Hindu devotees honored her as and Hindu spiritual leader, Swamini A.C. Turiyasangitananda.  Beyond being “Miles’ muse”, Betty Gray Mabry was a trailblazing Black female rocker, songwriter, and bandleader at the height of the Soul Era. Her raspy voice and raunchy lyrics expressed an overt sexuality and aggressive performativity that was presumed the domain of white male rock artists, while also being considered too provocative for many Black listeners influenced by aesthetics of gospel and Motown.  We will not only discuss the strong impact Alice and Betty had on the musical direction of John and Miles, but also, how these women were cultural catalysts on the merits of their own artistry.

Join the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music for an evening performance in Schoenberg Hall spearheaded by Professor Dante De Silva featuring UCLA Faculty.

Join the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music as we welcome pianist Elizabeth Schumann for the Fall installment of our 2026/27 David L. Abell Piano Master Series, a concert series which features renowned artists visiting UCLA to perform and work with our piano students.   About Elizabeth Schumann: Dr. Elizabeth Schumann is a concert pianist, educator, and interdisciplinary artist whose work spans leading concert halls, public art initiatives, and research at the intersection of the arts, technology, and human performance. Described by The Washington Post as “deft, relentless, and devastatingly good—the sort of performance you experience not so much with your ears as your solar plexus,” she approaches the concert stage as a place where artistry and inquiry meet, offering audiences experiences that link music with the broader human story. ​ As a recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist, she has performed at the Kennedy Center, Vienna’s Bösendorfer Saal, Weill at Carnegie Hall, Montreal’s Place des Arts, San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall, Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Musical Instruments Museum in Phoenix, Ravinia’s Rising Stars Series, Australia’s Huntington Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, and the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival. Her performances have been featured on NPR’s Performance Today, PBS, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Honors include the Gilmore Young Artist Award, first prizes at the Bösendorfer and Pacific International Piano Competitions, and awards at the Cleveland, Hilton Head, Montreal, and World International Piano Competitions. ​ Her portfolio extends beyond traditional concert work to collaborative projects that place music in fresh contexts. She has developed touring productions that integrate performance with narrative and visual design, large-scale public installations that transform city spaces into concert venues, and educational programs for children and underserved communities that pair music with literature and live storytelling. These include Piano Carnival, which grew from a 15-city tour into a book, CD, and interactive applications reaching more than 20,000 students and teachers; Son et Lumière, premiered at Boston’s Illuminus Festival and later commissioned for the Pike & Rose Audio Visual Arts Festival, attracting audiences of over 8,000; and Pianimal, a concert and video series presented across the United States and distributed to children’s hospitals through partnerships with leading arts organizations. Across these projects, her aim is to allow audiences to meet music on their own terms and to experience its power without barriers of price or pretense. Her work has also reached international audiences through U.S. Embassy cultural diplomacy programs, building connections and mutual understanding through performance. ​ Carrying on the pedagogical tradition of her teacher, Sergei Babayan, Dr. Schumann has taught at Winter and Summer Performing Arts at The Juilliard School, Itzhak Perlman’s Perlman Music Program, the Crowden Chamber Music Workshop, and the Vancouver Piano Sessions. She is the Billie Bennett Director of Keyboard Studies and Assistant Professor of Music at Stanford University, where she combines conservatory-level training with insights from neuroscience, psychology, and biomechanics to help pianists achieve expressive freedom while minimizing injury risk. At Stanford, her research examines how physiology, pedagogy, and instrument design shape performance, with applications that extend beyond the arts to fields such as medicine, rehabilitation, and human performance science. ​ Through collaborations that unite artists, scientists, and community leaders, Dr. Schumann expands how people encounter and engage with music. Her work demonstrates how these connections can open new possibilities, deepen understanding, and inspire contributions that reach beyond the concert hall.

Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams — this may be madness. Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be! – Don Quixote Immerse yourself in the fantastical world of Don Quixote, where comic misadventures, tender moments and heroic dreams come vividly to life in Richard Strauss’s dazzling tone poem. As the Don, UCLA Philharmonia welcomes our new Professor of Cello Ben Hong in his Philharmonic debut, alongside his trusty sidekick Sancho Panza (aka UCLA Professor of Viola Che-Yen Chen). Before intermission, we’ll do a deep dive into the novel and the tone poem with Prof. Hong, UCLA Distinguished Professor Barbara Fuchs (one of the world’s leading Cervantes scholars) and our Philharmonia musicians. All hail the Knight Errant!

Join the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music for the first Wind Ensemble concert of the 2026-2027 season.