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, 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.

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.

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.