Paul Gabriel Cosme was named a finalist for the 2025 Andrea O. Veneracion International Choral Festival Choral Composition Competition with his composition, “When I Sing to Myself, Who Listens?.” Cosme is a composer and scholar of Filipino music. He is a graduate of Macalester College and is now a PhD student in composition at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. …
Dr. Fairfield’s Book Launch
Alumnus and lecturer Benjamin Fairfield (PhD Music – Ethnomusicology) presented a book launch concert on October 4th for his new publication from University of Hawaiʻi Press, Kani ka ʻōpala: How can garbage sing? Kani ka ʻōpala: How can garbage sing? is an illustrated children’s book that follows a father and daughter on a scavenger hunt through Ala Moana Beach Park’s …
University of the Philippines Rondalla Ensemble Concert and Workshop
In October UH hosted the University of the Philippines Rondalla Ensemble. They performed a concert at Orvis and facilitated a workshop. José Taton, an ethnomusicology doctoral student who participated in the rondalla workshop, commented on the performance, “The UP Rondalla’s repertoire featured timeless pieces that not only evoked the audience’s emotions, nostalgia, and sense of place but also united Asian …
UH Ethnomusicology Student, Lorelei Harrel, Presents in London on Taylor Swift
UH Mānoa Ethnomusicology graduate student, Lorelei Harrel, traveled to London for the Fifth International Women’s Work in Music Conference. She presented her paper, “No One Likes a Mad Woman: An Examination of the Online Hate of Taylor Swift,” an experience that allowed her to network with other scholars and represent the UH Department of Music in an international setting. The …
Christopher Blasdel’s Book Reviewed by The Times Literary Supplement
In April of this year, shakuhachi performer and Japanese music lecturer Christopher Blasdel’s book, Jiuta Sōkyoku Lyrics and Explanations: Songs of a Floating World, was reviewed by Brian Karentyk in The Times Literary Supplement. In his highly complimentary article, The Floating World: Classic anthologies of Japanese poetry in new translations, Karentyk notes that Blasdel’s book is “the first of its …
PhD composition student Paul Gabriel Cosme receives John Young Scholarship towards Philippine ethnography and concerto composition
Paul Gabriel Cosme, a PhD in Composition student at UH Mānoa Department of Music, is a recipient of the 2025 John Young Scholarship, which will support his research on the musical customs of three ethnolinguistic groups of the Philippines: Maguindanao, Maranao, and Sama, culminating in a kulintang concerto. The western genre concerto is traditionally composed for an instrumental soloist, such …
PhD candidate Susan Jacob publishes paper on Protect Maunakea Movement
Susan Jacob, a doctoral candidate in ethnomusicology, published her article, “The Moving Mountain: Performance for Mauna a Wākea during the Protect Maunakea Movement,” in the spring 2024 issue of the Journal of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAIS). Indiana University describes NAIS as publishing “the best interdisciplinary scholarship in international Native American and Indigenous Studies.” Jacob’s article illustrates how Kānaka Maoli (Native …
Dr. Marie Jocelyn U. Marfil nominated in the 2024 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards
Dr. Marie Jocelyn U. Marfil (PhD ’15) was one of the nominees for Compilation Album of the Year in the 2024 Nā Hoku Hanohano Awards for her work on the album Kāwili 2. One of the album’s producers, Maui attorney Lance D. Collins, told HPR last year, “The first album [Kāwili] was primarily Philippine folk songs that have been interpreted …
UH Mānoa Music Department welcomes three new faculty
This Fall, the Music Department at UH Mānoa is fortunate to introduce three new faculty members: Dr. Dustin Ferguson, Dr. Alec Schumacker, and Dr. Yuan-Yu Kuan. Dr. Dustin Ferguson serves as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music and Interim Associate Director of Bands. In addition to teaching music education courses, he conducts the Concert Band, Symphony Band, and is director of …
Blasdel publishes three works on shakuhachi
Christopher Yohmei Blasdel, shakuhachi player and lecturer at UH Mānoa, published three works on the shakuhachi this month. The first is The Shakuhachi: A Learning Manual, which was originally published in 1988, and the first comprehensive English-language shakuhachi instruction book published by a major publishing house; Ongaku no Tomo-sha, Japan’s leading music press. Blasdel also published Jiuta Sōkyoku Lyrics and …