Reposted from University of Hawaii News: Joseph Stepec, an associate professor of music at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, has been named to the 2024 40 under 40 list by Pacific Business News. Stepec serves as the music director of the UH Mānoa Symphony Orchestra, director of the Hawaiʻi Youth Symphony’s Symphony Program and artistic director of the Pacific Music Institute. He was recognized alongside the other …
Graduate composer Paul Cosme collaborates with JACK Quartet
Paul Gabriel L. Cosme, a master’s student in composition, collaborated with the JACK Quartet in New York last September 25, 2023 as a part of the ensemble’s JACK Studio. The quartet played Cosme’s piece A Filipino in New York. The work is inspired by stories of Filipino immigrants in New York as well as soundscapes from the city and various …
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 …
Composition alum Thomas Goedecke joins faculty at UH Maui College
Thomas Goedecke (Phd, Composition) joins the Institute of Hawaiian Music at the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College (UHMC) as a tenure-track instructor where he teaches a range of introductory and intermediate music courses with emphasis in Hawaiian music, music history, music theory, and performance. “I am looking forward to contributing to the excellent programs built by Dr. Keola Donaghy and Dr. …
Music Faculty & Staff Recognized at 2024 UH-Mānoa Awards Ceremony
The Music Department was well represented at the annual UH-Mānoa Awards Ceremony this year, with two faculty and one staff member being recognized for their achievements. Donald Reid Womack, Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Research The Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Research is awarded by the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents in recognition of scholarly contributions that expand the boundaries 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 …
Generosity strikes a chord: UH Mānoa celebrates new contrabassoon with concert
Taken from UH News A contrabassoon is a double-reed woodwind instrument that has a unique presence in a band and orchestra. It plays an octave lower than a bassoon and has a distinctive deep and resonant sound. While it provides a rich and powerful bass line to the woodwind section, the availability of the instrument had been absent at the …
Loong presents at AOSA as first Asian featured speaker
Dr. Chet-Yeng Loong, professor and chair of the music education program at UH-Mānoa, was invited as the first Asian featured presenter at the 2023 American Orff-Schulwerk Association Professional Development Conference (AOSA) in Albuquerque, NM, Nov 1-4, 2023. Loong presented a series of sessions that highlighted approaching music education through multiculturalist lens based on her extensive work on the music of …
Dr. Ricardo Trimillos named Living Treasure of Hawaiʻi
Adapted from UH News Ricardo Trimillos, renowned professor who has made lasting contributions to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and the greater community, was celebrated as Living Treasure of Hawaiʻi on February 10. The 49th annual ceremony paid tribute to individuals who have significantly enriched the cultural tapestry of the islands. Trimillos, a professor emeritus of ethnomusicology was recognized …
Record donation of $3.5M made to UH Mānoa music department
From UH Foundation A record $3.5-million gift to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa from the Barbara Barnard Smith Foundation will fund the music department’s first-ever endowed chair. The newly established Professor Barbara Barnard Smith Endowed Chair supports the university’s desire and commitment to revitalize its ethnomusicology program and honors the legacy of the late revered UH Mānoa professor who died in 2021. “This …