The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music

Opera UCLA’s production of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride on Thursday night was a triumph—sung with aching beauty over Gluck’s sumptuous score. Visionary staging, dance, and modernist costuming brought new life to this ancient tragedy. Congratulations to the entire cast and creative team. - NEXT PERFORMANCE Saturday, May 16, 8:00 PM Schoenberg Hall Link in bio - Congratulations to the Thursday cast! Hannah Verduzco - Iphigénie Leland Alexander - Oreste Sam Song - Pylade Adam Zeidler - Singing Thoas Kyle Xu - Thoas Lilliana Mindel - First Priestess Sadie Habas - Second Priestess Kazu Nakamura - The Scythian Jacob Salzmann - The Priest of the Temple Trinity Dela Cruz - Greek Woman Leela Subramaniam – Diana Priestess Chorus: Milla Moretti, Amelia Birmingham, Thea Hsu, Shreya Goshal, Valerie Morris, Vibu Singh, Trinity Dela Cruz, Lilliana Mindel, Sophie Spier, Sadie Habas Male Chorus: Dustin Peng, Jacob Salzmann, Kazu Nakamura, Asher Bartfeld Recorded Scythian Chorus: Abdiel Gonzalez, Kevin Corrigan, Chris Hunter, James Callon, Elias Berezin, Jacob Salzmann, Kazu Nakamura - Saturday, May 16 Cast: Margaret Daly - Iphigénie Leland Alexander - Oreste Andres Delgado - Pylade Kyle Xu - Singing Thoas Adam Zeidler - Thoas Lilliana Mindel - First Priestess Sophie Spier - Second Priestess Asher Bartfeld - The Scythian Dustin Peng - The Priest of the Temple Trinity Dela Cruz - Greek Woman Leela Subramaniam - Diana

Thank you, TEED & Sincerely, Manolo, for joining us at the UCLA School of Music and speaking in the DJ As Performer course. The students appreciated and enjoyed your advice, stories, and wisdom about the music business, DJ performance, songwriting, producing, and label deals. We all left feeling inspired by the discussion. Special thanks to Sincerely, Manolo and DEVOCIÓN @devocion.presents for helping curate this day. @ucla_musicindustry @uclaalpert UCLA School of Music May 12, 2026 #ucla #musicindustry #djperformance #musicproducers #songwriters

Meet your 2026 commencement speaker: Kiran Gandhi - Better known as Madame Gandhi, she has produced eight albums of her own music, toured with M.I.A., and traveled to Antarctica to record the sound of melting glaciers. A musician and an activist, she is revered for her intellectual curiosity and creative fearlessness, redefining what it means to be an artist in the 21st century. - Read more about her, link in bio. - Photo Credit: Molly Matalon for The New York Times

Iphigénie en Tauride follows the cursed House of Atreus in ancient Greece. With dramatic visual logic, mood, and atmosphere, we see Iphigénie’s journey as high priestess to the goddess Diana on the island of Tauride, where she is tormented by memory, duty, and the arrival of a peculiar prisoner. - Ready to see it in action? Come catch a show, May 14 and 16 at 8:00 pm in Schoenberg Hall.

Noah Meites, composer and continuing lecturer in music theory, has just released his new album “Counting” with New Focus Records. A number of school of music faculty were also involved in the album’s production: Hitomi Oba, Jan Berry Baker, Dan Rosenboom, and Nick DePinna.

Is our Dean cool? Only one way to find out 👀 Come by our weekly “Drop in with the Dean” in his office, where you can talk about academics, express any concerns, or just have a casual chat. Check your email for more details! (Spoiler: he is very cool.)

Join the conversation with our Wildfire Voices Roundtable as they discuss the impact of the fires on our communities and artistic practices as well as efforts to rebuild and mitigate future fire damage. RSVP for free at the link in bio. . Roundtable guests: Chris Douridas (KCRW), Jessica Schwartz (UCLA Musicology), Liz Koslov (UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability), and Kim Yu (Altadena Town Council, Caltech).

A few snapshots from the Hear Now Music Festival! The UCLA Philharmonia premiered 4 pieces (including a double concerto by Professor Ian Krouse) and had Professor Movses Pogossian join us on stage. Bravi tutti!

Tomorrow, join us for a spring evening under the stars with Mariachi de Uclatlán—the first mariachi ensemble established at an academic university—led by Grammy-winning musical director Jesús “Chuy” Guzmán. Celebrated worldwide for its passionate musical excellence, the ensemble will perform music by influential Mexican composers. Fowler Out Loud: Mariachi de Uclatlán Wednesday, May 6 | 6-8pm Fowler Museum Amphitheatre RSVP at the link in bio! This performance is presented in partnership with the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music as part of UCLA’s Spring Festival of World Music. Photo courtesy of Mariachi de Uclatlán

Thank you @ucla for inviting me to present a masterclass on cymbal design and knowledge at @uclaalpert We explored both ancient and modern cymbal history, the step-by-step process of handcrafting them, how to identify their characteristics through structure alone, and how to properly test cymbals. I also shared my story and design approach, writing cymbal formulas by identifying size, gram weight, and profile through hearing and technical insight to recreate vintage sounds or develop new ones, along with insights on symphonic (suspended) cymbals for drum set use, the benefits of low profiles, and my original Cheetah cymbal designs. I was truly honored to be invited to teach this material and would love the opportunity to return and explore it even more deeply. Thank you, Moose” Special thanks to Clayton Cameron @cbrushman8753 Greg Lewis of @gregs_drum_shop Tom Plumb of @mihollywood Amitkes, Tamir Cohen, Avi Admony and of course my mother Iris Eliakim ❤️

ALBUM DROP: Stanzas in August Available now from New Focus Recordings Link in bio. “I have been consistently swept off my feet by this magnificent set.” -Dominic Hartley, Fanfare Magazine Movses Pogossian and his colleagues in the Armenian Music Project continue their tireless advocacy for the music of Armenia with this ambitious 4 CD collection, Stanzas in August. At the heart of the release are two sub-collections devoted entirely to the music of Ashot Zohrabyan and Koharik Gazarossian, two consequential composers who shaped Armenian music far beyond their own oeuvres. The other discs include lesser known works by Aram Khachaturian, Tigran Mansurian, and Ghazaros Saryan, as well as premieres of piano miniatures by Artur Avanesov, and premieres by Vahram Sargsyan and Aram Hovhannisyan. “One big voyage of discovery... a dream of a set, superbly produced and recorded.” -Colin Clarke, Fanfare Magazine

On May 8, beginning at 2 PM, join us at UCLA for an afternoon of interactive exhibits and music created by artists impacted by the Los Angeles Fires of 2025. The gallery will feature a custom Fender Stratocaster crafted for San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity from trees that were damaged around the Eaton Fire alongside listening and viewing stations for works from local artists, including the LA Field Recording Club. . Our roundtable guests include Chris Douridas (KCRW), Jessica Schwartz (UCLA Musicology), Liz Koslov (UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability), and Kim Yu (Altadena Town Council, Caltech). . The closing concert will feature works made in response to the 2025 fires from UCLA students and faculty as well as community members, including the Herbie Hancock Institute Band, field recordist Ian Wellman, visual artist Kate Lain, and Caltech student Maya Yie. The evening will culminate with the Los Angeles premiere of Will Rand’s “Firebirth” with violinist Grace Alexander. FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2:00 PM LANI HALL Link in bio.