Music
Creative agency during a pandemic
Music professor and composer urges students to think of constraints as opportunities for creative growth.
Artists have faced constraints that affected their ability to practice their craft throughout history. The limitations artists currently face due to COVID-19—from a lack of access to concert halls and theaters to the inability to collaborate freely with others in person—are not necessarily new. Yet they also pose an opportunity for creative growth, according to…
Read More Humanities at home
From their kitchen tables and their living rooms, faculty in the School of Humanities and Sciences translate poems, compose music, share childhood memories, read meaningful texts, examine visual artworks, and more.
What has been on the minds of Stanford professors as they navigate this turbulent and anxious time? Where do they find comfort and solace, challenge and struggle, beauty and grace? While many aspects of campus life are now mediated through a computer screen, the extended time apart has offered us a rare chance to hear from faculty informally,…
Read More Honors in the Arts seniors present capstone projects to the public via video essays
Projects demonstrate that creativity exceeds disciplinary boundaries.
This year’s cohort of 16 Stanford Honors in the Arts (HIA) students presented their capstone projects by way of publicly accessible video essays, fulfilling the final requirement for the year-long interdisciplinary program. The projects employ a wide range of artistic media and genres, including creative writing, studio art, film and theater. They also demonstrate the inspiration…
Read More Student winners of the Stanford Concerto Competition play on
Earlier this year, sophomores ADDISON JADWIN and ETHAN CHI won the annual Stanford Concerto Competition. The sophomores planned to perform concertos with the Stanford Symphony Orchestra (SSO) this year, but the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted those plans. Jadwin and Chi. (Image credit: Adriana Ramirez Mirabal) Jadwin was to perform the Walton Viola Concerto this quarter and Chi planned to perform the…
Read More Department of Music salutes 2020 Deans’ Award winners
We would like to congratulate four winners of the 2020 Deans’ Awards for Academic Achievement, each of whom have included the Department of Music in their Stanford activities while majoring in other areas: Léa Bourgade (upper left) is a senior majoring in Human Biology. Having played the violin for 17 years, she seeks to combine her musical…
Read MoreCOVID-19’s impact on Stanford arts events
Stanford University has been closely monitoring the rapidly evolving events surrounding COVID-19, also known as novel coronavirus. The university is working to take steps that inhibit, rather than accelerate, the ability of infection to spread. Events that bring participants to campus have been canceled or postponed. This includes a range of arts performances, public lectures,…
Read More Composer explores legacy of computer pioneer Ada Lovelace and using AI for musical composition
An exploration of artificial intelligence and musical composition may seem like a modern question, but Dr. Patricia Alessandrini found the beginnings of the idea in the 19th century. “Ada Lovelace is credited with the first published imaginings of AI-assisted composition,” Alessandrini said. She quoted Lovelace: “Numerous fundamental relations of music can be expressed by those…
Read More Winter quarter 2020 guest artists
The roster of winter quarter guest artists includes talent from around the globe. Melbourne Australia’s Choir of Trinity College performs with the Stanford Chamber Chorale; Chinese dance legend and renowned choreographer Yang Liping presents her reimagined production of Rite of Spring to Memorial Auditorium; Maqueque, a collective of female artists from Cuba led by Canadian Jane Bunnett,…
Read MoreJoshua Redman returns to Stanford for an extended stay
Charismatic jazz saxophonist and composer Joshua Redman returns to Stanford as a visiting artist with the Department of Music in the School of the Humanities and Sciences. Redman was the Mohr Visiting Artist with the Department of Music during winter quarter 2019 and he has a long history with the Stanford Jazz Workshop both as…
Read More St. Lawrence String Quartet celebrates 30 years of bringing people together through music
The St. Lawrence String Quartet, Stanford University’s ensemble-in-residence, has brought their insight and musical passion to classrooms across campus, in free online courses and into the local community.
The St. Lawrence String Quartet (SLSQ), Stanford’s ensemble-in-residence, is fiercely committed to building communities through music and education. Whether they’re playing in a nontraditional venue or teaching students and musicians in person or online, the SLSQ strives to make connections with people who might not otherwise have access to chamber music. Established 30 years ago in Toronto…
Read MoreStanford Live presents a genre-bending musical performance exploring beauty and aesthetics in Robert Mapplethorpe’s photography
"Triptych (Eyes of One on Another)" Oct. 3, 2019, in Memorial Auditorium
Marking 30 years since the death of groundbreaking photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, Triptych (Eyes of One on Another) explores the origins and impact of Mapplethorpe’s controversial photography. This staged musical work produced by ArKtype / Thomas O. Kriegsmann combines orchestra, vocal ensembles, theater, poetry, and photography to re-examine notions of obscenity, race, and aesthetics that Mapplethorpe himself challenged…
Read More Grad student awarded $10K to create multimedia project with San Francisco homeless
Composer and doctoral student Julie Herndon is the first winner of the Bay Area Composer Residency Award, which will support the production of a concert featuring the stories of homeless San Franciscans.
Artist and music doctoral student Julie Herndon is the inaugural recipient of the Bay Area Composer Residency Award from the American Composers Forum. The $10,000 prize will support her work creating a multimedia project in collaboration with homeless residents in San Francisco. During the summer of 2020, Herndon will work with the homeless community in…
Read MoreartsCatalyst Grants 2018-19
This past academic year, the Office of the Vice President for the Arts awarded 27 artsCatalyst Grants to faculty members from across the University. These grants foster arts experiences that enhance classroom experiences for undergraduate students. Activities included field trips to Bay Area cultural organizations, workshops with visiting artists, and attending performances. 2018-19 artsCatalyst Grant Recipients Interpreting Art (ITALIC 92), Karla…
Read More Musicians from all over the world come to Stanford for the annual Chamber Music Seminar
Every summer, Stanford’s St. Lawrence String Quartet and special guest faculty teach an intensive seminar to professional and amateur musicians on the delicate art of performing chamber music.
Musicians from all over the world ranging in age from 18 to 82 arrived on the Stanford campus to participate in the 10-day St. Lawrence String Quartet (SLSQ) Chamber Music Seminar. Although each of the 75 musicians brings a unique background and musical goals, all share an eagerness to work directly with the SLSQ, Stanford’s…
Read MoreStudent Arts Grants: A Year in Photos 2018-19
vvcThis year’s Student Arts Grants supported a wide range of projects across the Stanford campus. The projects covered many genres including contemporary plays, documentary and fiction film shorts, musical theater, zines, photography, sculpture, and more. Many of this year’s grantees utilized Roble Arts Gym as a rehearsal/work space as well as a venue for their exhibits and…
Read More Welcome back to Stanford’s Frost Amphitheater
The iconic amphitheater reopens after extensive renovations and upgrades that make it one of the premiere music venues in the Bay Area and a place for university pomp and circumstance.
On May 18, Frost Amphitheater officially launched in a big way with Stanford Concert Network’s eighth annual Frost Music and Arts Festival featuring solo R&B co-headliners Kali Uchis and Jorja Smith with opener DJ Mia Carucci. The rain on Saturday did not stop patrons from enjoying over four hours of music that began with two…
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