Join SMTD for this year’s opera theatre presentation of Hansel and Gretel, Engelbert Humperdinck’s magical setting of the Grimm Brothers’ dark fairytale.

EPSG:4326

Hansel and Gretel

Oakland University

So Many Melodies

University Presbyterian Church

Performance of works for solo violin, solo viola and violin and electronics by Osnat Netzer, Sidney Corbett, Jeffrey Mumford, Juhi Bansal, Joanne Metcalf, and OU Faculty composer Ben Fuhrman.

Sarah Plum, violin and new music

An Incident at The Border

A Kaleidoscope of Musical Styles - Arthur Greene Residency (masterclass)

We Aren’t Kids Anymore explores the collision of artistic expression and the realities of growing up. This new theatrical song cycle was born of Drew Gasparini’s journey forging a creative path and navigating the world at large, and his desire to offer empathy and hope.

We Aren’t Kids Anymore

A Kaleidoscope of Musical Styles - Arthur Greene Residency

A crackling modern political all-female farce, The Taming hilariously takes on America’s overheated political rhetoric and upends historical truths about our founding fathers. When a conservative senatorial aide, a liberal political activist, and a very sparkly GA beauty queen find themselves locked in a hotel room, the political passions of these slightly insane women prove they might just be revolutionary geniuses.

The Taming

Angela Lowry, solo senior dance concert

The wind ensembles of Oakland University’s SMTD perform their final concert of the 2023-24 season.

Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band

The Last Lecture

String Chamber Ensembles

Winners of the 2024 Music MaTilDa awards and outstanding student musicians are honored at this gala concert.

Music Gala Concert

Both choirs, under the direction of Scott Gwinnell, perform jazz and jazz-influenced music, emphasizing close vocal harmonies, cutting-edge repertoire, and improvisation.

Golden Grizzly and Oakland Jazz Singers Choirs

Details: Oakland Dance Theatre and OU Repertory Dance Company present their annual showcase concert featuring works choreographed by talented Oakland University student choreographers and guest artists Deavondre Jones, Oakland University adjunct and Ali Woerner, Oakland University Associate Professor of Dance and Artistic Director of Take Root.

Young Choreographers Forum

Nightclub Cabaret

Pontiac Little Art Theatre

In this fun-filled educational performance, students will learn about a wide range of percussion traditions — from xylophones of Ghana to steel pans of the Caribbean. Mark Stone and Patrick Fitzgibbon, ensemble directors.

World Music Children’s Concert

Join OU Prof Mark Stone and the OU African Ensemble for our monthly Global Jam at the PLAT every first Thursday at 7pm. All members of our wider Pontiac/ Oakland University/ Michigan community are most welcome!

Global Jam at the PLAT (with the OU African Ensemble)

The OSO and OU Symphony Chorus present Mozart’s Coronation Mass and the monumental Concerto for Orchestra of Bartók in their annual gala concert at Detroit’s Orchestra Hall.

Oakland Symphony Orchestra and Oakland University Symphony Chorus at Orchestra Hall

Oakland University Facilities Management

The OU Jazz Band, led by Dr. Enrique Rios-Ellis, celebrates the American Big Band Tradition through all-time favorites and contemporary selections that feature strong ensemble and solo performance opportunities.

OU Jazz Band and OU Latin Jazz Ensemble

An evening of contemporary repertoire for percussion presented by Justin Lamb, as well as a guest appearance by percussionist and pianist Emma Gierszal. Works by Applebaum, Cerrone, Cheung, Gerassimez, Kotcheff, and LaBozzetta III.

Justin Lamb, Faculty Percussion Recital

The Laramie Project (2000) by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project chronicles the reaction to the 1998 hate crime murder of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. The play draws on hundreds of interviews conducted by the theatre company with inhabitants of the town, company members’ own journal entries, and published news reports.

The Laramie Project

Flute Studio Recital

Clarinet, Bassoon, and Oboe Studio Recital

Voice Area Recital

String Studios Recital

Percussion Ensemble Recital

The OU Repertory Dance Company returns to the Engineering Center for a spring concert of new works. 

OU Repertory Dance Company

Join OU Prof Mark Stone and the OU Creative Jazz Ensemble for our weekly PLAT Jam, Tuesdays at 7pm. All members of our wider Pontiac/ Oakland University/ Michigan community are most welcome!

Creative Jazz Ensemble

19th Annual Drag Show

The annual OU Piano Competition welcomes pianists 18 and under to perform for cash prizes and Masterclass opportunities.

OU Piano Competition

High Brass Studio Recital

Low Brass Studio Recital

Students from the percussion studio display their talents through standard, transcription and contemporary works of percussion literature under the direction of Dr. Justin Lamb.

Percussion Studio Recital

BBQueer - Pride Month Kickoff

North Foundation Hall

Senior Dance Concert

Take Root, OU’s professional dance company-in-residence, returns for their annual Spring concert.

Take Root

Join OU Prof Enrique Rios-Ellis and the OU Latin Jazz Ensemble for our monthly Global Jam at the PLAT every first Thursday at 7pm. All members of our wider Pontiac/ Oakland University/ Michigan community are most welcome!

Global Jam at the PLAT (with the OU Latin Jazz Ensemble)

Oakland Winterfest with Chamber Music Detroit: Michael Brown, piano

Oakland Winterfest with Chamber Music Detroit: Seth Parker Woods, cellist and Friends

Oakland Winterfest with Chamber Music Detroit: Aizuri String Quartet

Thanks to the work of the late Ghanaian gyil pioneer Bernard Woma, the gyil xylophone has become a truly global percussion instrument. Contemporary Ghanaian gyil artist Jerome Balsab has continued the vital work of Bernard in Ghana, North America, and beyond; cultivating the instrument’s rich musical heritage. He will be accompanied by Profs Tijan Dorwana (Ghana) Micheal Vercelli (West Virginia University) and Mark Stone (Oakland University)

Jerome Balsab at the PLAT (Master Ghanaian Gyil Xylophone Performer)

Under the direction of Dr. Pam Klena and Dr. Greg Cunningham, the ensembles will provide an evening of varied wind band repertoire.

Named after Professor Emeritus Dr. David Daniels, in recognition of his distinguished career at Oakland University and sustained commitment to teaching Oakland University’s aspiring student musicians, the David Daniels Young Artists Concert features student musicians from the School of Music, Theatre and Dance who were selected as winners of the 2023-2024 Oakland Symphony Concerto/Aria Competition.

Oakland Symphony Orchestra: David Daniels Young Artists Concert

2024 SMTD Auditions - Music, Theatre, and Dance

SMTD Theatre presents Andrew Lloyd Webber’s blockbuster musical in the newly renovated Varner Studio Theatre.

Jesus Christ Superstar

Self-Care Night at Meadow Brook Hall

In this recital, SMTD celebrates the technical diversity and breadth of interests of our students. Music majors sing repertoire from the musical theatre repertoire and Musical Theatre majors sing repertoire from the classical repertoire.

Voice Crossover Concert

Eisenhower Dance Detroit

Join OU Prof Scott Gwinnell and the OU Jazz Singers for our monthly Global Jam at the PLAT every first Thursday at 7pm. All members of our wider Pontiac/ Oakland University/ Michigan community are most welcome!

Global Jam at the PLAT (with the OU Jazz Singers)

Clarinetist Sam Rothstein is the Acting Principal Clarinet with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, having been appointed as the Assistant Principal and Bass Clarinetist with the ISO in 2015. Prior to joining the ISO, he was a member of the Richmond Symphony in Richmond , Virginia, and Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Mr. Rothstein has performed with the Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Milwaukee, Virginia, New World and Illinois Symphony Orchestras as well as the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. Sam is a Buffet Crampon performing artist.

Samuel Rothstein, clarinet masterclass

Amanda Ross is an active musician and educator passionate about furthering music performance and education. Dr. Ross recently served as Acting Principal Trumpet of Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra and has performed with ensembles such as Erie Philharmonic and Ann Arbor Camerata Orchestra. Recently she has performed with ÆPEX Contemporary Performance and International Contemporary Ensemble and she has participated in chamber festivals worldwide, including Ensemble Evolution, Strange Beautiful Music XI and IX, Soundscape Exchange in Maccagno, Italy, and Bar Harbor Brass Institute.

Amanda Ross, Faculty Trumpet Recital

Alta Boover holds degrees from Skidmore College, The Eastman School of Music and the University of Texas at Austin, and is an Associate Professor of Voice at Oakland University where she teaches Diction and Career Building for Musicians. Her students have performed in concert halls, opera houses, and performance venues around the world, on Broadway, on National Broadway Tours, and on televised singing competitions. Dr. Boover has appeared at Carnegie Hall as a soloist with the New York City Chamber Orchestra in Mozart’s Solemn Vespers, and at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center as the Narrator in Peter and the Wolf as well as Mrs. Barnaby in the premiere of a new version of Victor Herbert’s Babes in Toyland. She performs regularly as an opera, concert and oratorio soloist, and has presented Internationally on American Operetta and on Vocal Health and Habilitation in Vienna and Tokyo. More information on her career and albums can be found at www.altaboover.com

Alta Boover, Faculty Voice Recital

Jeffrey Heisler, Faculty Saxophone Recital

Opera Workshop

African Ensemble (Akwaaba) and Steel Band (Pan-Jumbies). Akwaaba will present drum traditions of West Africa and the African diaspora. Pan-Jumbies will feature Caribbean music arranged for the steel pan. Patrick Fitzgibbon, director.

World Music Concert

Oakland University Chamber Orchestra

This annual showcase will feature a collaboration of faculty choreographers and guest artist works performed by the talented artists in the School of Music, Theatre and Dance. Stephanie Pizzo, artistic Director of Eisenhower Dance Detroit will choreograph a work with the students. Guest choreographers include Lauren Anderson of the Houston Ballet, Alisyn Glasco of Vertical Ambition Dance Company, and Neda Ebrahimi former dancer with PHILADANCO. Elizabeth Riga and Thayer Jonutz, directors.

Oakland Dance Theatre and OU Repertory Dance Company

Choreography presented as the culmination of the semester from the Dance Department Choreography Three students.

Choreography 3 Class Performance

Chamber Ensembles Recital

Premiers of new works by student composers from Oakland’s Music Technology Degree program, including works for acoustic instruments electronics, and combinations of both.

Oakland University Composers Concert

Through a pedagogical and scientific lens, we will explore the use of consonants and semi-consonants in vocalizes, warm-ups, and repertoire. More specifically, the clinic will regard the nature of consonants, their classifications and actions, and how they can be utilized to create freedom and function in the singing voice.

Useful Obstacles: Utilizing Consonants in Vocalizes and Songs (PD Event)

One of our most popular events, join us for this exciting, inspiring performance in a beautiful acoustic environment.

University Chorus and Oakland Chorale

A winner of numerous international piano competitions, Michael Noble has been called “a pianist to remember” and “poetic” by Het Nieuwsblad. He will present an evening of virtuosic piano repertoire and Masterclass to the OU community.

Michael Noble, piano

The newly formed Latin Jazz Ensemble directed by Dr. Enrique Rios-Ellis, will be performing dynamic selections featuring a variety of Latin rhythms. The repertoire spans the breadth of the Americas interwoven with the historic influence of Africa, with selections spanning from the United States to Brazil, Cuba, and Mexico.

OU Jazz Band, Latin Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combo

Come join the string studios of Oakland University as they play their hearts out on the stage of Varner Recital Hall! Music of Bach, Saint-Saens , Mozart, Dvorak, Vaughn Williams, Franck, and many more. A tour de force evening of concerti, sonatas, suites and more that’s not to be missed!

Strings Studios Recital

Come join the piano area to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season with music written for solo piano, one piano four hands and two pianos!

Piano Studio Recital

For any seniors who are looking at being a music major or minor at OU, we will be holding in-person scholarship auditions for the OU School of Music, Theatre and Dance during the Honor Band Weekend.

Oakland University High School Honor Band

Join us for a musical theatre revue celebrating the past fifty years of performances in the Varner Studio Theatre! Featuring music from Tommy, A Chorus Line, Sweet Charity, Into the Woods, Gypsy, Oklahoma! and more! 

Varner Act II Gala

Clarinet, Bassoon and Oboe Studio Recital

Oakland Symphony Orchestra with the Oakland University Chorale and Jonathan Bailey Holland, guest composer

Oakland University High School Honor Orchestra

Come out for a night of percussion as the Oakland University Percussion Studio presents a diverse program of solo and small chamber ensemble music.

If the world is chaos, then it means there’s no order, and if there’s no order, then it basically means that anything is possible’ A girl is locked in a room. A boy brings another boy flowers. A girl has tied herself to a railing. A boy doesn’t know who he is. A girl worries about impending catastrophe. A woman jumps in front of a train. A boy’s heart falls out his chest. A butterfly has a broken wing.

Chaos

Lauren Anderson will teach master classes in ballet and set “Friends” from the ballet Coppélia on our dancers. 

Lauren Anderson Residency - Dance Showcase

Performance of works for solo clarinet, and clarinet and electronics by Kirsten Volness, Joseph Harchanko, Judith Shatin, Andrea Cheeseman, Mark Snyder, Mark Phillips, and OU Faculty composer Ben Fuhrman.

Andrea Cheeseman, clarinet and electronics

Guitar Ensemble and Studio Recital

Join us for a night of music featuring the Oakland University Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band.

Oakland University Symphonic Band & Wind Symphony in Concert

Vanessa Rubin, jazz guest artist concert

The Oakland University Chamber Orchestra presents its first concert of the season featuring the works of Corelli, Mozart, and Arensky. 

Nathan Salazar will present a recital featuring the works of J.S. Bach, Stagich, Salleras, Bonneau, Price, and Dorn.

Nathan Salazar, saxophone guest artist

Celebrated American soprano Karen Slack’s dynamic opera and recital performances combined with her passionate advocacy for racial justice and women composers make her a sought-after artist on many fronts. For her performance at Chamber Music Detroit, Slack performs Of Thee I Sing! Songs of Love and Justice, her incredibly moving program conceived during the turmoil in the summer of 2020, when the country was forced into a long-overdue racial awakening. After witnessing the murder of George Floyd on national television – as many did while confined to their homes during the onset of the pandemic – Slack felt it necessary to create a program focusing on the healing powers of justice and love. The program will include material from composers Clayton White, Undine Smith Moore, Ricky Ian Gordon, Scott Gendel, H. Leslie Adams, Jake Heggie, and Adolphus Hailstork. 

Songs of Love & Justice with Soprano Karen Slack (Chamber Music Detroit at OU)

Come listen to chamber groups perform their own compositions created during a series of workshops in October at Oakland University. The pieces blend classical, improvisatory, folk, and storytelling elements. 

Creative Music Making - Blending Performance and Composition

Dr. Jesse Cook, Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of Central Florida and the Principal Trumpet of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra will provide a masterclass to the students of the Oakland University Trumpet Studio.

Jesse Cook, trumpet guest artist masterclass

This clinic will provide an overview of the structure of the Advanced Placement Exam in Music Theory. Participants will take some sample questions, and learn how free-response questions are scored. Participants will also participate in discussions and learn some effective strategies for teaching their own AP Music Theory course. Participants may either be current AP theory teachers or curious about the prospect of teaching an AP theory course in the future.

Music Theory Revealed: Totally Accessible Teaching Strategies (Professional Development Event)

Dr. Jesse Cook, Associate Professor of Trumpet at the University of Central Florida and the Principal Trumpet of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, will present a recital featuring the works of Reiche, Ewazen, Jolivet, Day, Boulanger, and Shchedrin.

Jesse Cook, trumpet guest artist recital

Trio Ghidorah is a classical guitar trio formed by Ken Luk, Bernardo Marcondes, and Erik Gibelyou. The three musicians banded together while pursuing their doctoral degrees at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. The trio creates arrangements for three guitars of music not originally written for the instrument, including works by Stravinsky, Mozart, and Philip Glass. The group’s debut album, Dances and Fantasies, includes their own arrangements alongside works composed for three guitars by Paulo Bellinati, Stephen Dodgson, and Annette Kruisbrink.

Guitar Trio Ghidorah

Matthew Tracy, guest artist saxophone recital

Matthew Tracy, guest artist saxophone masterclass

Students will present songs and work with Thomas Jaber on form and style in art song. An evening full of beautiful music and interesting exploration.

An Evening with Thomas Jaber

Oakland University Brass Band

Attention Flutists, Oboists, Clarinetists, Bassoonists and Saxophonists! Please join us for a day dedicated to all things woodwind with Oakland University faculty on Sunday, October 8, 2023. This day-long event is for woodwind players and educators of all ages and levels and will include workshops, performances, masterclasses, all-state rep, a woodwind ensemble reading session and vendors.

Woodwind Day

¡Farsa/Farce! brings together two important international playwrights for an evening of physical and verbal comedy…with a social conscience. The plays interrogate issues relating to gender, identity, sexuality and class. In times of social and political upheaval, we can rely on the genre of farce to speak the global language of laughter.

¡Farsa/Farce! (An Affair of International Laughter)

Bodies in Protest emerged out of the heightened political, racial, and social discourse of 2020. The desire was to use the art of dance to serve as another medium to enter into important dialogues of the world. The OU Dance Department’s Repertory Dance Theatre members choose the focus of protest and then choreograph the event under the direction of Thayer Jonutz the Director of the company. This year’s performance will mark Bodies in Protest’s 4th year at the Elliott Clock Tower.

Oakland University School of Music, Theatre and Dance

2 - 5 May, 2024

Hansel and Gretel

Apr 26, 2024

So Many Melodies

Apr 23, 2024

Sarah Plum, violin and new music

20 - 21 Apr, 2024

An Incident at The Border

Apr 20, 2024

A Kaleidoscope of Musical Styles - Arthur Greene Residency (masterclass)

Oakland University School of Music, Theatre and Dance

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