Carnegie Mellon University's School of Music is setting the stage for an exhilarating year of performances that promise to captivate and inspire audiences. From the versatile Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble to intimate student recitals, the lineup is a testament to the institution's dedication to musical excellence and innovation. Explore the creative genius of students and faculty in a series of events that range from dynamic jazz orchestras to soul-stirring chamber music, each offering a unique sonic experience. Join us as we delve into the details of these remarkable performances, each a testament to the enriching power of music.

A Symphony of Talent: Celebrating Carnegie Mellon University's Musical Showcases

The Carnegie Mellon University Chamber Series brings together members of the CMU Faculty and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for outstanding music making in an intimate space.

EPSG:4326

Carnegie Mellon Chamber Series: Lorna McGhee back @ CMU!

Carnegie Mellon University

The Carnegie Mellon School of Music Jazz Ensembles explore a variety of jazz genres, from traditional swing to current trends in jazz fusion and jazz chamber music, while also performing jazz classics in a big band style.

Carnegie Mellon Jazz Orchestra & JIVE-Carnegie Mellon Jazz Choir

Horn Studio Recital

Schenley Farms Historic District

Percussion Studio Recital

Stephanie Loveless is a Montréal-born artist whose research centers on listening and vocal embodiment. She makes softspeakers out of paper cups, performance prescriptions for audience-identified ailments, and sound works that channel the voices of plants, animals, and musical divas. Her sound, video, and performance work has been presented in festivals, galleries, museums and artist-run centers worldwide. She has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the British Columbia Arts Council, and el Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. She has received awards from Kodak, the International Festival of Cinema and Technology, and the Malcolm S. Morse Foundation, and has completed residencies at el Centro Mexicano para la Musica y las Artes Sonoras (Morelia, Mexico), the Coleman Center for the Arts (York, Alabama), and Studio XX (Montréal, Québec). She holds MFAs from both Bard College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a certification in Deep Listening.

Guest Recital: Stephanie Loveless - Video Pieces and Text Scores

This concert of beautiful duets and trios is a celebration of friendship, community and a shared love of music.  For twelve years, Lorna, Jenny and Rhian have played together in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. This concert will be recorded for CD and all proceeds from the recording will go towards the PSO Musicians’ Care Fund, chaired by Rhian Kenny. The mission of the Fund is to provide musical experiences to all children, regardless of the ability of their family or school district to pay. Additionally, our broader flute community will also be represented as members of Pittsburgh Flute Academy, led by Wendy Kumer, will serenade the audience on arrival. 

Pittsburgh Flute Celebration

Student Recital: Chaela Franck

Student Recital: Christina Kim

Student Recital: Hanna Atsedewoin

Student Recital: Jingxuan Yang

Student Recital: Brian Bera

Student Recital: Haley Rasmussen

Student Recital: Camille Bove

Student Recital: James O'Malley Gorbea

Student Recital: Melissa Medina Valencia

Composition Studio Recital

Student Recital: Bryan Bennett

Student Recital: Larsen Vincent

With Evan Harper, Natalie Hsieh, Ariana Blevins, Soobee Kim, Zoe Chessa, Kate Denman, Logan Williams, Allen Adair, Jiddu Vega, Alexander Su, Armin Carrillo, and Brandon Williams

Student Recital: Liam Flaherty

Student Recital: Shulin An

Student Recital: Wallis Lucas

Student Recital: Yue Fei

Faculty Chamber Recital: Sarah Steranka with Anna Elder

Student Recital: Thomas Fong

Student Recital: Haiyi Zhang

Student Recital: Nathan Graham

Vox Humana invites you to a fusion of technology, art, and music celebrating the harmony between the ancient and the avant-garde. This event showcases the music of Carnegie Mellon University’s Exploded Ensemble, architectural video projections from Advanced ETB: Animation Studio: AI Generated Animation, and performance work from Advanced ETB: Digitally Mediated Performance.

Exploded Ensemble: Vox Humana

Church of the Ascension

Student Recital: Ariana Blevins

Student Recital: Jason Wang

Maestro Andrés Cárdenes leads the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic in their final concert of the season, performing Mozart's Symphony No. 39 in E Flat Major and Gustav Mahler's powerful Symphony No. 4 in G Major.

Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic

Electronic Music Studio Concert

WQED

Student Recital: Erin Higgins

Student Recital: Ryan Onestak

Student Recital: Joshua Lee

Student Recital: Alice Statham

Student Recital: Camden Wentz

Abundant Futures is an afternoon of sound, inflatables, and animation presented at WQED in Studio A. Sonic compositions, giant inflatable sculptures, and stop-motion animation come together to create an immersive landscape where abundant life (beyond human) is center stage. Audience members can explore the dynamic creations made by students of Experimental Sound Synthesis, Inflatables, and Stop-Motion Animation at CMU. 

Abundant Futures: Experimental Sound Synthesis, Inflatable Sculptures & Animation Event

Student Recital: Emma Lasswell

Student Recital: Ethan Carter

Saxophone Class Recital

Carnegie Mellon Opera: Excerpts

Student Recital: Ryan Shuey

Hall of Mirrors: Audiovisual Composition Concert

Student Recital: Adrian Rodriguez

Joint Student Recital: Preston Steimel, Zachary Sussman

Student Recital: Colby Batchelor

Student Chamber Recital: Hannah Noh, Elizabeth Hur & Madeline Psarakis

Student Recital: Bruce Gao

Student Recital: Bernard Sheng

Student Recital: Eric Huang

Come stroll though the Kraus Campo Garden, between CFA and Posner Hall/HOA, and take in the sounds of Percussion  Improvisation influenced by the garden and culminating with a performance of  Bob Becker's "Mudra".

Carnegie Mellon Percussion Ensemble

Student Recital: Gabriela Schwartz

Student Recital: Nikolas Morosky

Student Recital: Bradley Fletcher

Student Recital: Rachel Boll

Matthew Tao recently graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a BFA in Piano Performance and is continuing his graduate studies there with Professor Frederic Chiu. Matthew began playing the piano at six and half years old at Peabody Preparatory in Baltimore. Since his undergraduate career, Matthew has received numerous merit scholarships, awards, fellowships, and performance opportunities. In Pittsburgh, Matthew enjoys performing regularly as both a solo and chamber musician and has been recognized as a Young Artist of the Pittsburgh Concert Society. He has also rehearsed and performed frequently alongside larger ensembles at CMU, collaborating with the philharmonic orchestra, wind ensemble, contemporary ensemble, and chorus. Matthew aims to share his passion for classical piano music with the world in the feeling of contemporary society through performance. This year, Matthew will be performing recitals in partnership with Solich Piano Pittsburgh to bring to life new and innovative programs to tell inspiring stories to the local community.

Student Recital: Matthew Tao

The CMU Chorus performs works inspired by William Shakespeare's plays, including pieces written by George Shearing, Matthew Harris, William Schuman, and more. The plays featured include Twelfth Night, The Merchant of Venice, Henry VIII, and Macbeth.

CMU Chorus & Singers

Student Chamber Recital: Andrew Gray, Julian Hsieh & Bernard Sheng

Student Recital: Jorge Daniel Vera Aquino

The Carnegie Mellon Guitar Ensemble presents creatively expressive performances of duos, trios, quartets, and larger ensemble music from every major Western music style period.

Carnegie Mellon Guitar Ensemble

Bass Trombone Studio Recital

Hailed as an “outstanding artist” (Der Standard, Austria) Pittsburgh Symphony Principal Flute, Lorna McGhee is equally at home in a solo, chamber or orchestral setting. She has performed concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in the UK; Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonia, and Victoria Symphony in Canada; Nashville Chamber Orchestra, Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra, San Luis Obispo Symphony and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in the USA; Kyushu Symphony in Japan, and Evergreen Symphony in Taipei. Career highlights include a performance of Penderecki's flute concerto under the baton of the composer, Bach’s B Minor suite with both Yannick Nézet-Seguin and Nicholas McGegan, the Ibert concerto with Juanjo Mena, Nielsen with Yan Pascal Tortelier and most recently the Mozart G major with Manfred Honeck. Upcoming highlights include performances of the Saariaho Flute Concerto entitled “Aile du Songe” with both the Pittsburgh Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra.

Faculty Recital: Lorna McGhee

Student Recital: Kai Su

The Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble utilizes a flexible instrumentation of winds, brass, and percussion to perform repertoire from standard concert band works to contemporary compositions of various instrumental combinations. 

Carnegie Mellon Wind Ensemble

Student Recital: Justin Feild

Student Recital: Lily Moerschel

The Tartan Tuba Band presents a concert of video game music for Spring Carnival 2024.

Tartan Tuba Band: Big Brass Button Mash Bash

Silvia Careddu made an auspicious start to her career by winning unanimously the First Prize and the Audience prize at the 56th Concours International de Musique de Genève.

Following the award, Lorin Maazel invited Silvia to become solo flute for his newly founded Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini. She later joined the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Wiener Symphoniker and the Wiener Staatsoper-Wiener Philharmoniker.

Guest Masterclass: Silvia Careddu

The Carnegie Mellon Contemporary Ensemble performs music composed in the last twenty years in concerts that feature multidisciplinary collaboration, technology, improvisation, and theatrical elements. The ensemble often highlights the work of students and faculty.

Carnegie Mellon Contemporary Ensemble

Student Recital: Sigríður Indriðadóttir

As an avid performer, flutist Evan Curatolo strives to not only convey the beauty and prominence of classical music in the world today, but to also emphasize the importance of deepening one's creative and imaginative mindset through various musical lenses. An orchestral musician at heart, Evan finds himself at home in the orchestra’s flute section and is devoted entirely to conveying the message and importance of orchestral repertoire. Evan will join the New World Symphony as a regular substitute for the 2024-25 season.

Student Recital: Evan Curatolo

Zoë Chessa is a soprano originally from El Paso, Texas. She is a senior studying under Sari Gruber, majoring in vocal performance with minors in German and Linguistics. Zoë first made her professional debut with Pittsburgh Opera as the First Spirit/The Magic Flute (2021). Zoë’s recent roles at CMU include Miss Sweetsong/The Impresario by Mozart (2023) and Cleonilla/Ottone in Villa by Vivaldi (2024) and The Maiden/Der Kaiser von Atlantis (2023), for which she also served as assistant director. Other roles include Clarice/Die Welt auf dem Monde (2022) with the Middlebury College German for Singers program, Lepido/Silla at Chicago Summer Opera (2021). She is a 3x recipient of the Max Kade scholarship, which has funded her language studies abroad in Freiburg and Berlin. She is a Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society Member in the Theta Xi Division, and received 2nd Place in the undergraduate category of the 2023 CMU Philharmonic Soloist Competition. Zoë is a recipient of the Harry G. Archer Philharmonic Soloist Award as the Highest Scoring Junior, as well as the Derdeyn Scholarship in Voice. Other summer programs include Classic Lyric Arts in the Berkshires (2023), Crittenden Opera in Bethesda, Maryland (2017), and the Honors Performance Series in Sydney, Australia (2019).

Student Recital: Zoe Chessa

Student Recital: John Morabito

Liam Dale is a Trumpet Performance major at Carnegie Mellon University, graduating in the year 2025. Born into a family of musicians, he had an upbringing rooted in music, and sought to make a career out of his musical creativity at CMU. While enrolled, his intense and demanding educational experience has only encouraged him to improve upon his performance skills as well as have an open-minded outlook on the more emotional aspects music has to offer to all. Over the years, Liam has studied with many well-known trumpet performers and professors including Neal Berntsen, Micah Wilkinson, Chad Winkler, John Marchiando, and George Vosburgh, each of which has had a hand in crafting him into the musician he is today.

Student Recital: Liam Dale

Student Recital: Jenny Li

The oboe studio of Cynthia DeAlmeida presents a varied program of oboe classics, which highlight the virtuosity and expressiveness of the instrument. They will be joined by Elettra Pomponio on piano and Cynthia DeAlmeida on oboe.

Oboe Studio Recital

Student Recital: Ricky Owens

Student Recital: Katherine Huszcza

Recent and upcoming performances include solo performances at Alice Tully Hall, the Miller Theatre at Columbia University, the Phillips Collection, Cal Performances, Shriver Hall, IRCAM, King’s College, Cambridge, the Spoleto Festival USA and the Center for the Art of Performing at UCLA. In 2024, he will tour Nico Muhly and Alice Goodman’s The Street with Mark Morris Dance Company. He has also collaborated with composers such as Marcos Balter, Saad Haddad, Josh Levine, Jared Miller Sarah Kirkland Snider, as has performed new works.

Guest Recital & Masterclass: Parker Ramsay

Jammieca Denise Mott, soprano, is a graduate of Jackson State University, Southern Methodist University and received her D.M.A. from The University of North Texas. She has performed the roles of Aurelia Havisham in Miss Havisham’s Wedding Night, the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Rosina in Ghosts of Versailles, Alceste in Alceste and Sandman in Hansel and Gretel. Other roles performed include Fire in L’enfant et les sortileges and Miss Wordsworth in Albert Herring, the Lady with the Hand Mirror from Postcard from Morocco and Gilda from Rigoletto. In addition, she performed in the Casalmaggiore International Festival in Italy and the Crested Butte Music Festival in Colorado. On the Concert Stage, Dr. Mott has been heard at the Round Top Music Festival as the Soprano soloist in a performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. She has also served as the Soprano soloist in Poulenc’s Gloria with The Symphony of Southeast Texas, Bruckner’s Te Deum with the Beaumont Interfaith Choral Society, Handel’s Messiah in a joint concert with The Turtle Creek Chorale and The Fort Worth Symphony, The Richardson Symphony Sounds of the Seasons Concert, The Richardson Symphony Christmas Classics Concert, and concerts throughout Italy and Germany. Dr. Mott has performed the role of Adina from L’Elisir D’Amore with The Living Opera and selected as one of the ensemble soloists in Dallas Opera’s production of Porgy and Bess. Dr. Mott has been the recipient of many awards including 1st Place Winner in the Leontyne Price Vocal Competition, Finalist in the National Opera Association Competition, Finalist in the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition and 1st Place Winner in the Rose Palmai Tensor Vocal Competition. Dr. Mott is currently a member of the Houston Grand Opera Chorus. She has held teaching positions at Austin College, North Lake College, Tarleton State University, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, and Sam Houston State University and Lamar University.

Guest Masterclass: Dr. Jammieca Mott & Chandler Johnson

Margaret Morrison Carnegie Hall

Benjamin Curtin is a senior undergraduate student at Carnegie Mellon University, studying business administration at the Tepper School of Business and piano performance at the College of Fine Arts. His parents, both professional pianists, began teaching him piano at the age of 6. Ben began learning from his father, David, before spending most of his childhood and teenage years learning from his mother, Hyun Ju. He now studies under Professor Frederic Chiu, who began teaching him at CMU in 2022. In addition to piano, Ben has taught himself both bass guitar and guitar, starting at the ages of 16 and 18, respectively. Outside of school and music, Ben is a volunteer leader for Young Life College at CMU and the University of Pittsburgh. He enjoys spending quality time with friends and family, keeping himself fit, and eating lots of food.

Student Recital: Benjamin Curtin

Student Recital: Benjamin Cargnel

Student Recital: Solomon Onyukwu

Join School of Music faculty for pop-up classes, snacks and short presentations on the following courses available for registration for the Fall 2024 semester in the Alumni Concert Hall (CFA Building). 

Music Class Pop-up Sampler

Student Recital: Evan Harper

Student Recital: Madalyn Sadler

Sweeter than Roses: Songs of Teta’s Garden is all about love, beauty, nature, childhood, innocence, heartbreak, and joy. This recital includes a Persian folk song written by Nicole’s dear friend, Leila Gottlieb Hedayati, music by Lebanese icon, Fairouz, and many other French, English, Italian, and German art songs. She is beyond excited to collaborate with James O’Malley Gorbea on guitar and Viviana Antonio on the cello as well. This recital is dedicated to Nicole’s family, Lebanon, and the many summers she has spent there throughout her life.

Student Recital: Nicole Khouzami

Conductor Daniel Curtis leads the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic in a program comprised of student compositions. 

Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic: Student Composers' Concert

Student Recital: Ziyu Cai

Spring Composers' Concert

Student Recital: Abigail Cunningham

Student Recital: Chloe Tordi

Carnegie Mellon Chamber Series: Bruch and Strauss

Step into a world of musical mastery with an unforgettable orchestra concert featuring the esteemed guest conductor, James Blachly as he leads the Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic. Experience the grandeur of Ethel Smyth's powerful Overture to "The Wreckers" as the orchestra transports you to the high seas with its dramatic crescendos and stirring melodies. Delve into the haunting beauty of Ralph Vaughan Williams' timeless masterpiece, On Wenlock Edge, featuring tenor Michael Vallikappil, where lush harmonies and evocative lyrics intertwine to paint a vivid portrait of the English countryside. Be moved by the rich tapestry of sound in William Levi Dawson's groundbreaking Negro Folk Symphony, a celebration of African-American musical heritage that pulses with rhythm, melody, and spirit.

Natalie Hsieh is a first year graduate Violin Performance student at Carnegie Mellon University studying with Bill van der Sloot. Originally from Gaithersburg, Maryland, Natalie began learning the violin at age 5. She had coveted opportunities to play in master classes with Hilary Hahn and Philip Setzer. She had been a returning member of the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra (MCYO) from 2010-2019, and performed with MCYO at Carnegie Hall as Assistant Principal violinist. She has attended the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and the Aspen Music Festival and School. During the winter of 2020, she had the opportunity to perform at the US Embassies of Argentina, Colombia, and Brazil. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Oberlin Conservatory.

Student Recital: Natalie Hsieh

Student Recital: Miles Pride

Student Chamber Recital

Josephine Yoonji Lee is currently pursuing her Master of Music in Flute Performance at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music in the studio of Lorna McGhee. She completed her undergraduate studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with Alexa Still and was a long-time student of Los Angeles-based flutist Christina Yoo. In recent years, Josephine attended the Pierre Monteux School and performed in Luberon, France as part of Le Festival International de Musique Classique de Puget sur Durance. In her adolescence, she was the principal flutist of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra at Interlochen and performed as a concerto soloist and chamber musician in the Beverly Hills International Music Festival. She has had the privilege of performing for many prominent flutists, including Carol Wincenc, Mark Sparks, Molly Barth, Aralee Dorough, the late Philip Dikeman, and baroque flutist Barthold Kuijken. This past summer, she also worked with Paul Edmund-Davies and Emily Beynon at Le Domaine Forget de Charlevoix, where she was awarded the Excellence Scholarship. When not playing flute, Josephine works as a seasoned orchestra librarian, with previous professional appointments taking her to Interlochen, Aspen, and back to Oberlin. She is also an avid donor of whole blood, platelets, and granulocytes; other interests include hiking, tennis, speedrunning, and riichi mahjong!

Student Recital: Josephine Lee

Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic & Chorus

Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Wollaton Hall

Student Recital: Joanna Lau

Harp Studio Recital

Harp Chamber Recital

Carnegie Mellon Opera: Alcina

Student Recital: Garrett Gorby

Joint Student Recital: Mikey Donica & Ian Tam

Carnegie Mellon Chamber Series: An evening with the Akropolis Reed Quintet

Student Recital: Nathan Gaynor

Student Recital: Alex Daiker

Student Recital: Jack Brink

Joint Student Recital: Mina Brooks-Schmidt & Winston Perry

Student Recital: Isabelle Hoyou

Avid teacher and performer Joshua Gandy has played with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and was the former Principal Horn of the Mansfield Philharmonic, where he performed Mozart’s 4th horn concerto live in concert. He was also a fellow during the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Brass Institute in 2024 and the Atlantic Brass Quintet Summer Seminar in 2022. He has participated in masterclasses and coachings from world class musicians such as Frøydis Ree Werke, Kristina Mascher-Turner, Molly Norcross, Duane Dugger, and Lisa Conway.

Carnegie Mellon University School of Music

Dec 4, 2024

Student Recital: Josephine Lee

Dec 5, 2024

Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic & Chorus

Dec 6, 2024

Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic & Chorus

Dec 6, 2024

Student Recital: Joanna Lau

Dec 7, 2024

Harp Studio Recital

Dec 3, 2024

Carnegie Mellon Chamber Series: Lorna McGhee back @ CMU!

Dec 2, 2024

Carnegie Mellon Jazz Orchestra & JIVE-Carnegie Mellon Jazz Choir

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Carnegie Mellon University School of Music