Composition

Beyond composition: A collaborative approach to creativity

Mariefaith Lane — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 22:48:28 +0000

Beyond composition: A collaborative approach to creativity Mariefaith Lane Wed, 02/04/2026 - 15:48

MarieFaith Lane

For composer and arranger Ilan Blanck (MM ’23), collaboration is integral to his creative identity and career success. When he reflects on his time at the �Թ�� of Colorado Boulder College of Music, what stands out most is an approach to music making grounded in curiosity, openness and collaboration.

“I feel like my experience at CU Boulder really reinforced an approach based on an equal type of collaboration,” says the recent alum. “So much of that was influenced by the faculty and the composition department.”

Specifically, Blanck traces that mindset to the culture modeled by composition faculty members Professor of Composition Carter Pann, Associate Professor of Composition Annika Socolofsky and former Associate Professor of Composition Michael Theodore whose willingness to engage with unfamiliar ideas left a lasting impression. Blanck said his mentors treated each project as an opportunity to learn alongside their students.

“I spent so much time as the recipient of their curiosity,” he notes. “They were curious about things I was doing or conversations we’d have about all sorts of random things. That really stuck with me.”

That openness mattered especially because Blanck arrived at CU Boulder via an unconventional academic path: After completing his undergraduate degree, he spent a few years working in genres outside traditional classical music, including pop and fusion projects that emphasized arranging and producing as much as composing.

“I never felt like I was the most inspiring contemporary composer,” shares Blanck. “So I wasn’t sure who would be interested in what I had to offer.” Being accepted into the College of Music felt like a clear endorsement of his broadly based creative identity. “What I was told was, ‘We think what you’re doing is cool and we’d love for you to keep doing that here,’” he recalls. “That felt like explicit encouragement to continue to develop my skills beyond composition.”

While completing the formal requirements of his degree, Blanck was also able to bring his ongoing professional work into conversations with faculty. He sought advice on arranging sessions, production logistics and the interpersonal dynamics of working with musicians outside academic settings. Even when projects fell outside faculty members’ areas of expertise, the response was consistent. “When I came to them with projects that were unfamiliar, they’d say, ‘I don’t really know about that, but let’s find out together,’” he says. “Being around people like that made me willing to say the same thing to others.”

Teaching Introduction to Music Technology for two years further shaped how Blanck thinks about music technology, music theory and popular music. The experience clarified his belief in learning through doing, particularly across genres that are often separated in formal music education.

“The opportunity for musicians to explore their own musicality by actively composing, producing and writing songs became really important to me,” he continues. “Doing the work helped me develop a clearer sense of what feels meaningful, not just creatively but pedagogically.”

That philosophy continues to guide the projects Blanck pursues today. On Feb. 21, he’ll present ChamberSongs at the Chautauqua Community House, a concert featuring four artists closely connected to Boulder’s acoustic and Americana music scenes: Megan Burtt, Jayme Stone, Emma Rose and Alexa Wildish. Each artist will perform newly arranged versions of their songs accompanied by a string and bass ensemble made up entirely of CU Boulder-affiliated musicians.

The ensemble includes alumni violinist Jordan Grantonic (MM ’23, AD ’25), violinist Laura Pérez Rangel (MM ’25, DMA ’28), violist Ryan Drickey (BME ’01, MM ’06), cellist Sophie Stubbs (MM ’23) and double bassist Will Kuepper (MM ’26). “All of the string players are CU Boulder people in some capacity,” Blanck says. “These are artists I love, who are also my friends They’re people I associate with Boulder, not just geographically but musically.”

The project took shape slowly, beginning nearly a year in advance as Blanck aligned schedules, arranged 24 songs and managed the logistics himself. While he has extensive experience arranging and booking performances, taking on the entire scope of the project was a personal challenge. “I was honestly just trying to take a big swing,” he reflects. “This was the first time I really took on all of it.” He likened the arranging process to designing a machine: “Arranging is kind of like designing a spaceship—you make the plans and then it’s someone else’s job to figure out if it can fly.”

Beyond ChamberSongs, Blanck continues to collaborate with College of Music alumni on other large-scale projects including The Song of Pueblo, an oratorio portraying the history of southern Colorado. Orchestrated by Blanck and fellow alumnus Max Wolpert, the work brought together the CU Boulder Chamber Orchestra and the El Pueblo Ensemble, and is available for streaming on PBS. “That project keeps resurfacing in ways that remind me how much sustained effort and cooperation it took,” Blanck says. “It was meaningful for everyone involved.”

Looking back, Blanck sees a clear throughline from his time at CU Boulder to the creative life he has built since graduating—one shaped less by individual milestones than by long-term relationships. “It’s very easy for me to trace specific opportunities to specific people,” he notes. “Someone mentions someone else, who connects you to another person—and suddenly you’re doing work you care about.”

That belief shapes what he hopes audiences take away ChamberSongs. For Blanck, the Boulder event is not only about the music on stage but about the act of gathering itself. “I hope people come away feeling inspired to keep leaving their houses and gathering in rooms together, to listen to other people make music and have shared experiences. Those things feel at risk right now.”

As advice to emerging composers, Blanck resists offering prescriptions. Instead, he points to the practices that have sustained his own career over time. “To the degree that I’ve gotten anywhere figuring it out, it’s been by finding people whose work I admire, learning from them and keeping those connections going.”

For Blanck, connection is ongoing and deeply personal: The relationships he formed at CU Boulder continue to grow into new collaborations, new projects and new ways of listening to one another. “It’s not even that they’ve been valuable to my career,” he concludes. “They are my career.” All told, a creative life driven by the generosity of collaboration often leaves behind its greatest imprint in the community it builds.

For composer and arranger Ilan Blanck (MM ’23), collaboration is integral to his creative identity and career success. His College of Music experience encouraged curiosity, openness and a willingness to learn alongside others—an approach that continues to guide his work across genres including a community concert on Feb. 21 featuring several fellow alumni and students.

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Faculty Tuesdays event spotlights songwriting, individual expression

Mariefaith Lane — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 21:14:58 +0000

Faculty Tuesdays event spotlights songwriting, individual expression Mariefaith Lane Mon, 11/10/2025 - 14:14

Adam Goldstein + Sabine Kortals Stein

Associate Professor of Composition Annika Socolofsky and Associate Teaching Professor of Composition Mike Barnett are dedicated educators at CU Boulder’s College of Music who also play other roles outside of their status as professors.

Namely, both Barnett and Socolofsky are actively engaged composers and singer-songwriter artists who practice what they preach to their students when it comes to self-expression and creativity through music.

This week’s Faculty Tuesdays event, Nov. 11, offers the duo the chance to spotlight their singer-songwriter sides for our campus and community concertgoers. More broadly, the performance will represent the ways that the College of Music is evolving: Even as Barnett and Socolofsky bring their original compositions to the stage, opportunities for students’ self-expression as musicians, songwriters and artists are continually expanding.

“We were excited when Mike and Annika proposed their event for the Faculty Tuesdays series because it gives us the chance to more fully highlight the diversity of work being done at the CU Boulder College of Music,” says CU Presents Executive Director Andrew Metzroth. “It also gave us an opportunity to stretch the boundaries of what can happen in Grusin Music Hall.”

Specifically, Metzroth helped support audio engineering and supplemental lighting—as well as the extra funds needed to support a rock-style concert. CU Presents in general manages event promotions and programs including for all Faculty Tuesday events.

“Mike and I are both so excited to bring songwriting to the Faculty Tuesdays series,” says Socolofsky. The event will feature 10 of her original songs as well as Socolofsky’s queer, country and Western alter-ego EmmyJean Jenkins.

“We’re starting two brand-new degree programs here at the College of Music: Songwriting and Music Production. We hope we’re the first of many songwriting Faculty Tuesdays that showcase the ways that the college’s offerings are branching out.”

Socolofsky will be joined onstage by an ensemble that includes Trace Hybertson on fiddle, isele phoenix harper on keyboards, alumnus Ilan Blanck (MM ’23) on guitar and Nicole Patrick on drums for a program including “a rather thorough needling of the patriarchy along with quite a few jokes about men named Brad ... or Brock ... or Brice ... or some name like that.”

Barnett’s portion of the program will draw on collaborations with Jazz Studies Lecturer Enion Pelta-Tiller on vocals and fiddle, Fritz Gearhart on fiddle and Assistant Teaching Professor of Percussion Carl Dixon on percussion for a showcase of eight of his original songs (plus one cover).

Barnett is an active musician in the Boulder community and beyond; he’s a regular attendee of local songwriting sessions and performs his self-described brand of “Outlaw Folk” in open mics and community performances. Like Socolofsky, he views this event as a chance not only to bring his music to the CU Boulder campus, but to contribute to a deeper shift—in terms of focus, access and expression—in the entire community.

“We’re launching these new degree programs and we’re also in the process of building a multitrack studio,” he adds. “That’s going to open doors for all of our students. I think these efforts all speak loudly to what we’re doing here, building a more diverse and inclusive body of artistry.

“I think these efforts all speak loudly to what we’re doing here, building a more diverse and inclusive body of artistry.”

“Music belongs to everyone. There are so many voices that traditionally haven’t been heard in academia. It’s an important part of our mission—and the college’s universal musician approach to achieving that mission—to do these things.”

It feels fitting, then, that Barnett’s only cover tune during the performance will be Bob Seger’s 1971 folk ballad, “Turn the Page.”

As Barnett reiterates, this week’s event is part of a broader effort. “We’re helping to write a new chapter.”

Associate Professor of Composition Annika Socolofsky and Associate Teaching Professor of Composition Mike Barnett are actively engaged composers and singer-songwriter artists who practice what they preach to their students when it comes to self-expression and creativity through music.

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CU Boulder welcomes multidisciplinarian Stratøs to College of Music faculty

Mariefaith Lane — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 21:16:12 +0000

CU Boulder welcomes multidisciplinarian Stratøs to College of Music faculty Mariefaith Lane Thu, 10/30/2025 - 15:16

Adam Goldstein

Aspiring career musicians need to prepare for a constantly shifting scene, one that bears little resemblance to the music industry of even a decade ago. It’s a reality that Stratøs knows well, and one that the incoming assistant teaching professor of composition at the CU Boulder College of Music is eager to impart to his students.

Stratøs is a true multidisciplinarian: A saxophonist, composer, producer, photographer and cinematographer, the Michigan native has earned honors, plaudits and accolades across a spectrum of art forms and disciplines.

From his work as a saxophonist on film scores, to his musical contributions to in-game video soundtracks, to his role as a composer of ambitious works for jazz chamber orchestras, Stratøs has adjusted to a professional musical landscape that demands flexibility, deftness and resourcefulness: Skills that are sure to benefit his students here—and that align with the College of Music’s approach to developing universal musicians who are well-equipped to participate in the 21st century as artists, educators and scholars; as broadly based professionals with flexible career options; and as passionate, compassionate world citizens.

“One of the things that I’m passionate about is giving students the facility to develop their own personal sound with as much information, as much detail as they possibly can,” Stratøs says. “The modern musician is someone who might have a lot of varying interests in fields that may be outside of music. As someone who lives in those spaces a lot, I want to help students bring those influences to bear. I want to help them get an understanding of themselves as musicians.

“That’s something I try to teach—how to be adaptable. You have inspiration from other mediums to draw upon,” he adds.

That lesson is also valuable for students through a creative lens, Stratøs says. Just as the business side of the music industry has fundamentally changed over recent decades, so has the nature of composition. Creative silos have disappeared within a music industry that’s no longer distinct and separate from other creative pursuits. Film melds into music, which blends into social media soundtracks and video game scores. Visual arts flow into the music behind a reel or a TikTok video; a song or a snippet of melody is likely to be inextricably tied to images, film or virtual artwork for a modern consumer. In the age of social media, artificial intelligence and immediate music distribution, the lines that long separated disciplines have collapsed.

“I finished my master’s in 2020, and I was thrust into an ever-changing music industry from the beginning,” Stratøs notes. “I think a lot of people in my specific class, in my generation of artists—we're all faced with a unique task. The music industry doesn’t exist anymore, what are we going to do?”

For Stratøs, the answer came in drawing on a wealth of creative skills and threads, finding inroads among art forms and acclimating to a media landscape in which music rarely stands on its own. As he heads to Boulder to inspire incoming composition students beginning spring 2026, he wants to help them fuse mediums and find musical inspiration in unlikely places.

“When I looked at the job description for this position, it was describing exactly what I do,” he says. “Someone adept in composition and music production—a synthesis, someone who uses both of those disciplines to make their art. For example, if you’re working on photography as well as music, your photography informs your composition.

“That’s something that I hope to bring and work on with the students.”

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Innovation as a collaborative act

Mariefaith Lane — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 10:00:41 +0000

Innovation as a collaborative act Mariefaith Lane Thu, 10/30/2025 - 04:00

John Davis

From left to right: On Oct. 1-4, 2025, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies Margaret Berg, Assistant Dean for Strategic Initiatives Kate Cimino, Dean John Davis and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies Matthew Roeder welcomed participants of the National Association of Music Executives at State Universities (NAMESU) Annual Meeting to our campus and the brand new Limelight Boulder.

Greetings “from the road” where I’ve been engaged in two accreditation site reviews for the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM)—at institutions in Mississippi and New York—as well as a trio of October conferences: From hosting the National Association of Music Executives at State Universities (NAMESU) Annual Meeting right here on our campus and at the new Limelight hotel to the 61st Annual Conference of the International Council for Arts Deans (ICfAD) in Santa Fe, New Mexico to the College Music Society (CMS) National Conference in Spokane, Washington this week where I’ll be interacting with other deans and senior arts administrators engaged in public service and mentoring. Everywhere I go, I enjoy representing the unique achievements, aspirations and opportunities of our College of Music; along the way, I’ve been struck by the supportive camaraderie and timely shared learnings among my counterparts.

As noted by American theatre and opera director Anne Bogart, “We have been discouraged to think that innovation can be a collaborative act” and yet it’s exactly that—a collaborative act—that’s at the heart of institutions like ours.

It’s a collaborate act to not only innovate our curriculum in accordance with our universal musician approach—most recently including the launch of our songwriting degree emphasis, a new master’s degree in performance and pedagogy and the addition of a strings emphasis within our jazz studies degree programs; but also to sustain a healthy environment in which our students and faculty can advance their artistic integrity and imagination, and push back against ongoing pressures and pervasive feelings of despair—for example, when the Evergreen High School Cougar Pride Marching Band joined our Golden Buffalo Marching Band for a halftime performance on Oct. 11, marking a significant moment of healing for a community still recovering from a school shooting in September; and when our �Թ�� Choir takes the spotlight at the National Collegiate Choral Organization Biennial Conference at Cal State Fullerton College on Nov. 7, among just 10 choirs selected to perform via a nationwide competitive application process.

These days, we’re constantly buffeted by events. In the 24/7 news cycle, it’s all too easy to catastrophize, to lose proportion. In response, among arts leaders nationally, I’m finding a palpable purpose to meet the moment with intentionality, resulting in more opportunities for energetic engagement based on shared values.

At ICfAD, I participated in several facilitated discussions including Building Coalitions Across Campus, Creating Cultural Buy-In, and Strategies for Leading and Building a Team; as well as a riveting presentation—Common Characteristics of the Most Successful Fundraising Deans by James M. Langley, a prolific author and successful pioneer of fundraising strategies in higher education. The result? My own deepening dedication to the college’s focus areas—offering relevant, adaptable curriculum and student opportunities; enhancing faculty and staff success; and sustaining a community of wellness and resilience—as well as refining, right-sizing or even shifting college priorities to ignite greater immediate impacts as well as future possibilities for our students.

In short, my notes from a month of travel on behalf of our college—where I’m enthusiastic about my second term as dean—reflect that we’re not alone in taking a fresh look at everything we do to ensure student, staff and faculty flourishing within a resilient community, no matter the external pressures on (and often misdirected passions against) universities, generally.

Through radical resourcefulness, and with your programmatic and scholarship support, I’m eager to redirect adversity into advocacy, and conflict into collaborative acts that elevate music making as a basic human right: A right that serves and sustains the human experience, that draws us together when words fail, that offers an inclusive place of refuge and that uplifts expression of the beauty within all of us.

Dean Davis shares reflections “from the road” where he’s been engaged in a trio of October conferences as well as two accreditation site reviews for the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM).

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2025 ECM grants help students shine

Mariefaith Lane — Fri, 23 May 2025 17:51:36 +0000

2025 ECM grants help students shine Mariefaith Lane Fri, 05/23/2025 - 11:51

Kathryn Bistodeau

Each spring, the Entrepreneurship Center for Music (ECM) awards project grants to support students in their professional and artistic endeavors. This year’s adjudicator panel—comprising Dairy Arts Center Executive Director Melissa Fathman, Colorado Symphony member Nick Davies and myself—considered 27 applicants and awarded 16 grants totaling just over $6,200. I sat down with a few of these students to learn about their projects and how the grants helped fuel their success:

Electronic oboe piece
When Grace Stringfellow discovered composer Gracie Fagan’s work, they knew they had to work together. Stringfellow, a DMA student in oboe performance and pedagogy, first discovered Fagan (MM ’25) through an Instagram post of a piece she wrote for Assistant Professor of Saxophone Nathan Mertens.

“It was a really good example of her compositional style. She’s very into using electronics, live processing and other more modern sounds,” Stringfellow says. “She’s inspired by EDM and other dance musics.”

They then reached out to Fagan about writing a piece for oboe—something that would bring the repertoire into the present and showcase more extended techniques on the instrument. The ECM grant helped Stringfellow to compensate Fagan for the project.

“The main motivation was to create something that feels modern—that feels like something you would hear on the radio, something that’s singable, maybe has a little bit of improvisation,” they say. “Throwing everything out of the window of what is expected.”

Stringfellow and Fagan worked together to come up with inspiration for the piece, creating a collaborative and integrative process that Stringfellow says is unique from their commission experiences in the past.

“This feels like almost, almost co-writing. Obviously, she’s doing the body of the work, but it feels like co-writing and co-creating which is fantastic.”

The completed piece will be six or seven short movements, reflecting the shorter songs heard in pop music. Stringfellow plans to premiere the work at a recital in October, then hopes to perform at other local venues as well. They also plan to record the piece for public release.

“I really want to push the boundaries with this commission, so I’m really glad that we can do this,” Stringfellow says. “Gracie will be able to come back for the premiere, so I think I’m looking forward to that most of all and continuing to work with her!” MORE

Each spring, our Entrepreneurship Center for Music awards project grants to support students in their professional and artistic endeavors. This year’s adjudicator panel awarded 16 grants—meet some of the amazing student recipients and learn about their projects!

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Entrepreneurship Center for Music announces leadership transition

Mariefaith Lane — Tue, 13 May 2025 21:29:50 +0000

Entrepreneurship Center for Music announces leadership transition Mariefaith Lane Tue, 05/13/2025 - 15:29

Sabine Kortals Stein

On June 30, 2025, Professor of Composition Jeffrey Nytch—who’s directed the College of Music’s Entrepreneurship Center for Music (ECM) for the past 16 years—will step down from that role. Marilyn Brock—currently ECM lecturer—will assume the roles of assistant teaching professor and interim ECM director; and Nytch—as professor of composition + entrepreneurship—will continue to teach The Entrepreneurial Artist, the Certificate in Music Entrepreneurship capstone and the college’s new Graduate Career Seminar, as well as help develop new opportunities for the composition department with the CU Boulder ATLAS Institute and Leeds School of Business.

“I’m proud of what Jeff Nytch has built,” says College of Music Dean John Davis. “The college’s Entrepreneurship Center for Music is broadly recognized, domestically and abroad, as one of the top programs of its kind.

“The center is a keystone of our college’s universal musician approach to developing multiskilled, multifaceted musicians prepared for flexible career options.”

At the time of its founding by former Dean Daniel Sher in 1999, the ECM was the first program of its kind. Nytch’s subsequent appointment to lead the center was the first known tenure-track position in arts entrepreneurship.

As an early leader in developing entrepreneurship programming on our campus, Nytch helped establish the university’s New Venture Challenge and other cross-campus programs. He later developed the first arts-focused track in a collegiate entrepreneurship competition and—most recently—his work in these areas was recognized with the Frank Moyes Award, the university’s top award for entrepreneurship. MORE

This summer, Professor of Composition Jeffrey Nytch—who’s directed the College of Music’s Entrepreneurship Center for Music (ECM) for the past 16 years—will step down from that role. We reflect on his impact and influence on the center—and what’s next for him and the ECM.

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The impact + influence of jazz polymath Paul McKee

Mariefaith Lane — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 14:55:28 +0000

The impact + influence of jazz polymath Paul McKee Mariefaith Lane Thu, 03/13/2025 - 08:55

John Gunther

Paul McKee speaking with the Indianola High School Wind Ensemble sharing stories and life advice. Photo courtesy: Indianola High School Band.

On March 20, Thompson Jazz Big Bands will celebrate the impact and influence of Associate Professor of Jazz Studies Paul McKee who retires this year. In the following tribute, Professor of Jazz Studies John Gunther—who directs our Thompson Jazz Studies Program—reflects on the remarkable career and contributions of the world-renowned jazz trombonist, arranger, composer and educator:

For more than a decade, Paul’s contributions to the Thompson Jazz Studies Program and the College of Music have been of the highest caliber and his tenure at CU Boulder caps a 33-year career in higher education that began in 1991.

Paul possesses remarkable artistry in his performance and composition. As a jazz trombonist, he is regarded as one of the top performers in the world. His ability on the instrument shows a level of artistry rarely heard. He is simply a beautiful player with a gift for swing and expressive melodic improvisation.

As a composer and arranger, Paul is equally regarded as one of the best. Paul’s specialty as an arranger is in the tradition of big band swing, having spent many years on the road with one of the great touring swing bands—the Woody Herman Orchestra. He can create an arrangement that captures the spirit of the tradition of the music while adding his own contemporary voice. Many of his arrangements are performed by high school and college bands across the country. Creating a jazz composition that is accessible to young musicians yet still retains the sound and excitement of the idiom is not easily accomplished, but it is a craft that Paul has mastered.

Paul approaches all his classes and applied lessons with high expectations for his students, a sense of genuine care, and a dedication to their growth and learning. At CU Boulder, he has directed the department's large and small jazz ensembles, taught applied jazz trombone lessons, and taught Jazz Composition + Arranging and Jazz Theory + Aural Skills—as well as advised and directed graduate students in individual composition study. Just recently, while attending a concert, I heard how much growth had occurred in one of the young jazz trombonists. He had a grasp of jazz improvisation at a level that I had not heard just a few months before. When I complimented the student, he grinned and said, “... it’s because I’m studying with Paul!”

Paul has been an integral part of the growth and success of the College of Music’s jazz program. As department chair, I have always been able to rely on his steadfast commitment to his teaching and artistry. He will be greatly missed and leaves us with a legacy of great teaching and beautiful music making.

On March 20, Thompson Jazz Big Bands will celebrate the impact and influence of Associate Professor of Jazz Studies Paul McKee who retires this year. In this tribute, Professor of Jazz Studies John Gunther—who directs our Thompson Jazz Studies Program—reflects on the remarkable career and contributions of the world-renowned jazz trombonist, arranger, composer and educator.

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Enion Pelta-Tiller on pushing creative expression

Mariefaith Lane — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 16:16:20 +0000

Enion Pelta-Tiller on pushing creative expression Mariefaith Lane Wed, 03/05/2025 - 09:16

Adam Goldstein

Photo credit: Anne Staveley

A wealth of influences coexist in Enion Pelta-Tiller’s approach to music.

Classical components drawn from composers like Berlioz, Mahler, Bartok and Stravinsky; jazz violin echoes that summon the best work of Stephane Grappelli and other giants of the genre; folk and traditional elements that run the geographical gamut from Eastern Europe to Ireland to India—all of these ingredients figure into Pelta-Tiller’s ambitious and unique brand of fusion.

It’s no wonder, considering her consistent dedication to musical exploration which started with childhood and college classical music studies in San Francisco and continued after she moved to New York, connected with her future husband/musical collaborator David Tiller and eventually landed in Colorado.

“The Bay Area was a great place to grow up, musically speaking,” Pelta-Tiller recalls. “I became quite interested in experimenting with improvisation and often spent hours improvising music that sounded like what I was supposed to be practicing, or played along with Coltrane, Miles, TISQ, Jascha Heifetz and Ravi Shankar records. I was in this environment of classical, new acoustic and bluegrass-adjacent music, jazz and Indian music—and soaking it all up.

“When I moved to New York after college, I got involved in playing new music, rock, Irish music and bluegrass.”

Combined, these influences helped carve out Pelta-Tiller’s unique niche in the local music scene, and show up in her work as a performer and an educator, as a composer and as a collaborator with musical luminaries from across the globe. She’s a founding member of the critically acclaimed indie-folk group Taarka and directs our new Cross-Genre American Roots Strings Ensemble, roles that draw directly on her wide-ranging interests and skills. She’s also a master’s candidate in jazz performance and pedagogy at the College of Music, set to graduate in May.

Pelta-Tiller’s no-holds-barred musical approach is sure to figure in her upcoming show at Dazzle Denver on March 11 with her group EnQuintet—a jazz ensemble that also features CU Boulder faculty members John Gunther on winds/reeds and Victor Mestas on piano as well as Eric Thorin on bass and Kevin Mathews on drums.

“This time, we’re mostly focusing on repertoire from members of the David Grisman Quintet because I’m interested in how that music—so inspired by both jazz and bluegrass—sounds when played by more traditional jazz instruments instead of in a string band setting,” she says. “For a couple tunes, we’ll add extra horns—Wil Swindler, Jonas Peterson and Cian Kruger—and give our pianist a rest.”

The show will also be an occasion to experience Pelta-Tiller playing her six-string violin—also known as a fadolin—made by New York-based luthier Eric Aceto, offering the depth and tone of a baroque instrument. “It’s amazing for accompanying myself on voice and expanding my improvisational palette,” she notes.

Expanding her skill-set and pushing the boundaries of creative expression have long been a hallmark of Pelta-Tiller’s approach and her connections within the College of Music have only deepened that mission, especially as it aligns with the college’s universal musician approach to fulfilling its mission.

She speaks of the work she’s done with students in her cross-genre ensemble, taking part in fiddle flash mobs and collaborating with artists like Klezmer fiddler Alicia Svigals. She speaks of working with jazz faculty members like Gunther, Mestas and composition professor Annika Socolofsky. It’s all been part of a musical evolution that began when Pelta-Tiller played musical call-and-response games with her father as an infant.

CU Boulder has been integral to that evolution and Pelta-Tiller looks forward to continuing the connection long after the upcoming Dazzle show and her time as a graduate student.

“In directing combos, my arranging and improvisation skills have been challenged,” she notes. “And in playing with my graduate colleagues in the jazz department, some of whom are doing really far out stuff, my concept of form and my musical imagination have been stretched further than I could have conceived.”

A wealth of influences coexist in Pelta-Tiller’s ambitious, experimental approach to music. A master’s candidate in jazz performance + pedagogy at our College of Music, her creative evolution to date will culminate in a show at Dazzle Denver on March 11.

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Persevering Legacy events showcase works by women composers

Mariefaith Lane — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 20:40:09 +0000

Persevering Legacy events showcase works by women composers Mariefaith Lane Wed, 02/26/2025 - 13:40

Kathryn Bistodeau

Since 2019, the CU Boulder College of Music’s annual Persevering Legacy events have showcased works by women composers, including those from historically marginalized groups. This year’s concert and master class are no different.

Student soloists and ensembles are encouraged to select works from the Helen Walker-Hill collection—housed in our American Music Research Center archives—comprising compositions by Black women composers.

This year, the concert will feature 11 different acts—including the CU Boulder Chamber Singers led by Director of Choral Activities Coreen Duffy—presenting compositions by Connie Converse, Reena Esmail, Florence Price, B.E. Boykin and our previous Genevieve McVey Wisner lecturer Gabriela Lena Frank, among others.

“Persevering Legacy is an opportunity for students to research composers or pieces that may be entirely new to them and then present those works, broadening their scope,” says Alexis McClain, director of community support + programming, who helps facilitate Persevering Legacy. “Our audiences also benefit, experiencing music that’s not often programmed.”

Alumnus Gregory Walker (DMA ’92, composition)—son of the late Helen Walker-Hill and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer George Walker—will lead a master class for Persevering Legacy participants, working through the pieces they’ve selected and offering his unique background, knowledge, insight and passion for the collection based on his directly personal connection.

“I’ve watched the collection unfold from close proximity for a number of years and love every aspect of the master class,” he says. “I love the music. I love getting in touch with the students who are discovering this music, often for the first time. And really, this keeps my mom alive for me because it’s not just my mother’s work, but a life’s work.”

Helen Walker-Hill

Walker says playing new and largely unfamiliar pieces is helpful to students in their music careers as it allows them to apply their creativity and artistry in perhaps unexpected ways.

“We spend most of our music education studying the guys that are the Mount Rushmore of classical music. The thing is, there’s a lot of baggage that comes with this default—not only are you trying to nail the notes, but there are all these expectations that have been dictated by performers who preceded you,” says Walker who recently released a satirical new book, “Curse of the Maestro and Other Stories.”

“So, if you’ve got these underrepresented composers, not only have you found them or are championing them, but you have to make these decisions,” he adds. “You have to develop your own internal tradition and use your creativity. It's more than you and impressing your audience that’s at stake, it's making a case for someone who could still be lost to history after you're done performing that night—and that is a really worthy challenge.”

Join us for the Persevering Legacy concert on Thursday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m. and the preceding master class with Gregory Walker on Tuesday, March 4 at 2 p.m., both in the Chamber Hall (S102), Imig Music Building.

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“Art is possibility, expression is potential.”

Mariefaith Lane — Tue, 18 Feb 2025 19:12:27 +0000

“Art is possibility, expression is potential.” Mariefaith Lane Tue, 02/18/2025 - 12:12

Adam Goldstein

“Art is possibility, expression is potential.”

That’s according to Raven Chacon, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Diné composer, musician and sound installation artist slated to deliver the CU Boulder College of Music’s annual Genevieve McVey Wisner lecture on Feb. 26. In his wide-ranging and ambitious oeuvre, Chacon—a member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico—has tackled themes ranging from colonization to displacement to questions of environmental stewardship and conservation.

The myriad media he’s chosen to explore these themes reflect a spirit of creative exploration. His Pulitzer Prize-winning work, “Voiceless Mass,” is an ensemble work composed specifically to be performed in any space of worship with high ceilings and pipe organ. “Sound Ladder” is a sound installation—debuted in 2024—that features a sequence of 16 pine planks hung from ceiling to floor; for this work, Chacon collaborated with members of the Bål Nango family, a Sámi family of reindeer herders and land guardians.

Chacon has built instruments and explored new ways to present sound. He’s paired his compositions with visual cues and physical components, and drawn upon the very land surrounding his compositions to convey his messages.

“I think art is there to show that we can all think in different ways, we can all dream in ways we didn’t know we could,” Chacon explains. “We’re in danger when we become narrow and exclude possibilities.” That philosophy is part of the lure of Chacon’s upcoming visit to Boulder. Working firsthand with students and offering novel perspectives about the possibilities of self-expression reconnects the artist to his own commitment to learning and growth; the chance to explore his work and style with developing musicians and artists holds its own unique appeal.

“Part of my interest in giving lectures and visiting universities is to share my work and offer music students insights into ways that music doesn’t have to be on the stage,” Chacon says, also reflecting the College of Music’s universal musician approach to achieving our mission. “It can be presented in different media—performance art, sound sculpture, as film or video. I am really interested in sharing my different tactics with students.”

The concept of place plays a large role in Chacon’s work and one of the pieces he’ll detail in his lecture is located in the United Arab Emirates in a “ghost village” that was originally assigned to a tribe of nomads by the government. “Being that they’re nomadic people, they did not move in. These houses are being taken by the desert,” Chacon explains.

“I’ve collaborated with these individuals and musicians to record their songs,” he adds, noting that the ultimate effect of the installation is that “it sounds like their music is moving through these houses and into the desert.”

It’s an immediacy that Chacon stresses in his approach to music. While he’s a classically trained composer and musician, he’s careful not to undervalue the importance of the indefinable elements of the art form—the aspects of music that can’t necessarily be conveyed in a classroom, studio or textbook.

“I do feel like I’m continually learning,” says Chacon . I’m always seeking out the best media that an artwork should take. I’m constantly researching new technologies—experiencing exhibitions, artists and concerts.

“I’m still a big fan of being able to see musicians play, even more so than listening to recordings. I think live music is not only an obligation or responsibility, but it’s something that is wonderful to do, as a member of an audience.”

Even as he tackles weighty questions in his work, Chacon also finds power and joy in the ability to create—a boon he looks forward to sharing during his residency. “No matter what our occupation or how we spend our daily lives, we should be conscious of the work we can do to improve upon justice and the way we treat each other.”
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Join us for the College of Music’s annual Genevieve McVey Wisner Lectureship* featuring Raven Chacon on Feb. 26 at 11:30 a.m., Chamber Hall (S102), Imig Music Building. On Feb. 27 at 9:30 a.m., Room NB185, Imig Music Building, Chacon will be part of a panel discussion, “Situating your soul’s work in a hegemonic sphere.” Both events are free and open to the public.

Raven Chacon’s residency is made possible by the CU Boulder American Music Research Center, the College of Music’s composition department and the college’s Diverse Musicians’ Alliance.

*Having graduated from Western �Թ�� in Kansas—an historically Black college—with her first bachelor’s degree in 1922, Genevieve McVey Wisner became the first Black graduate of the College of Music in 1940 with a bachelor’s degree in music education, followed by a master’s degree in 1944 at age 42.

On Feb. 26 and 27, the College of Music’s annual Genevieve McVey Wisner Lectureship will feature trailblazing composer, musician and sound installation artist Raven Chacon. Even as he tackles weighty questions in his work, Chacon also finds power and joy in the ability to create—a boon he looks forward to sharing during his residency. “No matter what our occupation or how we spend our daily lives, we should be conscious of the work we can do to improve upon justice and the way we treat each other,” says Chacon, the first Native American to win the Pulitzer Prize for music.

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