instrumental performance

Madsen will perform at the Department of Art and Department of Design Convocation at 12 p.m. on April 26

School of Music Professor Michelle Kesler explores if one can find meaning independent of the outcome throughout the creative process.

Convocation for the College of Fine Arts and Communications will take place at 11 a.m. on August 17

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra performed with Chick Corea at BYU

Graduating music performance major Kaden Larson may have never pursued a music career if he had not been diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis at the age of two. “The diagnosis was a catalyst, but it’s not a leash,” said Larson. “We can be given a challenge or something that seems unfair or something that seems insurmountable, but that is often just our way into something else.” Read more about Larson’s experience studying music on BYU News.

Convocation for the Department of Art and Department of Design will take place at 8 a.m. on April 27

Student performers recorded music on a Disklavier piano to accompany the art of M.C. Escher

M.C. Escher: Other Worlds will be on display from Nov. 17, 2017 - May 19, 2018 A new exhibit opening at the BYU Museum of Art will feature the mind-bending works and worlds of M.C. Escher. Even if visitors have never heard his name before, it is likely they have seen his mathematics inspired works. What fewer people are familiar with is the musical inspiration behind the prints that will be on display. In order to show this connection, the museum has brought in a Bösendorfer piano equipped with Disklavier technology which will play pieces recorded by students from the School of Music. An in-depth article on the exhibit can be read in the Daily Herald here.

Julian Lage and Chris Eldridge explain music is not just simply playing notes

A group of students attended SliderAsia Music Festival in Hong Kong to expand and enhance their musicianship.

A BYUtv documentary about the BYU Chamber Orchestra’s tour to the Philippines will air during General Conference weekend.

After a night of thunder and hail, orchestra members awoke to a beautiful, fresh morning with the sun shining, a perfect day for a tour of the alpine setting of Logatec, a city of 14,000. In preparation for the evening's benefit concert, the mayor met with orchestra members expressing gratitude for raising funds to help the city recover from January's devastating ice storm and the flood that followed. (The ice storm created a weight of more than 80 kilograms per meter of electrical wire. One could see the majority of trees in the area's forests with the tops of the trees severed off and other broken branches all around.) Members of the orchestra were surprised to see the flood lines on houses that were well up the hill. In the evening a large paying crowd filled a good portion of the city sports hall. After several local musical numbers--and remarks from the fire chief and mayor--the orchestra followed. Before the finale, director Kory Katseanes, said through a translator, 'Our final number is titled Appalachian Spring. After touring your beautiful city of Logatec on this spring day, I'm convinced that this music could have been called Logatec Spring. ' The audience gave an emotional applause of appreciation.

Leaving the uniformity of school and experiencing international learning was life-changing for pianist Kaden Larson

Competition highlights hard work of BYU Music Major

Playing the violin has always been an important part of Megumi Terry’s life since she began playing at the age of four. Her favorite part about being a music performance major is getting to create something everyday. “I feel it is a privilege to be able to do something I love everyday and work with the most amazing faculty in the world.” Terry said the most meaningful experience she has had during her time at BYU has been receiving weekly private instruction from violin Professor Monte Belknap. “I enjoyed our lessons together. He has taught me so much more than how to play the violin. He has also taught me how to be a good person, a musician of faith, and how to keep God first in my life.” As she reflects on her time at BYU, Terry has enjoyed performing at Carnegie Hall, being the concertmaster of the BYU Philharmonic, soloing with the BYU Philharmonic and BYU Symphony orchestras, and being apart of the BYU Honors Quartet. Recently, she performed with the BYU Chamber Orchestra in concert with Lea Salonga. “It was such a thrill to be able to perform alongside one of my biggest idols in the music industry this past Winter semester,” Terry said. Terry applied for the adjunct professor position in the violin department and hopes to fill her time after graduation doing that. Other plans include auditioning for graduate schools and orchestra jobs. What was the most influential class you took at BYU? “Dr. Gaskill's World Religions class. Ironically, learning about other religions and their truths only strengthened my faith in God and in the LDS church. I am grateful to him for his very insightful class, it has changed my life.” Unique superpower you wish you had: “Teleportation. Can you imagine being able to go to one rehearsal after the other in a matter of seconds? Or being able to have lunch in Italy and then teleport back to work when your lunch break was up?” Teachers that impacted your education: “Everyone in the School of Music. There wasn’t one professor I had in the music department that I didn’t learn from. They all had such a profound impact on me and I truly believe that the best part of the BYU School of Music is the faculty.” Favorite BYU ice cream: “I don't really eat ice cream, but I have purchased a lot of hot pockets from the HFAC vending machine on those long days.” What is the legacy you hope you left for BYU? “I hope people remember me as the violinist that worked hard, but still had fun. At the end of the day we are creating great music and I was so grateful to be a part of that creative process.”

After being named one of the youngest winners in the history of the Metropolitan Opera National Council competition at the age of 21, BYU student Rebecca Pedersen began a prestigious operatic career. Although she has partial hearing loss and did not have any formal training until five years ago, Pedersen has now performed at The Met, Lincoln Center, and other acclaimed venues. Her mentor, BYU music professor Darrell Babidge, believed in her potential from the beginning and says the hard-working opera singer (a 2016 graduate of the BYU School of Music) is on her way to an international career.

A carillon recital featuring all three of BYU’s faculty carillonneurs—Don Cook, Brian Mathias, and Neil Thornock—joined by BYU choreographer Kate Monson and company, and featuring a specially commissioned work by BYU alumnus composer Curtis Smith for carillon and Gamelan Bintang Wahyu. This performance takes place rain or shine. Find a spot of grass at the north end of campus and enjoy! DETAILS Date: September 30 Time: 6:00 PM Event Categories: Free Event, Instrumental, Music Event Tags: BYU School of Music Cost: Free

Claudine Bigelow, BYU professor of viola, the associate director of the school of music and the graduate coordinator, will deliver the devotional address this Tuesday, August 4, at the de Jong Concert Hall. In her address Bigelow will explore the topic of creativity and the spiritual connection it can help us have with our Heavenly Father. While it's an attribute we often associate with the arts, it's an important tool for finding our inner artist for every discipline at BYU. The scriptures teach us Heavenly Father is a deeply creative being, and He has made us to be that way too. Creativity helps us bring light to the world, our relationships, and find deep and satisfying joy. Bigelow has taken her gifts in music all over the world, performing in Europe and New Zealand, and furthering her study. She has also played with National and Utah Symphonies, national Chamber Orchestra and at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. She began playing the viola at age 14 but has been around music her whole life. When she was a baby her father played guitar every night. She then picked up the piano in third grade and played for her church as a teenager on a regular basis. At the age of 14 she was given the opportunity to attend a music summer camp with some of the greatest musical instructors of the day including Dr. Shinchi Suzuki, if she learned the viola. Since then Bigelow has dedicated her life to music and improving her talents through research and practice. “Music isn’t for showing that you’re talented or the best at something, because someone will always be better,” Bigelow says. “Music is for communicating love. Music can be one of the highest forms of spiritual communication.” READ MORE ABOUT CLAUDINE: Devotional info link: https://home.byu.edu/home/calendar/28717 Claudine and Guest artist perform http://music.byu.edu/2013/09/05/claudine-bigelow-guest-artist-to-perform-bartok-during-sept-7-recital/ Wiki: http://history.cfac.byu.edu/index.php/Claudine_Bigelow