Composer Rand Steiger, chair of the Department of Music, pictured with graduating Undergraduate Music majors and award recipients.

June 5, 2017

The Cheatham Prize - ALEC HAMILTON

In honor of the late James “Jimmy” Cheatham, in recognition for his many dedicated years directing the jazz program and jazz ensembles at UC San Diego, the faculty established the Cheatham Prize in 2004. Each year, the music faculty and the undergraduate committee selects the most outstanding undergraduate music major pursuing the jazz concentration.  Criteria for the award includes excellence in musicianship (including the disciplines of performance, theory, or composition), success in academic studies, and department service.  

The Erickson Prize - RYAN MATSUMURA

The late Professor Robert Erickson was fascinated by musical timbre.  His research led him to travels in Bali and a career of experimentation and composition with new sound sources.  We honor his vision with The Erickson Prize for excellence in research.

The Farrell Prize - HESAM ABEDINI

The faculty established the Farrell Prize in honor of cellist Peter Farrell who retired in June 1991 after many years of dedicated teaching undergraduate music theory. The music faculty and undergraduate committee selects the most outstanding undergraduate Music Major to graduate each year.  Although awarded at the end of spring quarter, students graduating at the end of fall and winter quarters may also be candidates.  Excellence in musicianship, scholarship and department service will be the criteria for the award.

The Dr. Milton H. Saier, Sr. Memorial Award

MICHAEL COHN and DANA MARIE CHAN

The Dr. Milton H. Saier, Sr. Memorial Awards Fund was established at UC San Diego in 1998 to support an annual awards program for the Departments of Music, Theatre and Dance, Literature, and Biology. Each year, the Department of Music is given funds by the Saier family for an award to acknowledge “outstanding classical music performance by an undergraduate student.”  

The Stewart Prize - NILOUFAR SHIRI

Muir College Provost Emeritus John Stewart created this award to recognize creative works by undergraduate students in Fine Arts departments. Music majors may submit scores, give performances, deliver papers, or choose other projects for participation in the Spring Celebration of the Arts each Spring quarter.

 

The Bertram Turetzky Award - MARC OLSHER

Established in 2004 in honor of Professor Emeritus and bassist Bertram Turetzky, the Turetzky Award recognizes the exceptional departmental, campus-wide and community musical participation and outreach by an outstanding undergraduate performer.  

The Jazz Society Award - GARRETT SIGLER

The Jazz Society of Lower Southern California, with the assistance of Provost Emeritus John Stewart, has established an endowment which provides two prizes each spring quarter to the graduate student and the undergraduate student who have made the most outstanding contributions to the UC San Diego Jazz Ensemble in the past year. The winner is chosen by Professor Mark Dresser, in consultation with the Jazz Society Board.  

ICAM-Music Award - Creative: TODD EVERETT | Research: JOSHUA GOMEZ

This award is given to a graduating senior in recognition of achievement in both technical and artistic mastery of the foundations of music and digital media.  It is emblematic of accomplishment during a distinguished undergraduate career and, more importantly,

the promise of high achievement yet to come.  ICAM award winners look beyond the surfaces and learn the underlying aesthetic and scientific principles that will allow them the reinvention of themselves as their careers blossom in a field of endeavor which itself is constantly evolving.  ICAM award winners are those who realize that ideas drive technology and the arts, and not the other way around.  This award is given with best wishes for a career of meaning and fulfillment in all professional and personal endeavors.

Student Ambassadors 2016-2017 - Certificate of Appreciation

Students who helped with outreach events in speaking with prospective Music and ICAM Majors at Triton Day, Transfer Triton Day, CSE Pathways etc.

MICHAEL COHN, MARC OLSHER, DAVID DONG, FOREST REID,

and JOSHUA GOMEZ

The Jazz Society Award - TOMMY BABIN

The Jazz Society of Lower Southern California, with the assistance of Provost Emeritus John Stewart, has established an endowment which provides two prizes each spring quarter to the graduate student and the undergraduate student who have made the most outstanding contributions to the UC San Diego Jazz Ensemble in the past year.  The winner is chosen by Professor Mark Dresser, in consultation with the Jazz Society Board.  The 2017 Jazz Society Award recipient is DMA candidate, bassist Tommy Babin.

The Erickson Prize - JOE CANTRELL

The late Professor Robert Erickson was fascinated by musical timbre.  His research led him to travels in Bali and a career of experimentation and composition with new sound sources.  We honor his vision with The Erickson Prize for excellence in research.   The 2017 Erickson Prize recipient is Integrative Studies PhD candidate: Joe Cantrell.

Carolyn Applebaum Endowed Prize, established Spring 2017 

CAROLINE LOUISE MILLER

The Carolyn Applebaum Endowed Prize is made possible by a donation from composer Mark Applebaum (MA ’92, Ph.D. ’96) and his wife Joan Friedman in memory of Mark’s sister. The prize is an annual monetary award that recognizes students who, through an adopted sense of enterprise and responsibility, endeavor to make the campus music community robust and engaging for their classmates. Graduate Music students beyond their first year, as well as undergraduate sophomore, junior, and senior Music majors and Music minors are eligible.  The award celebrates students who have made a meaningful impact on the arts in student life and is independent of personal scholarly success or creative distinction. Tremendous creative capacity and artistic agency are not requirements, but making the campus an environment for increased creative capacity and artistic agency are.  The prize is not an award for personal achievement in music. It is an award for improving the campus environment in which music is made and experienced.  The prize aspires to consider the broadest range of musical life.  This includes music-making both within and beyond the University’s Music curriculum.  It includes interests of the faculty and those beyond.  It includes artistic performance and invention, but it may also include musical scholarship, analysis, theory, and appreciation, both within and beyond the activities of the Department of Music.  An award need only be given in a year for which there is an appropriate candidate.  In exceptional circumstances, multiple awards may be given in a single year if multiple students are appropriately distinguished. 

The inaugural Applebaum Prize winner is composer, sound artist and PhD candidate: Caroline Louise Miller.

Teaching Assistant (TA) Excellence Awards

JONATHAN NUSSMAN

JENNIFER HSU

First-Year TA Excellence Award

JOSEPH BOURDEAU

UC San Diego Music is a leading program known for its innovative research and support for the creation and performance of experimental music. music.ucsd.edu

About UC San Diego

At the University of California San Diego, we constantly push boundaries and challenge expectations. Established in 1960, UC San Diego has been shaped by exceptional scholars who aren’t afraid to take risks and redefine conventional wisdom. Today, as one of the top 15 research universities in the world, we are driving innovation and change to advance society, propel economic growth and make our world a better place. Learn more at www.ucsd.edu.