In the seven years since the Peabody Conservatory launched the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance program in 2018, Professor and founding Chair danah bella has brought in a core faculty and visiting guest artists and choreographers to introduce students to interdisciplinary studies, social justice, and a wide range of movement, performance, and choreography practices. She was named a 2021 Dance Educator of the Year by the Maryland Dance Education Association and one of Musical America’s 2022 Top Professionals of the Year. Today, bella will be installed as the inaugural Sandra Levi Distinguished Chair of Dance, an endowed position that includes funding to advance the department. The official dedication ceremony will be followed by a performance highlighting the programs’ student and faculty choreographers and dancers. The professorship is named for Baltimore philanthropist Sandra Levi Gerstung, a past member of the Peabody Institute Advisory Board who advocated for a dance program at the undergraduate level, having taken dance classes at Peabody as a child and studied modern dance in college. The May 13 Dance Professorship Celebration will be livestreamed.

It is hard to believe that we are in the month of May, which can only mean that we are approaching the close of another academic year, with Graduation right around the corner.  

Last week, I was delighted to share the news that the groundbreaking American musician Rakim will receive the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music and Dance in America as part of the Conservatory’s 2025 Graduation ceremonies. As the awardee, Rakim will deliver remarks at both our undergraduate and graduate ceremonies.  

Rakim is considered a truly foundational figure in hip-hop, an artist who from the beginning has been part of shaping some of the most distinct rhythmic and musical developments in the evolution of this art form. He launched his career as a teenager and has amassed decades of success as a performing artist, entertainer, and cultural icon.

As our graduating student artists begin to create their paths forward, they will no doubt find inspiration in the words and life stories of this pioneer of hip-hop. I look forward to welcoming our Peabody Medal recipient in a few short weeks as we celebrate our 2025 graduating class.

Sincerely,

Fred Bronstein, Dean

Friday, May 16, 7:30 pm EDT

Seventeen-year-old Preparatory violinist Jacqi Fan won First Place, Strings Division, at the U.S. Army Orchestra Concerto Competition in April. A student of faculty artist Rebecca Henry who grew up in the Young People's String Program and Performance Academy and currently performs with the Pre-Conservatory Violin Program, Fan performs Erich Korngold's Violin Concerto in D Major with the U.S. Army Orchestra’s Young Artist Spotlight at the Schlesinger Center in Northern Virginia; free tickets are available online.

Friday, May 16, through Sunday, May 18

Soprano Renee Fleming and baritone Rod Gilfry debuted faculty composer Kevin Puts’ The Brightness of Light in 2019 at Tanglewood. The orchestral song cycle, written for the pair of American opera stars, is based on letters between painter Georgia O’Keeffe and photographer Alfred Stieglitz. Fleming and Gilfry join the New York Philharmonic for the New York premiere of Brightness at David Geffen Hall. Tickets are available online.

Monday, May 26, 1:00 pm EDT

Trumpeter and Preparatory alum Brandon Woody, whose debut Blue Note Records album out this month has earned him profiles in The New York Times and The Washington Post, plays the Atlanta Jazz Festival with his band Upendo, which includes pianist Troy Long (BM ’19, Jazz Piano). Woody and Upendo hit the Atlanta Jazz Festival stage in Piedmont Park and the entire Memorial Day weekend fest is free.

Saturday, May 31, 8:00 pm EDT

Natan Sinigaglia is a contemporary artist who collaborates with musicians, composers, and dancers to create immersive digital audiovisual experiences. Over the past year, faculty artist Agustin Muriago and Sinigaglia have collaborated on a multimedia piano recital project, supported by a 2024 Dean's Excellence Accelerator Grant, that makes its debut this month at Lincoln Center in New York. Forms of Resonance features Muriago performing works by Franz Liszt, Maurice Ravel, Alexander Scriabin, and Tōru Takemitsu and visuals by Sinigaglia in the Clark Studio Theater; tickets are available online.

Sunday, June 1, 4:00 pm PDT

In January 2019, Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Artistic Director of Ensembles Joseph Young guest conducted the Berkeley Symphony through works by Leonard Bernstein, Benjamin Britten, and a world premiere by Hannah Kendall. That April, Berkeley Symphony named Young its next music director, his first such appointment, a position he leaves at the end of this 2024-25 concert season following six years of audience expansion under his leadership. For his final turn on the podium as music director, Young leads the orchestra through the Bay Area premiere of Gity Razaz’s Methuselah (In Chains of Time), Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, and Astor Piazzola’s Aconcagua featuring guest accordion artist Hanzhi Wang. Tickets are available online.

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Peabody Notes highlights select off-campus performances featuring Peabody performers. For other events, please visit our Peabody events page.

“BAUOW”

Composer and producer Andréus Brijbasi (BM ’24, Computer Music, Composition) recently started his own Red Set Records label, whose first release is Brijbasi’s "BAUOW"—a jittery slice of percolating dubstep currently available on most streaming platforms. 

40@40 Project Anthology: Volume 1

In 2019, soprano Laura Strickling (MM ’06, Voice) launched her 40@40 project to commission 40 new art songs for soprano and piano by 40 living composers prior to her fortieth birthday in April 2021. The resulting first volume of the 40@40 album, released in 2023, received a 2024 Best Classical Solo Vocal Album Grammy nomination. Now, NewMusicShelf has released The 40@40 Project Anthology: Volume 1 sheet music, which can be purchased online.