NEWS & UPDATES
May 15, 2026
| | The Beat: News from Our Music Community | | |
On Elizabeth Margulis’s new book Transported: The Everyday Magic of Musical Daydreams
| Ever hear a song and suddenly your mind is somewhere else entirely? In Transported: The Everyday Magic of Musical Daydreams (out on May 19), Elizabeth Margulis, Acting Chair and Professor of Music at Princeton University, explores the everyday experience of musical daydreaming and reveals just how much we can learn from it. | Fumika Mizuno ’21 on How Music Shaped Her Path from Princeton to Yale Law | Fumika Mizuno ’21 reflects on her time performing with the Princeton University Orchestra and studying violin at Princeton, and how music continues to shape her path beyond graduation. Now completing her final year at Yale Law School, Mizuno discusses mentorship, community, improvisation, and her evolving relationship with music alongside her work in public defense. | | |
Elizabeth Margulis's new book: Transported The Everyday Magic of Musical Daydreams
WHEN: May 19, 2026 at 6:00PM
WHERE: Labyrinth Books, Princeton, NJ
Learn more.
| Music Department Class Day Ceremony | |
Save the date: Monday, May 25, 2026
Where: Lee Rehearsal Room, Lewis Arts Complex
When: 2:30 PM
Reception to follow
Seniors: RSVP HERE
This year's class day speaker will be William Shubael Conant Professor of Music, Steve Mackey
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Princeton Music Seniors: Fill out our Questionnaire for Class Day!
Congratulations on reaching this exciting milestone!
Please use the link below to share a bit about yourself and your studies during your time at Princeton. Your responses will be used in a slideshow highlighting your accomplishments, which will be featured on a screen at the Music Department’s Class Day celebration.
Please submit your responses by latest Wednesday, May 20 in order to be a part of the slideshow!
Senior Questionnaire Here
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Music, Memory, and Magic with the CST
with Professor Elizabeth Margulis
| | Elizabeth Margulis's New Book Reviewed by Wall Street Journal | |
Read WSJ's review on Elizabeth Margulis's new book Transported: The Everyday Magic of Musical Daydreams
Wall Street Journal
| Simon Morrison's New Book Reviewed by Financial Times, The Economist, and The New World (UK) | |
Read reviews about Simon Morrison's new book A Kingdom and a Village A One-Thousand-Year History of Moscow
PBS NewsHour Premieres May 15 at 7:28pm
Financial Times
The Economist
The New World (UK)
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Congratulations to the Class of 2026!
Wishing you all the best of luck in all your future endeavors.
| |
Undergraduate Music Majors
Jacob Jackson
Bedros Maldjian
Ian Peiris
Undergraduate Music Minors
Alyssa Batcheler
Amelia Brown
Crystal (Jingxin) Deng
Henry Hsiao
Allison Jiang
Connor McCormick
Andrew Park
Tiffany Rawlston
Matthew Rudolph
Griffin Schulman
Shiran (Sarah) Zhang
Undergraduate MPP Minors
Orchestral Students
Elinor Detmer
Jacob Jackson
Abigail Kim
Daniel Kim
Ian Kim
Kelly Kim
Christopher Li
Daniel Liu
Georgia Post
Wesley Sanders
Tienne Yu
Voice, Vocal Consort, & Piano Students
Voice
Talia Czuchlewski
Sicile Naddeo-Gjergli
Chloe Yutong Yang
Vocal Consort
Nicholas Hu
Madeleine Murnick
Zach Williamson
Piano
Charlie Ku
Owen Yang
Rosalinda Zhao
Jazz Students
Milan Sastry
Sophia Varughese
Graduating Ph.D
Composition
Gulli Björnsson^
Chen Yihan
Dai Wei
Max Vinetz*
Musicology
Joyce Chen
Eddie Hong*
*graduated in January 2026
^ graduating in September 2026
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Council Awards 2026-27 Grants for Humanities Innovation and
Collaboration
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The Humanities Council has awarded 38 new grants for innovation and collaboration in 2026-27, 3 of which are from the Music Department! Led by 51 faculty from across 27 departments and programs, these projects will advance inquiry and enrich scholarship at Princeton University and beyond. Together, these projects highlight the rigor and richness of the humanities as an increasingly interdisciplinary and outward-facing field.
Magic Grants:
Sounding the Diaspora: Afrodiasporic Music Past, Present, Future
Nathalie Joachim (Music)
A Place Between: Space and Sound and Happening
Michael Meredith (Architecture) and Donnacha Dennehy (Music)
Project Resonance: Instruments and Residency
Dan Trueman (Music)
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Professor Elizabeth Margulis and Professor Olivier Tarpaga Receives UCRHSS Awards | |
Congratulations to Professor Elizabeth Margulis and Professor Olivier Tarpaga on receiving awards through Princeton University’s UCRHSS grant program.
Based on the recommendation of the University Committee on Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences, President Eisgruber authorized a grant to Professor Margulis from the Anonymous Undergraduate Research Fund. Established in 1998, the fund supports “research assistance by undergraduate students to members of the faculty” to enable students “to become knowledgeable about the procedures, challenges and satisfactions of advanced scholarly research.”
Professor Tarpaga received a grant from the William Hallam Tuck ’12 Memorial Fund. Established in 1971, the fund "support members of the faculty who desire to travel abroad to enhance their knowledge of their fields and to strengthen their teaching capabilities.”
| Alumna Carolina Shaw Nominated for Tony Award for 'Death of a Salesman' Score | |
Congratulations to alumna Caroline Shaw '14, who has been nominated for a Tony Award for Best Original Score for her score to Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman on Broadway. This is the first Tony Awards nomination for Shaw, who is the recipient of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Music, several Grammy awards, an honorary doctorate from Yale, and a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. This production of Death of a Salesman is the most nominated play of the season with nine nominations, including Best Revival; you can find tickets here.
| Performance Faculty, Ted Chubb, New Album Out Now: Live at The Statuary | |
Steve Mackey’s “The Ancestors” featuring Aeolus Quartet
WHEN: May 16, 2026, 3 pm
WHERE: Taplin Auditorium, Fine Hall
Learn about The Ancestors
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Princeton University Faculty Concert: Arnie Tanimoto and Friends
WHEN: June 1, 2026, 7 pm
WHERE: McAlpin Rehearsal Room, Woolworth
Learn about the Faculty Concert
| | Mendel Music Library News | |
Telling Mendel’s Story
Help us tell the story of Mendel Library's impact on your scholarly and artistic work at Princeton! Visit this link to share a sentence or two. Feel free to share anything, but here are a few guiding questions to get started:
How do you utilize Mendel's collections, spaces, or staff expertise?
How have you been impacted by the reduction in hours this year?
Why is Mendel important to you?
Mendel Library Summer Hours
As of May 15th, Mendel Library is on a Summer schedule:
Monday - Friday: 9 AM - 5 PM
Saturday & Sunday: CLOSED
Monday 5/25: CLOSED - Holiday
Friday 6/19: CLOSED - Holiday
Friday 7/3: CLOSED - Holiday
Wednesday 9/2: Academic Hours Resume
For a complete schedule of library hours, please visit https://library.princeton.edu/hours
| Faculty and Graduate Students: Submit your Concur | |
Faculty and graduate students – submit University credit card or out of pocket expenses in Concur promptly since fiscal year end is quickly approaching. Deadline: May 19, 2026
For any questions, please reach out to Beth Schupsky at bschupsk@princeton.edu
| On Campus Annual Steam Shutdown, Thursday, May 28, 2026 (Woolworth Music Building) | The Annual Steam Shutdown is scheduled for Thursday, May 28th. This shutdown impacts all buildings that are using steam for humidification, heating, steam fed equipment (autoclaves, dishwashers, etc.), and hot potable water systems. Impacted buildings (including Woolworth) may experience cold areas, inability to control humidity, and lack of hot potable water. | | | Around the Corner: Campus Collaborations | |
Eric Plutz, University Organist
Reunions Organ Concert
May 22, 3:00 p.m., Princeton University Chapel
Free, Open to the Public
As part of the many varied offerings during Reunions at Princeton University, Eric will offer a less-formal, yet enjoyable and entertaining concert for Princeton Alumni and the general public alike.
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Summer Meditation Series by the Office of Religious Studies
The Office of Religious Life is hosting a Summer Meditation Series that will provide an opportunity for weekly guided meditation to destress. This Meditation Series is open to all Princeton University Staff, Faculty, and Students. Please feel free to share with all your departments!
Guided meditations will last 45 minutes with some time for reflection. Participants are encouraged to attend all sessions, but it is not required. Drop ins are allowed! No lunch will be provided for this program.
Please fill out our form here.
The Summer Meditation Series will take place from 12-1pm in Murray-Dodge Hall, Room 104 on May 28, June 4, June 11, June 18, and July 2.
Open to all Princeton University Staff, Faculty, and Students.
| | Please submit any event or news you would like to share with the Department of Music students, faculty, and staff in future iterations of the Synthesizer. | | |
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