Dear Students, Colleagues, Alumni, and Friends,

We are so excited to be back on campus and able to make music together again! Our Dewberry School of Music is offering a wide variety of music classes, ensembles, and individualized music lessons. Our practice rooms, teaching studios, and classrooms are humming with music activity!  

What a thrill it has been to welcome our 71 new music majors to our beautiful campus of George Mason University last week as we began our new Fall semester. We were happy to present the Dewberry School of Music Convocation in person on September 1st with our new and returning music students, faculty, and staff in our Center for the Arts Concert Hall.

We invite you to join us as we kick off our Fall 2021 Concert Series with our Grand Piano Celebration on Sunday, September 19 at 3 pm in Mason's Center for the Arts. The first half of the concert features marvelous Mason students with works by Bach, Chopin, Brahms, Liszt, Obradors, Scriabin, and more! The second half of the concert features faculty performances in an all-Gershwin tribute, including Rhapsody in Blue (arranged for trumpet and piano), excerpts from Porgy and Bess (arranged for duo-piano) and "I Got Rhythm" (arranged for 8-hands piano).  Please join us on September 19th as we celebrate the return of live music-making at Mason once again with a joyous and uplifting concert celebrating our All-Steinway School and honoring our Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music

With my warmest regards,
Dr. Linda A. Monson, Director
Upcoming Events
Grand Piano Celebration
Celebrating Mason's All-Steinway School and the
Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music
Sunday, September 19th, 3:00 PM
Center for the Arts Concert Hall
Arts Emerging: A Celebration of Renewal
Saturday, September 25th, 5 - 9 p.m.
Holton Plaza and Center for the Arts
George Mason University, Fairfax Campus

Welcome back to campus for a one-night only family-friendly extravaganza full of arts, food, and community to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Mason’s College of Visual and Performing Arts!
Proceeds support student scholarships in Mason’s College of Visual Performing Arts, Mason Community Arts Academy, Green Machine Ensembles, and the Great Performances at Mason season at the Center for the Arts.
Fall 2021 Concert Series
Community Engagement -
Upcoming Performance
GMU Flute Choir Performs at
Park(ing) Day 2021
Friday, September 17th, 12:30 PM

On Sept. 17 from 11AM-2PM at Fair City Mall you'll be able to see parking spaces transformed into temporary parks to play, create and connect. Come hear the Reva and Sid Dewberry Family School of Music Flute Choir, enter raffle drawings, giveaways and more!
Recent Past Performance -
Mason Jazz Faculty
Last weekend, members of the Mason Jazz Faculty had the opportunity to perform at Jammin Java in Vienna, Virginia!
Student Kudos
Freshman Music Technology major Jessica Taylor was featured in "The George" and on the George Mason University news site! The article discusses her already notable successes as a singer, songwriter, and producer and how she hopes to continue to grow at Mason. Read the full article here.
Congratulations to GaYoung Lee, Doctoral piano student in the studio of Dr. Linda Monson, who won a silver medal in the 2021 North American Virtuoso International Music Competition!
Alumni Kudos
Congratulations to Mason alumna Arianna Rodriguez (BM Vocal Performance) for winning 1st place in the "American Negro Spiritual" category at NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing)!
Faculty Kudos
Professor Jim Carroll, Founder of Jazz Studies at Mason
John C. Wood Award recipients recognized by BOV
As published in a recent edition of The George

At a recent Board of Visitors meeting, the recipients of this year's John C. “Jack” Wood Award for Town-Gown Relations were recognized for their leadership in fostering relationships between the Mason and the community.

"Jazz4Justice raises public awareness and funds through their concerts for Legal Aid and music scholarships by forming collaborative partnerships between Mason Jazz and the legal community. Jazz4Justice is the brainchild of local attorney Edward L. Weiner, conceived in 2000 while he attended a Jazz recital by the George Mason University School of Music. As a Past President of the Fairfax Law Foundation, he saw an opportunity for these two organizations to work together on a mutually beneficial project that would also strengthen connections with the local community. Eighty-six percent (86%) of low-income Americans who have civil legal problems receive inadequate or no legal help. Seventy-one percent (71%) of low-income households experienced at least one civil or legal problem in the last year. (Source: 2017 Justice Gap Report). This discrepancy between legal representation for civil cases and the need for legal services for low-income individuals is known as the “Justice Gap.”

"Professor Jim Carroll, Founder of Jazz Studies at Mason, partnered with Attorney Weiner, and the first Jazz4Justice concert was held in 2002." Read more about this year's awardees.
Dr. Emily Green, Associate Professor of Musicology, was a recent awardee of a 4-VA grant for a project entitled Music of Enslaved Virginians: History, Performance, Place. The project is in collaboration with Dr. Michael Nickens (GMU), Dr. Bonnie Gordon (UVa), and Dr. Mary Caton Lingold (VCU).
Dr. Megan Lavengood, Assistant Professor of Music Theory, recently published an article in Oxford Handbooks Online titled Timbre, Rhythm, and Texture within Music Theory's White Racial Frame. Find out more and read the abstract here!
Stay in the Know