Daniel Coit Gilman became the first president of an experiment in higher education called the Johns Hopkins University on February 22, 1876. Gilman outlined an ambitious course for America’s first research university in his inaugural address, and the Peabody Board of Trustees adopted a resolution proposing an affiliation between the two institutions at the earliest possible time.

The German-American political scientist Steven Muller was the university president who brought Hopkins and Peabody together with a formal affiliation in 1977, during a challenging financial era for the Conservatory, and made Peabody an official division in 1986. A lifelong arts and culture champion, Muller’s 18-year tenure as Hopkins’ president witnessed innovative university growth and international presence. After he passed in January 2013, a generous gift from the Jill E. McGovern and Steven Muller Fund was made to the Peabody Institute to endow an annual concert in tribute to an admired leader and all those he worked with to bring Johns Hopkins and Peabody together. 

As the Johns Hopkins University celebrates its Sesquicentennial throughout this year, the Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Concert Series presents the Annual Concert in Memory of Steven Muller as an official Johns Hopkins Sesquicentennial event. Guest conductor Hans Graf leads the Peabody Symphony Orchestra through Dmitri Shostakovich’s Anti-Formalist Rayok, featuring bass vocalist Mikhail Svetlov, and Symphony No. 10 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall on February 12. Free tickets are available online and the event will be livestreamed.

Remembering Clinton Adams

The Peabody community will celebrate the legacy of Clinton Adams at a memorial gathering in Leith Symington Griswold Hall on Wednesday, February 25, at 12:30 pm. Adams, who earned his master’s degree from Peabody in 1983 and was appointed to the Music Theory faculty that same year, passed away in November. He will be remembered in remarks and performances by students, faculty, and alumni, followed by a reception in Denison Lounge. All are welcome.

February is always a special time at Peabody as we ramp up for our auditions to select the incoming class for fall 2026. With more than 2,400 applications in hand for this cycle, following a prescreening process we will welcome a large group of those applicants to our campus between February 15th and February 20th. While the halls no doubt creak with a bit of anxiety from hopeful Peabody students-to-be, our faculty, students and staff always bring a welcoming presence. Of course, the stakes have no doubt been raised in the last few years as a transformational investment of financial aid has already made Peabody ever more selective and able to attract its top applicants. This is always a critical step in pursuing a career in music or dance – the choosing of the right school for a student, and of course the faculty with whom that student will develop their skills. I am always excited to see the potential recruits, and to feel the energy, enthusiasm and yes, exhaustion of audition week. I expect this year to be no exception. I look forward to welcoming prospective students and their families to campus and want to wish all our applicants the best of luck as they pursue their dreams. 

Sincerely,

Fred Bronstein, Dean

Sunday, February 15, 4:30 pm

St. David’s Episcopal Church of Baltimore honors the life and legacy of one of history’s most formidable Maryland-born abolitionists, orators, and statesmen with its annual Recital and Evensong for the Feast of Frederick Douglass, featuring mezzo-soprano Gayssie Lugo (MM ’21, Voice). The performance is free with donations accepted and will be livestreamed via St. David’s YouTube and Facebook pages.

Tuesday, February 17, 7:00 and 9:30 pm

Composer/trombonist Marcel Penzes (MM ’25, Jazz Trombone), a Class of 2025 Strathmore Artist in Residence, plays a pair of Mardi Gras Celebration concerts at Blues Alley in Washington, D.C., with his band, which includes current GPD student Tomás Jonsson on piano. Tickets are available online.

Wednesday, February 18, through Friday, February 20

Vibrant rhythms often pepper the works of composer Daniel Nelson’s (BM ’89, Composition) thanks to his longtime interest in industrial machinery and mechanical toys. His Steampunk Blizzard is a captivating example of such rhythmic energy. Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali leads the New York Philharmonic through the New York premiere of Steampunk Blizzard on a program with Bela Bartok’s Violin Concerto No. 2 and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. Three performances take place at David Geffen Hall and tickets are available online.

Thursday, February 19, through Sunday, February 22

Fresh off her celebrated turns in Sarah Kirkland Snider’s Hildegard at LA Opera and the Prototype Festival, Soprano Nola Richardson (MM ’10, Voice Pedagogy; MM ’11, Early Music Voice), returns to her ninth season with the Seraphic Fire vocal ensemble. Its American Folk program pairs vernacular songs such as “This Land is Your Land” and “Simple Gifts” with Ingram Marshall’s “Hymnodic Delays,” based on 18th-century American folk hymns. Seraphic Fire performs this program at four stops around Florida—tickets and venue information online—and Richardson leads the pre-concert conversations preceding each performance.

Monday, February 23, through Saturday, February 28

Jessica Rivero Altarriba (MM ’24, Conducting) is one of 16 conductors from around the world selected to take part in the fourth edition of the La Maestra International Competition for Women Conductors at the Philharmonie de Paris. See the schedule for performance times.

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

“across … in grief and detail” 

Faculty artist Michael Hersch’s (BM ’95, MM ’97, Composition) latest release on the Kairos label includes three recent chamber works that draw on texts and themes from poets Christopher Middleton and Anja Utler and composers Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck and Robert Schumann. Faculty soprano Ah Young Hong (BM ’98, MM ’01, Voice) performs on both sapped from me broken (2019) and Miserere mei Domine (2022), which also feature violinist William Overcash and bassoonist Ben Roidl-Ward. The titular across … in grief and detail (2022) for violin and bassoon is an exquisite example of the intellectual and emotional intensity Hersch can summon from but two instruments. The album is available to stream or purchase online.

“Intersection”

“[D]ancers absorb the world through skin/ mix it with peculiar experiences carried within” writes Preparatory Dance faculty artist Lisa Green-Cudek in her poem “Intersection” that appeared in The Dancer-Citizen, the peer-reviewed, open-access, scholarly journal of socially engaged dance artists. “More than ever,” Green-Cudek notes in an introduction, “values intrinsic to living fully in the body, in community, and in art make me conscious of dance as resistance to dehumanization.”

“Monuments: A Suite for DC”

Jonathan Taylor Rush (MM ’19, Conducting) led the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra through Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence Carlos Simon’s “Monuments: A Suite for DC” to celebrate and acknowledge the rich and complex cultural history of the nation’s capital. Stream “Monuments: A Suite for DC” on YouTube.

You're Invited: Johns Hopkins All-Alumni Weekend

Reconnect, celebrate, and make new memories at Johns Hopkins Alumni Weekend 2026, April 17-19. This year’s celebration is extra special as we honor 150 years of Johns Hopkins University, and registration is open now.