Join us for the premiere of the virtual Winter 2021 Undergraduate Forum showcasing UC San Diego's undergraduate music majors on Friday, March 5th at 7:00​ p.m.

Amelia Mardesich, soprano

Siddhartha Krishnan, classical guitar

Julia Yu, soprano

Eddy East, guitar and vocals

Henry Helmuth, cello.

“Opera and Social Justice: How can opera give voice to a new historical narrative?” is a conversation about an imagined future — one in which many of the conventions, practices and prejudices inherent in the field of opera led to a transformation of the genre.

Organized by the Arts and Community Engagement initiative in the UC San Diego Division of Arts and Humanities, the panelists include some of the most renowned composers, librettists, lyricists and activists in the contemporary music scene. All have been instrumental in bringing boundary-breaking works into the repertoire.

Anthony Davis, composer

John Adams, composer

Thulani Davis, poet and librettist

Michael Korie, librettist and lyricist

Daniel Bernard Roumain, composer and activist

With discussion moderated by the Los Angeles Times music critic Mark Swed, this 90-minute lively conversation will start to answer these questions and more, followed by an audience Q&A that is sure to be a thought-provoking envisioning of the future of opera.

feminine virtuosities || as far as the eye can see explores the finesses of sound and touch. Each work, an ecosystem in itself, is an intimacy of skill, wonder, and sonic exploration. The juxtaposition of instrumentation and timbres, draws the listener into new worlds of sonorous terrains, exploring and extending the possibilities of percussion and electronics.

The UC San Diego Bach Ensemble instructed by UC San Diego Music faculty Takae Ohnishi presents their Winter 2021 end of term concert.

Artistic Director: Takae Ohnishi

Teaching Assistant: Shaoai Zhang

Guest Artists: Chia-Ling Chien and Zou Yu (San Diego Symphony), Andrew Steinberg (Faculty at Palomar College)

Students: Henry Helmuth, Jane Park

“A Life of Metal” takes its name from political philosopher Jane Bennett’s work Vibrant Matter. In this book, Bennett asks how we can theorize the objects and materials that constitute our experiences, economies, thoughts, and perceptions as vibrant, energetic, or perhaps even “alive.” 

The works on this program, Mani. Gonxha by Pierluigi Billone and dust by Rebecca Saunders, resonate with this faith in materials, and in these specific cases metals, as “actants” rather than objects. In these pieces the activity of the metal spreads itself through a network of air, wood, felt, plastic, yarn, skin, flesh, and bone, until confidence in the distinctness of these co-actors weakens. At the core of this program is a fascination with resonance as a connecting, co-activating force, and how the material of metal embodies this. 

Baja Soundscape - Vocal music from composers of Baja California

Vocals: Miguel Zazueta

Piano: Kyle Adam Blair

With music that ranges between the traditional and the experimental, "Baja Soundscape" is a recital that

shares with us the diverse colors and forms of the vocal music composed in the border region of Baja California. This

eclectic program will be led by the vocalist, Miguel Zazueta, and Dr. Kyle Adam Blair at the piano. "Baja Soundscape" is also a tribute from Zazueta, originally from Tijuana, to his colleagues, teachers, and to the art and culture of his homeland.

The ensemble Humanity's Voice (MUS 95C Concert Choir), instructed by UC San Diego Music Ph.D. candidate Jasper Sussman, presents their Winter 2021 end of term concert, Existentialism Shared. The concert will feature prerecorded performances of collaboratively created works, as well as a live-streamed discussion with the performers.

Jossi Banegas

Samuel Calto

Saul Chaplin

Martin Flaherty

Dennis Florendo

Diego Garza

Alyssa Marie Hermstad

Vita Muccia

Isabella Panagiotou

Ellarose Riddle

Edward Slee

Jasper Sussman, Instructor

Nhuan Vu

Retrato de Mujer

Music for female voice and piano by Mexican Women Composers

Soprano: Mariana Flores Bucio

Piano: Kyle Adam Blair

The recital consists of beautiful music for soprano by three Mexican female composers: a cycle of songs by Gabriela Ortiz, a cycle of Arias by Marcela Rodriguez and 2 songs by Georgina Derbez.