University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance

Next Thursday (August 27), join SMTD for the premiere of Piano Lab Pro – a new Apple Vision Pro app that helps musicians understand and manage performance anxiety through immersive extended reality. Developed in partnership with Michigan Online and the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research (ISR), the app and its accompanying research are entering U-M’s class piano curriculum.

The afternoon features a live demonstration, a look at the biofeedback research behind it, and remarks from SMTD Dean David Gier, ISR Director Kate Cagney, and Center for Academic Innovation Chief Technology Officer Jeremy Nelson.

Piano Lab Pro: The Science of Stage Presence - University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance Piano Lab Pro: The Science of Stage Presence Immersive tools that help musicians understand and manage performance anxiety – now entering the University of Michigan class piano curriculum. Piano Lab Pro is a new Apple Vision Pro app that lets pianists face the pressure of performing before it ever...

The U-M Center for World Performance Studies (CWPS), which offers a multidisciplinary space for artists, performers, scholars, and the community, has announced that its director of nine years, Professor Michael Gould, will be leaving the center to begin a new administrative role at SMTD as associate dean of undergraduate affairs. Below, Gould reflects on his time as director of CWPS and considers its impact on his next position.

Michael Gould Reflects on Leading – and Leaving – the Center for World Performance Studies - University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance The Center for World Performance Studies (CWPS), which offers a multidisciplinary space for artists, performers, scholars, and the community, has announced that its director of nine years, Professor Michael Gould, will be leaving the center to begin a new administrative role at SMTD as associate dea...

The University of Michigan Board of Regents on Aug. 18 announced C. Cybele Raver, currently serving as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Vanderbilt University, as its choice to become the university’s 17th president.

The University of Michigan Board of Regents announced Dr. C. Cybele Raver as its choice to become the university’s 17th president. The Board will hold a special meeting on Sept. 1 to take a formal vote. Pending approval, Dr. Raver’s appointment will take effect Dec. 1. Dr. Raver, currently the provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at Vanderbilt University, is a nationally recognized leader in higher education. myumi.ch/xjwJm

Congratulations to Prof. Colleen Conway on being named the twentieth recipient of the National Association for Music Education Senior Researcher Award. The award, from the NAfME Society for Research in Music Education, recognizes significant, long-term scholarship in music education. Conway will be presented with the award on October 2 at the 2026 Biennial NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education Conference in California.

Colleen Conway: 2026 NAfME Senior Researcher Award Award Presentation: Long Beach, California, October 2, 2026

Congratulations to University of Michigan: Musical Theatre Department alumna Maya Boyd on being cast as Storm in the new MCU X-Men film!

‘X-Men’ Movie Casts Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Christopher Abbott as Prof. X, Adam Driver as Mr. Sinister and Maya Boyd as Storm The X-Men has cast Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Christopher Abbott as Prof. X, Maya Boyd as Storm and Adam Driver as Mr. Sinister.

Last April, the UMS Choral Union joined the University of Michigan’s Life Sciences Orchestra, conducted by SMTD alumnus Nicholas Bromilow, for a performance of Edward Elgar’s rarely heard grand choral work, “The Dream of Gerontius.”

This heartwarming 27-minute documentary follows Nicholas and the artists along the journey leading up to the electrifying performance at Hill Auditorium.

Elgar's Dream: A short film Hundreds of musicians. One extraordinary masterpiece. Last April, the UMS Choral Union joined U-M's Life Sciences Orchestra for a performance of Edward Elgar's rarely heard grand choral work, "The Dream of Gerontius." Enjoy this short documentary leading up to the one-time performance.

When the Charles Baird Carillon inside Burton Memorial Tower is played this fall, it will sound warmer — and ring out with a broader expressive and technical range — than it has in decades.

The carillon went quiet earlier this summer when crews removed 26 of its 30 clappers. On Aug. 10, a crane returned to Burton Tower to lift the new equipment into the tower.

Read the full article here: https://myumi.ch/39R57

When a collegiate student-athlete experiences a potential concussion, they are removed from action and assessed according to a mandated protocol. When a student performer receives a head injury, no such safety net exists.

Now, a team at the University of Michigan is closing that crucial healthcare gap. Researchers representing the U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance and the U-M School of Kinesiology, in partnership with the U-M Concussion Center, have created the Progressive Return-to-Performance Protocol.

U-M team establishes standardized concussion protocol for performing arts students When a collegiate student-athlete experiences a potential concussion, they are removed from action and assessed according to a mandated protocol. When a student performer receives a head injury, no such safety net exists.

Scenes from this summer's Vocal Arts Institute!

Photos by Robert Coelius

A look back at this year's Wind Conducting Workshop focused on developing the skills and concepts necessary to inspire compelling music-making from the podium with any level of ensemble.

Photos by Robert Coelius & Chris Boyes