Frost Graduate Studies

📸Views from an outdoor practice spot, a between-classes walk, and studying at the Weeks Music Library - no matter where you are on campus, Frost has something beautiful to offer!

Meet Jade Espina-Killian, a doctoral student studying Vocal Performance and Pedagogy! As a performer and pedagogue, Jade was drawn to Frost for the strong interdisciplinary opportunities offered by this rigorous program. Let's learn more about Jade's journey at Frost!

* What has been a performance highlight so far during your time here as a VPED student?

I’ve really enjoyed performing with Frost Chorale and Chamber Singers. It has been an incredible privilege to work with Dr. Brady and Dr. Masters and to learn from their leadership, as well as from the outstanding doctoral conducting students.

This semester, I’m especially excited to be conducting Chamber Singers on Thursday, April 23 from 1:15–1:45 p.m., alongside Victor Bento. We will be performing three works by female composers: Hymne au soleil by Lili Boulanger, Kyrie from Mass in A Minor by Imogen Holst, and Nox from Elaine Hagenberg’s Illuminare." Come join us!"

What about a teaching highlight?

"I’ve loved teaching Lyric Diction for Singing Italian and Lyric Diction for Singing English this semester. These courses focus on pronunciation for singing, the International Phonetic Alphabet, and stylistic conventions specific to each language. As a singer, I’ve always loved studying languages, and it’s incredibly rewarding to help young singers feel more confident and connected to the languages we use most often in our repertoire."

What is something you are looking forward to this summer?

"This summer, I’m excited to return for my third year as faculty with the Young Artist Vocal Program at Boston University Tanglewood Institute. This six-week program supports talented young singers pursuing advanced study and performance, and I have the privilege of teaching voice lessons, Italian diction, and directing opera scenes. A fun personal highlight: my husband and I were married at Tanglewood last summer, so it’s a very special place for us!" ⭐️

🏆Congratulations to these stellar Frost student researchers, who won awards at the University of Miami Graduate Research Symposium! The honorees included Crsitina Morales, PhD student in Music Education, Yingxi Liu, DMA student in Vocal Performance, Stacey Swanson, PhD student in Music Education, and Victor Bento, DMA Student in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy. 🎉

Check out their research projects below:

Poster Presentation - Arts & Humanities:
Winner: Cristina Morales - Tracking the Tide: Florida Middle School Chorus Enrollment Trends (2017-2024)
Runner Up: Yingxi Liu - The Reported Vocal Changes of Young Female Classical Singers During the Menstrual Cycle

Oral Presentation - Arts & Humanities:
Winner: Stacey Swanson - Who Played That? College Music Education Students' Accuracy in Detecting AI-Generated Piano Performance
Runner Up: Victor Bento - Reintroducing the Songs of Elizabeth Turner (d. 1756) in Voice Training Today: Modern Performers Edition and Pedagogical Guide

The annual Frost Research Showcase is a chance for student and faculty researchers to share their research process and findings with colleagues, classmates, faculty, and community members. Check out just a few of these incredible graduate student researchers showing off their hard work!

Featured:
Yingxi Liu, doctoral student in Vocal Performance
Cristina Morales, doctoral student in Music Education
Rey Sunglao, doctoral student in Music Education
Elizabeth Stamerra, master's student in Music Therapy
Jacob Batchelder, doctoral student in Jazz Composition
Anish Ghosh, master's student in Music Engineering
Juan Chaves, doctoral student in Jazz Composition

Maddie Noga is a first year master's student studying Jazz Pedagogy! She studies jazz voice with Dr. Kate Reid, and also plays and teaches viola with Frost Preparatory Academy. With a background in music education, Maddie shared that her favorite thing about studying at Frost is the unique flexibility her program allows her to tailor her educational curriculum to her specific interests.

Maddie shared that this semester she is most excited for her Jazz Cultures class with Dr. David Ake and Advanced Vocal Pedagogy with Dr. Adam Lloyd, in which students dive deep into vocal anatomy and physiology and teaching techniques. She is also looking forward to performances with Jazz Vocal Ensemble 1 and working with the Frost Summer Experience youth camps.

Thanks for giving us a glimpse into the life of a Jazz Pedagogy student, Maddie!

Graduate students shine in Frost Opera Theater's production of Cosi fan tutte! The production of Mozart's iconic comedy opera, which has been reimagined onboard a cruise ship, features many graduate students onstage. Plus, the stellar pit orchestra of Frost Symphony Orchestra players is conducted by doctoral student Yun Xuan Cao!

Caitlin Turner, a second year master's student in vocal performance playing the role of Despina in Thursday's performance, says she is most excited "for audiences to see all the fun we get to have on stage, and for all of the costume changes and disguises I get to wear."

When asked to describe Cosi fan tutte in three words, Julia Woodring, a DMA student in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy playing Fiordiligi, chose "Playful, ambiguous, human."

Want to experience the fun for yourself? Catch these amazing graduate students in performances on Thursday, February 26th and Saturday, February 28th! https://events.miami.edu/event/cosi-fan-tutte-by-wa-mozart-frost-opera-theater-frost-symphony-orchestra

It's starting to be recital season here at Frost, and that means almost any night of the week you can hear our talented students playing fantastic, free recitals in many of our halls on campus. This Thursday, Frost graduate student Benjamin McLaughlin is giving his Master's recital in classical trombone! With works by Messian, Prokofiev, Hass, and Gilkes, this varied recital will feature not just Ben but 8 other stellar trombone players.
Catch this celebration of all things trombone this Thursday, February 19th at 5:00 pm, in Newman Recital Hall, and make sure to visit our events page to see which other fabulous student recitals are coming up. https://frost-music-live.miami.edu/calendar/index.html

🎶Meet Brooke Hays! Brooke is a Master's student studying clarinet with Dr. Margaret Donaghue and Professor Marc Nuccio.🎶

Why did you choose Frost for your graduate studies?

"What led me to choose Frost was the amazing clarinet faculty and supportive clarinet studio. My clarinet professor in my undergraduate degree had recommended that I apply here and when I came to the campus and met the professors and other students, I knew this school would be right for me. Dr. Donaghue and Professor Nuccio have so incredibly supportive of my journey and I am so grateful to be able to work with them!"

What has been a highlight of your time here?

"Getting the amazing opportunity to play for the Latin Grammy’s Person of the Year event with other amazing Frost musicians!"

What are you most looking forward to this year?

"I’m looking forward to growing more as a musician by taking on more challenging works, collaborating with other musicians, and expanding my musical experience outside of classical clarinet. I’m also super excited for my recital in April!"

⭐️Congratulations to the Frost faculty and alumni who were recognized for their excellence at music's biggest night, the 2026 GRAMMYS!⭐️
These spectacular musicians collectively took home 8 awards and 2 high-profile special honors this past weekend, and represented departments from music education, jazz studies, production and engineering, composition, and beyond. Read on below to learn more about the musicians representing The Frost School of Music at the Grammy Awards this year:

Community, pride, and big wins at the GRAMMY Awards A sense of connection and achievement for the Frost School of Music highlighted the events surrounding the 2026 GRAMMY Awards, even as alumni and faculty earned multiple honors.

⭐️Meet Dr. Jorge Morejon! Dr. Morejon teaches in the department of dance, and is a University of Miami alum as well⭐️

1. What do you enjoy most about teaching at Frost?

"Frost is my first teaching job in the US as a PhD graduate. It has been a great school for me to put into practice the skills I learned during my doctoral journey all the way from York University, Canada, to University of California, Davis. I have had great support from my colleagues: Dance Program Director, Carol Kaminsky, Chair Dr. Ragsdale and Dean Berg . My work with the graduate music students is an example of how open the school is to enhance the training of our students. As an alum, Frost, once again, became my academic home since I began to teach at UM in 2016. Thus, what I enjoy most about teaching at Frost is the feeling of being back home."

2. Tell us about your class for graduate music students, Embodied Movement Practices.

"The class is a great opportunity for graduate music students to familiarize themselves with their bodies as their primary instrument. In class, they learn about their own strengths and limitations through a series of preparatory exercises designed to improve their somatic abilities and embodied expression. In class, they learn to be disciplined with their body training as they learn new ways of expressing themselves. After several years of teaching graduates, I feel rewarded by their appreciation, their talent and their commitment to their growth as artists."

3. Do you have any current or upcoming professional projects that you're especially excited about?

"Currently, I am collaborating with British playwright Lucy Gough and Composer Piotr Woycicki in an opera. Having worked with Gough before, I am singing the main character, the Soul. I have already recorded six songs with lyrics by Gough and music by Woycicki. This is not a regular opera; it is an animated digital opera that is also going to be interactive. It is a work in progress as it is sponsored by a grant. Although Gough, Woycicki and I are living in distant places, them in Wales and I in Coral Gables, technology allows us to work together. I am delighted by both the opera's poetic lyrics and its romantic baroque music. The story, a soul that leaves outside its hosting body, is magic realist in some ways and in others just breathtaking."