UWEC Music and Theatre

08/11/2026

We love seeing Blugolds making music on stages far beyond Eau Claire! 🎶

This summer, current UW-Eau Claire student Ella McGinley (left, ’27) and alum RJ Prichard (right, ’25) performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 alongside Andrew Gantzer, Assistant Principal Bass of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, at the Brevard Music Center Summer Festival in North Carolina.

Recognized as one of the country’s top summer music festivals and schools, Brevard brings together approximately 500 gifted young musicians from around the world to perform alongside artist faculty from renowned orchestras and universities.

We are incredibly proud to see Ella and RJ representing the Blugold music community while learning and performing alongside world-class professional musicians. 💙💛

07/09/2026

🎬 You've probably seen movies with Mark McKenzie's music... even if you've never heard his name.

UW-Eau Claire alumnus Mark McKenzie ('79) was the first graduate of UW-Eau Claire's music composition program who went on to become a Hollywood composer & orchestrator!

His orchestration credits include blockbuster films such as:
🎥 Good Will Hunting
🎥 Men in Black (Academy Award nomination)
🎥 The Nightmare Before Christmas
🎥 Mission: Impossible
🎥 Spider-Man
🎥 Dances with Wolves (Academy Award-Original Score)
🎥 Sleepless in Seattle
Which movie on this list have you watched the most times? 🍿

Today, Mark is helping shape the future of the industry. Recently, he traveled to Washington, D.C., to speak on behalf of the Society of Composers & Lyricists about protecting artists' copyrighted music as AI technology continues to evolve.

Read more in the comments on Mark's story and the UWEC professors who inspired him 👇🏼

07/02/2026

UW - Eau Claire Bands are proud to announce a consortium by the award winning composer Kevin Day. Kevin has agreed to write a 6 - minute grade 4 composition that will be premiered by one of the UW - Eau Claire High School Honor Bands on November 7, 2026. Following the premiere, consortium members will have performance exclusivity for the remainder of the 2026-2027 academic year. The cost for the consortium is $150 per school. If you are interested in joining the consortium, please complete the form below. https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/vy8UR5unKY

To learn more about Kevin and his music, please visit: https://www.kevindaymusic.com/

06/19/2026

Four alumni and one faculty play together in a Minneapolis Broadway production.

05/07/2026

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire's music and theatre arts department will once again bring the stage adaptation of Roald Dahl's book of poems, "James and The Giant Peach," to the Haas Fine Arts Center on campus. The university production debuted its first performance on...

05/07/2026

Blugolds expressed themselves Tuesday with flash mobs popping up at UW-Eau Claire.

05/07/2026

05/07/2026

05/05/2026

05/02/2026