JMU School of Music

09/11/2026

We are starting our student recitals this weekend! The recitals are free admission or you can check our YouTube channel livestream to see if they are being livestreamed!

09/11/2026

Welcome to the participants of the 2026 Choralfest!

Hosted by the JMU chapter of the American Choral Directors’ Association (ACDA), the JMU Choral Area’s biggest festival of the year is Choralfest weekend when we welcome over 200 high school and college level singers to rehearse together for two days, culminating in a final festival performance on Saturday. During the weekend, visiting high school students rehearse alongside members of the JMU Choral Area and have the opportunity to interact with college students, experience matrix sessions for vocal technique, receive information about and ask questions pertaining to collegiate music study, and explore the JMU campus!

We are excited to welcome Mr. Herbert Washington as guest conductor this year! Mr. Washington currently serves as the Harvey K. Smith Artistic Director of the Phoenix Boys Choir. Mr. Washington has collaborated with leaders in the music industry, including Grammy Award-winning Tori Kelly, Jordin Sparks, Bret Michaels, and Jason Derulo.

You can read more about Mr. Washington here: https://boyschoir.org/artistic-director/

Tickets are available at www.jmuforbescenter.com, and you can livestream the performance, which will take place at 4:00pm on Saturday (tomorrow), at https://www.youtube.com/live/79xpCZi4rhU

09/10/2026

Emma Lisson (BM '27) spent her summer with the College Light Opera Company (CLOC), a professional summer-stock theatre company for college-aged musicians, in Falmouth, MA, as part of the orchestra (Flute/Piccolo/Reed 1). She played in 8 different shows over 9 weeks and doubled as many as 12 instruments on one show!

What an awesome opportunity!

09/10/2026

Don't forget that today at 2:00pm is the Grand Reopening of Carrier Library! The School of Music is especially proud of Dr. Jon Gibson and his students from MUS 480 & 750 and their summer soundscape project for the McCormack Steps of the Shenandoah, entitled "The Sounds of the Shenandoah" which will be played during this special event. No RSVP is required!

For more information on the event: https://events.lib.jmu.edu/event/17246503

For more information about the McCormack Steps of the Shenandoah: https://www.lib.jmu.edu/staircase/

When Carrier Library reopens this August, all who enter the Stan and Rosemary Jones Wing will be greeted by the McCormack Steps of the Shenandoah, a signature staircase that evokes the undulating path…

09/09/2026

Next Wednesday, Continua: Cello-Bass Duo of Amanda Gookin (cello) & Dr. Sam Suggs (bass) will be performing at 7:00pm in the Forbes Recital Hall! You won't want to miss these incredibly talented and versatile musicians.

Tickets are available at www.jmuforbescenter.com or you can livestream the performance at https://www.youtube.com/live/0SXuYipgnBA

09/09/2026

This past summer, senior percussionist Radley Hofmann () attended the Sewanee Summer Music Festival in Sewanee, Tennessee, as an orchestral student and administrative intern. He was in 8+ concerts over the course of a month under the instruction of Vanderbilt University's Ji Hye Jung and W. Lee Vinson, performing works such as Holst's Planets Suite, Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony, and Elliot Cole's Postludes. Although he had a wonderful summer on the mountain, he's looking forward to his last year at JMU!

Great job, Radley!

09/08/2026

Dr. Gui Hwan Lee is now starting Year 2 of the Seed Program for Korean Studies. This grant program is awarded and run by the Academy of Korean Studies, an academic institution under the South Korean Ministry of Education. In Year 2, he and his team will will use the $65,000 funding to promote JMU and CVPA Korean education. Dr. Lee is looking for an undergraduate assistant for this year, so if you are interested, reach out to him!

Dr. Lee also received a donation of books and recordings on Korean traditional music from Dr. Nick Rubin (UVA Dept of Music). Allison Lyttle, the Music and Media Metadata Specialist with JMU Libraries, is currently processing the items, but says the scores and CDs will be available in the Music Library and books will be available in Carrier Library by the end of the semester. Lyttle said, "the Music Library has seen a small but significant increase in requests for Korean music items, so I think this is very valuable for current School of Music scholarship." Exciting!

09/07/2026

Next Monday night, September 14, four former saxophone students of saxophone great Lynn Klock (August 12, 1950 - August 16, 2025) will be performing to honor Lynn Klock's legacy and impact on generations of saxophonists around the world.

You can purchase tickets at www.jmuforbescenter.com or if you are out of town and want to enjoy this performance, you can find the livestream at https://www.youtube.com/live/k0RzD0Xnz1g.

View this performance's digital program at https://www.jmu.edu/events/music/2026/klockworks-collective-09-14.shtml.

The members of Klockworks Collective are all former saxophone students of Professor Lynn Klock (University of Massachusetts, Amherst). David Pope (tenor saxophone) has served as JMU’s saxophone professor since 2000. Angela Space (soprano saxophone) was a member of the faculty at University of Southampton (UK) and she currently splits her time as a musician and as a fine artist. Wayne Tice (baritone saxophone) served for twenty years as principal saxophonist with the United States Army Academy Band at West Point. He is also an expert on the concert saxophone music of another UMASS legend, Yusef Lateef. On alto, George Weremchuk is Prof. of Saxophone at University of Central Florida. He has recorded with groups as diverse as the New World Symphony and jazz legend Sam Rivers.

09/07/2026

Over the summer, students in Dr. Jon Gibson's Sound Studies seminar (MUS 480 & 750) traveled along the Shenandoah River recording the unique sounds of the waterway and environment. This project was inspired by the McCormack Steps of the Shenandoah, a staircase in the newly-renovated Carrier Library that is based on historic maps of the Shenandoah Valley. From linked article below:

"'Microphones in hand, we went upriver to Port Republic, where the North River and South River meet to form the South Fork of the Shenandoah, and journeyed as far downriver as Harpers Ferry, where the waters of the Shenandoah join the Potomac,' Gibson said. 'We got to know places and people along the way, and we recorded what we heard: river rafters, passing trains, birds, and of course, water—roaring down rapids, bursting over dams, and rippling quietly.' ... Back on campus, Gibson carefully paired each recording with one of 13 speakers that can be installed throughout the staircase, positioning every speaker beside the label on the staircase that corresponds to where its sounds were recorded."

This amazing project, The Sounds of the Shenandoah, will be available during selected special events in Carrier Library, including the Grand Reopening this Thursday, September 10, at 2:00pm!

https://www.lib.jmu.edu/sounds-of-the-shenandoah/
https://www.lib.jmu.edu/staircase/

09/04/2026

JMU voice and aural skills professor David Newman spent part of his summer turning music pedagogy into play!

His new browser-based game, Pitch Space Ace, helps musicians develop a stronger sense of tonal pitch space through an arcade-style ear-training challenge. It's one of several free music-learning tools Newman has created to make practicing essential musicianship skills more engaging and intuitive.

Play Pitch Space Ace and explore his other music education projects at https://newmanstudio.org.