University of Louisiana at Lafayette School of Music

Calling all High School Woodwind, Brass, and Percussion students! Come join us at All State Prep Day 2026!

Saturday, September 12, 2026
12:30pm-4:00pm
Angelle Hall

It’s free and you’ll get to work with UL Lafayette music faculty as you prepare for your LMEA All State Band and Orchestra auditions! Use the QR code to register or copy and paste the link below. See you at All State Prep Day 2026!

https://ulmusic.shopwindow.io/content/render/dg5brochure/1b5a6de2-2c3f-4032-a136-adddcd007930?presentation=web&preview=1

Welcome, Logan Turner!

Logan Turner is a musician, composer, recording engineer, and mixing engineer from Lafayette, Louisiana. Mr. Turner's diverse appearances include numerous concerts, events, churches, and festivals, including projects with Festival International, KRVS Radio, and Louisiana Scoring. An active musician and dedicated mentor, he teaches courses in audio production at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

He approaches audio production and critical listening as a deeper form of musical engagement. While rooted in technical process, he believes the craft ultimately develops into an emotional and artistic response, shaping how music is experienced and understood. He is committed to helping future generations of musicians, producers, and engineers recognize the importance of attentive listening, clear communication, and continual learning as an essential part to both technical excellence and artistic growth.

Mr. Turner holds a BM in Music Media and an MM in Jazz Guitar Performance from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Welcome, Dr. Fenton!

Dr. Kathryn M. Fenton holds a BMus, Hons from McGill University, an MA from the University of Notre Dame, and a PhD in musicology from The University of Western Ontario. Prior to coming to UL Lafayette , Professor Fenton taught at several universities in the U.S. and Canada, including Texas A&M Kingsville, Stephen F. Austin University, Eastern Illinois University, Middle Tennessee State University, The University of Western Ontario, and Wilfrid Laurier University. She sees music history and theory courses as opportunities to not only give students a sense of how individual works fit into a network of historical and cultural contexts and to expand their musical literacy, but also as a chance to encourage students to develop their critical thinking and writing skills.

Fenton’s own research focuses on the music of the long nineteenth century, particularly French and Italian opera. She also studies musical life and institutions in the United States during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era and the development of an American musical identity. These two interests came together in her 2019 book, Puccini and the American Musical Identity(Routlege) explored the intersection of nationalism, cosmopolitanism, and nativism in the early New York City reception of Giacomo Puccini’s opera La fanciulla del West (1910). Her current book project examines American musical patronage in a transnational context. She has presented her research at local, national, and international conferences in the fields of Musicology, Literature, and American History, and has contributed several articles on opera singers to the 2013 Cambridge Verdi Encyclopedia and a chapter in Chamber Music in Europe (1850-1918): Composition, Mediation and ReceptionBrepols, 2024.

More good news! The UL Lafayette School of Music and UL Bands would like to welcome Dr. Kelvin Jones as our interim Director of Bands for the 2026-2027 academic year.

Dr. Jones is an active educator, conductor, musician, drill designer, and music arranger for music programs across the country, with degrees from Jackson State University and Louisiana State University. He has conducted and performed internationally in Europe and South America and is in demand as a clinician and adjudicator throughout the US at both state and regional levels. He also serves as an Educational Consultant with Conn Selmer’s Division of Education, an instructor at the Smith-Walbridge Drum Major Clinic held in Charleston, Illinois, and in numerous capacities within the College Band Directors National Association. He is published in the Instrumentalist magazine and the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Jones to the UL music family!

The UL Lafayette School of Music would like to welcome Dr. Kyle Melton as Interim Assistant Professor of Voice and Director of Opera Theatre for the 2026-2027 academic year.

Dr. Kyle Melton is a stage director, performer, and voice educator whose work bridges operatic performance, pedagogy, and vocal health research. A recipient of the 2025 American Prize in Stage Direction, he holds a DMA and MM in Vocal Performance from Louisiana State University and a BA in Music from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His research on vocal health and cancer survivorship earned LSU’s Dissertation Fellowship for his monograph “Singing through Cancer,” which was later published in “Classical Singer Magazine” in 2023. An SVI-trained vocologist, he previously taught at Eastern New Mexico University and Southeastern Louisiana University and has performed with Opera Carolina, Opéra Louisiane, and the Turner-Fischer Center for Opera.

UL Music Education continues its streak of 100% placement upon graduation!!! Congratulations to Ricky Abshire, new band director and fine arts teacher at Abbeville High School, Noah Sanchez, general music teacher in grades 3-5 and beginning band director at Herod Elementary, and Ben Day, who won a full assistantship to pursue a Master's Degree in Trumpet Performance at the University of Southern Mississippi.

We are so proud of you and so proud of our music education program! Geaux Cajuns!

Spring 2026 Master of Music graduates with their mentors! University of Louisiana at Lafayette Graduate School

Steven Guillory is the Outstanding Master’s Graduate Finalist for the School of Music in the College of the Arts. He is pursuing a master’s degree in music with a focus on choral conducting.

Guillory has presented academic papers on research topics that include the compositional language of German composer Heinrich Schütz and the harmonic rhetoric of American composer Morten Lauridsen.

He has conducted major ensembles at the University, including its tenor/bass choral, the soprano/alto choir and the chamber choir.

Guillory is director of choirs at Comeaux High School. He was nominated for the Music Educator Award as part of the 2026 Grammy Awards.

He will pursue a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at LSU. Guillory will also launch La Voie de Jeunes, a nonprofit youth choir.