Cal State L.A. Department of Music

05/01/2025

Enjoy a concert of guitar music by the Cal State LA Guitar Ensemble, today in the Music Hall at 7:30 p.m.!

05/01/2025

Congratulations to the Cal State LA Afro-Latin Ensemble, which just returned from their trip performing in Puerto Rico, performing for the Ventana al Jazz event!

04/22/2025

The Department of Music is thrilled to welcome Brett Penshorn to the faculty as our next Director of Bands, starting Fall 2025!

Brett Penshorn is finishing up this year serving as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at the University of New Mexico, where he conducted the UNM Symphonic Band, co-directed the Spirit Marching Band, and taught undergraduate courses in music appreciation. Before New Mexico, Penshorn served as Visiting Director of Bands at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is finishing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Wind Conducting at the University of North Texas, and has received his Bachelor of Music Education from the University of North Texas and a Master of Music degree in Band & Wind Ensemble Conducting from The Pennsylvania State University. He has taught instrumental music at every level in Texas public schools and is a strong advocate for community outreach.

04/21/2025

Join us and celebrate the work of our students as we gear up for our end-of-semester concerts this Spring!

Thank you for attending our concerts! Below is the Music Department concert schedule for Spring 2025. You can check out footage of many of our previous concerts on the Music Department YouTube page.Most performances are free and open to the public, and many are livestreamed on the Music Department...

04/20/2025

Join us on April 30th in the Music Department Courtyard for the Cal State LA Mother’s Day Mariachi Festival! Free admission.

04/16/2025

Welcome to campus, Gregori High School! Congratulations on a successful Southern CA tour and thanks to our faculty Prof. Dillon MacIntyre for serving as their clinician today.

04/14/2025

Very excited to appoint Dr. Marylin Winkle to our music faculty teaching our cello students. Read more about her impressive profile as an educator below and at her website, marylinwinkle.com - and welcome to our faculty, Dr. Winkle!

Marylin believes fiercely in the power of the arts to affect lives and create change. She has over a decade of teaching experiences with students of all ages and disciplines. At the collegiate level, Dr. Winkle currently serves on the faculty at UCLA’s Herb Albert School of Music where she directs the Early Music Ensemble. Under her direction, the UCLA EME was one of just four ensembles in North America featured at Early Music America’s 2022 Young Performers Festival. She has delivered music history lectures for music majors and non-majors at various undergraduate and graduate levels. As TA for the USC Early Music Department, Marylin facilitated the Thornton Baroque Sinfonia and the Collegium Workshop Ensemble, where she staged a performance of Hildegard von Bingen’s service for St. Ursula. Beyond the Early Music and Musicology, Marylin directed Chamber Opera USC in a performance of Francesca Caccini’s La liberazione di Ruggiero, a production that inspired her continued devotion to educating audiences about women’s artistic history.

Dr. Winkle is equally passionate about educating young musicians. She is currently teaching at Citizens of the World in Hollywood, where she has founded CWC’s first ever orchestra program. In addition to her over five years of classroom teaching experience, she has also taught private cello lessons independently and through the Rhodes School of Music. Past community engagement efforts have included founding SJSU’s Young Musicians’ Project (YMP), working with the USC Thornton Outreach Program, and teaching strings and general music for Harmony Project (sites in Long Beach and Pasadena), all programs which provide at-risk youth with affordable music instruction.

11/09/2024

Coming up on Wednesday Nov 14, 3:30 PM in the Music Hall: a performance by pianist Nina Schumann, along with a film screening and Q&A session!

Schumann will present a short piano recital followed by a screening and Q&A of her inspiring story of managing Focal Dystonia and Parkinson’s Disease as a performing artist. Learn more about Schumann here: https://www.stellenboschsymposium.com/pianostudies/ #1679053689733-0049e311-7960

Don't miss it!

02/24/2024

Dont miss this screening of “The Musicians’ Green Book” at the Univetsity Student Union Theatre on Feb 27!

10/30/2023

This Friday, Nov.3, come and join us for an evening of music from our talented faculty!