Selina Yilin Xu (BM ’24) has been named a recipient of a 2023-2024 Rainwater Grant from the Butler School of Music. The $5,000 award will help support Songs of the Era: Shanghai Jazz Project, Selina’s effort to revive the underrepresented music genre, known as Shanghai Jazz, that emerged in 1920s-era Shanghai, China. The project will feature two live multimedia concerts with several Shanghai Jazz songs rescored into Western notation for a jazz band, as well as Chinese music history lectures and a history exhibition on the evolution of qipao. Selina strives to promote cultural understanding and appreciation of Asian artists and their contributions to the world of music by presenting this unique music genre that fuses both Western music and Chinese folk tunes.
Congratulations, Selina!
Tonight, February 3, at 7:30pm CT, Katsuaki Arakawa (MM ’25) appears with the Austin Civic Orchestra in their annual Texas Rising Stars artist showcase. Katsu performs the Schumann Cello Concerto in A Minor with the ACO and conductor Jacob Schnitzer. Other works include the Sibelius Violin Concerto (featuring Emmanuelle Sievers) and Holst’s The Planets.
Hyugrai “Ray” Kim (DMA ’19, AD ’24) appears on the podcast The Cello Sherpa with host Joel Dallow. They chat about Ray’s path from a childhood in South Korea through Atlanta for High School. When a global pandemic affected his ability to stay in the U.S., Ray returned to South Korea for mandatory military service, taught himself to play the trombone and still managed to find his way back to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to land a job in the cello section.
Christina Chan Song An (DMA ’20), with her new Diletta Trio, appears this Saturday, November 11, at 7pm PT, at the Curtis Theatre in Brea, CA. The program includes piano trios by Dvořák, Rachmaninoff and Smetana.
Earlier this week, from Jones Hall Stage in Houston, Yeyoung Yoo (DMA ’24) won a spot on the Substitute and Extra Musicians list with the 
This weekend, Seth Russell (DMA ’19), with his 
New release out today! Daniel Kopp (MM ’18) appears on Conspirare’s latest album, House of Belonging. Craig Hella Johnson leads the GRAMMY®-winning choir Conspirare in a musical exploration of home and belonging, featuring world premiere recordings that showcase the virtuosity and distinctive expressiveness of Conspirare’s vocal artists in music from composers Alex Berko, Craig Hella Johnson, Shara Nova, Kevin Puts, Michael Schachter, and Derrick Skye. Also joining Craig Hella Johnson and Conspirare on House of Belonging are the Miró Quartet, violinist Sandy Yamamoto and pianist Carla McElhaney.
Longhorn Cellos 