University of North Texas Associate Professor of Cello, Horacio Contreras, with fellow Reveron Piano Trio’s, Simón Gollo and Ana María Otamendi, have released Iberoamérica: Trios by Villa-Lobos, Turina, and Ponce. Released by Ibs Classical. Photo: Natali Herrera-Pacheco.

UNT Professor of Music Theory, David Bard-Schwarz, has a published chapter titled, “Modes of Understanding Disruption in the First Movement of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony,” in the book Ästhetische Normativität in der Musik. Edited by Tobias Janz and Jens Gerrit Papenburg, the publisher is Verlag Vittorio Klostermann edit the book.

Giant Boykin is a UNT alumnus, having earned his master's degree in interdisciplinary and jazz studies in Spring 2022. Prior to his master's degree, Giant earned a bachelor's degree in music performance from the University of Texas at Tyler. See more of his story.

Michael Crawford becomes Lecturer in Music Education along with additional teaching duties in the Percussion Area starting Fall 2023. In May 2021, Michael graduated from @UNT with his PhD in Music Education. 

The Houston Symphony Chorus director and UNT Professor of Choral Studies, Allen Hightower, shown being acknowledged by Itzhak Perlman at the conclusion of the Houston Symphony performance of “Requiem” by Mozart recently conducted by Perlman at Jones Hall for the Performing Arts in Houston.

Tamar Sella joins us as Assistant Professor of Ethnomusicology in the Division of Music History, Theory and Ethnomusicology. Her current research is “an ethnographic study of contemporary Mizrahi performance and cultural memory that seeks to illuminate the ways in which ongoing Jewish diasporic formations reframe colonial and racial logics in Israel/Palestine.” She holds a BA from the University of California, Berkeley and a PhD from Harvard University. She comes to us from Rice University where she is the Samuel W. and Goldye Marian Spain Postdoctoral Fellow.

The 2023 Presser Foundation Graduate Award winner is Colin Stokes. He is a UNT College of Music PhD student in the Division of Composition Studies. His proposal was titled “Otherness Together, a collaborative intermedia piece exploring issues of racial identity, transnationality, and otherness.” The piece will be created in collaboration with United Arab Emirates-born Palestinian visual artist Qais Assali. According to the Presser Foundation, "The program is designed to encourage and support, in a special way, the advanced education and career of truly exceptional graduate music students who have the potential to make a distinguished contribution to the field of music."

Assistant Professor of Jazz Piano, Dave Meder, releases “New American Hymnal.” The recording features fellow UNT faculty member Philip Dizack on trumpet. Meder describes the project “think of it as a "book of worship" for our American "civic religion."

Vocal DMA student and incoming MBA student in music business, Cherisse Williams, is the recipient of the 2023 Eagle Award: CommUNiTy Activist for an Individual. The award honors a student who “demonstrates a significant and exceptional commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion within the UNT community.” Annually, UNT Student Activities collaborates with the Center for Leadership and Service and Multicultural Center in recognizing students, organizations and advisors. Photo: Lauren Salazar.

Kirsten Soriano is welcomed in her new position as Associate Dean for Operations. Dr. Soriano has more than twenty years of experience in academic and arts administration for organizations, including the Chicago Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, and Ensemble Dal Niente, for which she is the founder and served as Executive Director. During this time, Ensemble Dal Niente produced over one hundred concerts in Chicago and New York and received the Kranichsteiner Stipendium Preise during the 45th Summer Course for New Music in Darmstadt, Germany.

Oscar Macchioni has accepted an invitation to join the UNT College of Music faculty as an Associate Professor of Piano Pedagogy. Dr. Macchioni’s academic credentials include the Téchnico Instrumentista Especialidad Piano from the Universidad Nacional de Tucumá (Argentina), the Artist Certificate in Piano from the Krakow Academy of Music (Poland), the Master of Music in Piano Performance from Louisiana State University and the Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Arizona. In addition to being an accomplished performing artist, he is a published scholar with credits including a solo-authored book, a solo-authored book chapter, a series of published journal articles, six CD recordings and an impressive list of solo recitals and performances. He comes to Denton from the University of Texas at El Paso.