The College of Music announced that Mark Tempesta will join the faculty as Assistant Professor of Voice and Vocal Pedagogy.

UNT Alumnus Cameron Beauchamp, bass, won in the Recording Academy Category of Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance as an ensemble member of Roomful of Teeth for the album “Rough Magic.”

The College of Music joins in celebrating Willem van Schalkwyk's (MM '06, DMA '09) appointment as Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano and Vocal Coaching. His new position begins Fall 2024.

Alumni Shara Nova (BM ’98) has two choral projects nominated for the Grammy’s Best Choral Performance. Austin, Texas-based Conspirare’s “The House of Belonging” conducted by Craig Hella Johnson, for which she wrote two songs, one being the title track, and then Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based choir, The Crossing's album “Carols After A Plague,” conducted by Donald Nally, on which appear three of her compositions.

Shane Morris Wise (BM '87) serves as Artistic Director of the Kauai Chorale who is in its 60th year and serves as the community chorus of Kauai County in Hawaii.

The Recording Academy has nominated College of Music alumnus Nathan Carlisle (BM ’06), tenor, who played the role of Drag Queen #4 as a member of The Metropolitan Opera Chorus in the Best Opera Recording category for Blanchard: Champion. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera Chorus.

Roomful of Teeth bass-baritone Thann Scoggin (BM ’04, MS ’07) has been nominated in the category of Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance as an ensemble member for the album Rough Magic.

The Recording Academy nominated principal soloist, soprano Latonia Moore, in the Best Opera Recording category for Blanchard: Champion. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera Chorus.

The Medal of Excellence is the highest honor bestowed by the Sphinx Organization recognizing extraordinary classical Black and Latinx artists who early in their career demonstrate artistic excellence, outstanding work ethic, a spirit of determination and an ongoing commitment to leadership and their communities, along with awarding a $50,000 career grant. David Portillo is a tenor who has performed at many of the leading opera houses, including The Metropolitan, Washington National, Houston Grand and Dallas opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the Glyndebourne Festival, Opera Philadelphia, Opera Australia at the Sidney Opera House and the Wiener Staatsoper.

Christopher Curcuruto leads University of Texas at Arlington’s Department of Music faculty as Director of Opera, Instructor of Vocal Pedagogy and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Voice.

Mary Mills of Berlin, Germany will join us as Visiting Lecturer in Voice in the Division of Vocal Studies this fall. Ms. Mills graduated from the College-Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati, received a Master of Music from Yale University, and has sung the great operatic roles on many of the major stages in Europe and the United States. Her repertoire ranges from Monteverdi to Mozart and Verdi, Puccini, Strauss, and Wagner to Janáček, along with many contemporary works. She is equally at home in the Italian, French, German, and Slavic repertoires and in the operas of her native USA, and has interpreted new and unfamiliar works from both early 20th-century- and contemporary opera.

Mills made her debut with Houston Grand Opera, sang more than eighteen productions with San Francisco Opera including the world premiere of the role of Cecile in Conrad Susa's The Dangerous Liaisons, and was acclaimed as Zdenka, Micaela and Mimì at The Metropolitan Opera. She made her European debut as Charpentier's Louise in Geneva in 1992, a success that immediately resulted in invitations to the Wexford Festival in Ireland (Camille in Herold's Zampa) and the Bregenz Festival (Olga in Giordano's Fedora). Ms. Mills originated the title role of Joan of Arc in Walter Braunfels' new opera Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna in a Christoph Schlingensief production at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin to rave reviews. In Paris, she enjoyed success with a series of French roles including Manon, Micaela, and Marguerite at both the Opéra Bastille and the Palais Garnier.

OPERA America announces that UNT Associate Professor and Music Director of UNT Opera, Stephanie Rhodes Russell, as recipient of a 2023 Opera Grants for Women Stage Directors and Conductors. She will conduct THE KNOCK (Aleksandra Vrebalov, composer; Deborah Brevoort, librettist) at Cincinnati Opera. “These grants open doors for women artists by incentivizing professional opera companies of all sizes to engage women in key artistic roles. These hires enrich the production and performance of new operas and works from the inherited repertoire and inspire future generations of creative artists who identify as women.”