Eddy Russell (BM '99, MMED '09) appointed Director of Fine Arts for Denton, Texas Independent School District.

As one of twelve grants, Amorsima Trio of violinist Mia Detwiler (DMA ’21), violist Michael Capone (MM ’16), and cellist Kourtney Newton (DMA ’22) have received a classical commissioning grant from Chamber Music America. Supported by The Mellon Foundation, grants are provided for the commissioning and performance of new works by American composers.

Celli Ra: Frisco, Laurel Kroesch: Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Jacob Rodriguez: Arlington, Emma Cole: Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Marisa Rivera: (Japan), Sheridan White: Arlington, Jeremy Rohwer: Plano, Helena Vassiliades: Lewisville, Sara Longoria: Coppell, Sahara Donna: Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Sarah Stehling: Arlington, Jessica Hausmann: Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Jaden Ferguson: Fort Worth, Kyle Feather: Denton, David Samuels: Mesquite, Easel Yoo: Keller, Elizabeth Whitten: Northwest, Caleb Belonga: Dallas, Jakob Benner: St. Louis PS (MO), Hannah Brayfield: Kansas City PS (KS), Gretchen Casel: Eagle Mountain Saginaw, Jordan Drake: Lake Dallas, Hayden Drew: Alvin, Amber Dyess: Keller, Matthew Garcia-Perez: Bastrop, Maria Patricia Gonzales: Irving, Dawson Hassell: Houston, Andrew Hearn: Rockwall, Shauna Heisler: Fort Worth, Charles Horn: Flour Bluff, Matthew Joslin: Frisco, Ryan King: Forney, Jerry Lefner: Alvin, Javier Lopez: Lytle, Alexandra Lyons: Frisco, Sidney Maurice: Celina, Caden Milligan: Snowline (CA), Amrutha Murthy: Palm Beach County (FL), Kodi Myles: Denton, Jeremy Pansano: Corpus Christi, Jackson Parker: Liberty, Noah Patton: Plano, Jacob Picht: Burnett, Emilio Pla: Irving, Joel Ramirez: Mabank, Luis Ramirez Perez: Spring Branch, Kohei Sakai: Forney, Julio Salinas: Brownsville, Thomas Camilo: Private Lessons Instructor, Kevin Thomas: Rockwall, Christopher Trabucchi: Rice, Rachel Trentham: Frisco, Emily Tsuhako: Kahului SD (HI), Daniel Turner: Keller, Abigail West: Red Bluff (CA), Nicole Zagorski: Frisco, Katelyn Tam: Private Lessons Teacher, Meredith Wilder: Carrolton-Farmers Branch, Summer Rhee: Lewisville, Amber Schwister: Denton, Hope Hocutt: Mead School District (WA), Logan Childs: Morrison Public Schools (OK), Diana Zavala: Dallas, Olivia Hahn: Lewisville, Nancy Killoran: Framingham (MA), Jack Fitzpatrick, Denton. All schools Texas unless noted otherwise.

Alumni and faculty from across UNT colleges and schools were nominated or part of projects nominated in the 2023 awards (people with UNT ties in bold):

BEST ARRANGEMENT (INSTRUMENTAL or A CAPELLA)
Kings Return — “How Deep is your Love”
College of Music faculty member Rosana Eckert (producer) and College of Music alumnus Vaughn Faison (Kings Return member)

BEST CONTEMPORARY INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM
College of Music Alumnus Jeff Coffin — “Between Dreaming and Joy”
College of Music Alumni Michael League, Shaun Martin, Justin Stanton, Chris Bullock and Mike Maher of Snarky Puppy — “Empire Central”

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM
UNT Alumna Maren Morris — “Humble Quest”

BEST COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE
UNT Alumna Maren Morris — “Circles Around This Town”

BEST COUNTRY SONG
UNT Alumna Maren Morris — “Circles Around This Town”

BEST LARGE JAZZ ENSEMBLE ALBUM
Remy Le Boeuf’s Assembly of Shadows — “Architecture of Storms”
College of Music faculty member Philip Dizack (trumpet)

BEST NEW ARTIST
UNT Alumnus Tobe Nwigwe

BEST OPERA RECORDING
Metropolitan Opera — “Fire Shut Up In My Bones”
College of Music Alumna Latonia Moore as Billie

BEST TRADITIONAL POP ALBUM
College of Music Alumna Norah Jones — “I Dream of Christmas (Extended)”

Assistant Professor of Music Theory, Andrew Chung, received recognition at the recently held annual meeting of the Society for Music Theory. He was named a recipient of the Society’s Emerging Scholar Award for his article "What is Musical Meaning? Theorizing Music as Performative Utterance" in Music Theory Online. The award recognizes “significant contributions to music theory, analysis, or history of theory.”

Professor of Piano, Pamela Mia Paul, was jury panel chair of the 2022 Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. Meet the panel here.

The United States Army Field Band and Soldiers’ Chorus released a video celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. The video is a collaboration with the University of North Texas College of Music Mariachi Águilas performing “De Colores” filmed at the Dallas Latino Cultural Center.

Grammy, Oscar, 24-time Emmy nominee and 10-time Emmy winner, Bruce Broughton, returns to the University of North Texas College of Music as Media Composer In Residence for the seventh year.

Professor and Director of Choral Studies, Allen Hightower, has been announced as the Director of the Houston Symphony Chorus for the 2022-2023 Season. The announcement was made after the retirement of UNT alumna Betsy Cook Weber as director of the ensemble.

University of North Texas UNT Opera Graduate Artist Certificate student, Taylor Carnes, has won a National Opera Association's JoElyn Wakefield-Wright Stage Director Fellowship. 

Robert Blocker (MM ’70, DMA ’72) will retire Summer 2023 as the Henry and Lucy Moses Dean of Music at the Yale School of Music.