News & Features — Division of Humanities and Fine Arts

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Music Department

 Music of India Ensemble: "The Composer is You"

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Music of India Ensemble: "The Composer is You"

UCSB’s World Indian Ensemble led an hour-long performance in the Department of Music’s Music Bowl, as part of its World Music Series. The ensemble is headed by Department of Music professor Scott Marcus and will hold an end-of-year recital on June 8th.

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Student Spotlight: Musician, Poet and Lover of the Arts

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Student Spotlight: Musician, Poet and Lover of the Arts

Music student Jason Cathcart is deeply involved in the arts at UCSB, and spends his time performing and sharing his love for music with the community. He plays about ten instruments, and is president of the Poets’ Club, where he recently released his own personal poetry magazine, Dizziness Great!

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  An "HFA Speaks" Panel: Mental Health and the Arts

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An "HFA Speaks" Panel: Mental Health and the Arts

Humanities and Fine Arts student intern Faith Harvey moderated a discussion to mark Mental Health Awareness Month about the links between mental health and arts and humanities. She was joined by panelists Ellen O’Connell Whittet, a UC Santa Barbara continuing lecturer in the Writing Program, and Breana Gilcher, a UC Santa Barbara lecturer in the Department of Music. During this hour-long Zoom webinar, the HFA faculty members discussed their own mental health experiences, trends in mental health they’ve noticed among UCSB students and what advice they would give those suffering from burn out.

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A New Summer Minor in Media Arts and Design

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A New Summer Minor in Media Arts and Design

Diarmid Flatley, a Ph.D. candidate enrolled in UCSB’s Media Arts and Technology Program, discussed artificial intelligence and his work with “transmodal” arts in an interview with Environmental Studies major Lucian Scher.

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HFA Creativity Contest: Music & Video

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HFA Creativity Contest: Music & Video

This spring, UCSB’s Humanities and Fine Arts Division hosted a creativity contest to highlight the work of student across the UCSB campus. Check out our video and music category winners.

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Give Day 2023: Celebrating Student Creativity

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Give Day 2023: Celebrating Student Creativity

UCSB’s Division of Humanities and Fine Arts celebrated Give Day last week with its annual Creativity Contest. Students from all majors and years submitted works in different categories—photography, prose, poetry, visual art, music and video—for the opportunity to be published on the HFA website. The winners were honored at a luncheon award ceremony.

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The Book of Daniel Through Sight and Sound

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The Book of Daniel Through Sight and Sound

UC Santa Barbara composition program chair Joao Pedro Oliveira recently showed his latest visual music opera — “The 70th Week” — in downtown Santa Barbara, as part of the Corwin Chair Concert Series. In an interview with communication student Sarah Phan, Oliveira talked about the work’s biblical inspiration, and the challenges he faced as a composer during the COVID-19 lockdown.

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From Jazz to Rock: A Student's Music Path

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From Jazz to Rock: A Student's Music Path

History and Music student Conor Mack plays guitar for both the UCSB Jazz ensemble and the Isla Vista rock band “Marella.” Mack spoke about how he entered both musical spheres, and how his experience with Jazz helped him fit right in to the world of Rock.

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The Connections at the Heart of Hip-Hop

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The Connections at the Heart of Hip-Hop

Samuel Lamontagne, a UCLA ethnomusicology researcher, visited UC Santa Barbara to discuss his expertise on hiphopography, the study of hip-hop culture. After moving to Los Angeles from France, Lamontagne was able to immerse himself in the hip-hop sphere and interview LA rappers to understand their communities, experiences, and history.

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Mojo: When Black Identity Shapes the Earth

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Mojo: When Black Identity Shapes the Earth

Jeremy Kamal, Black culture scholar and professor at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, showed three futuristic, digitally-realized landscapes for a UC Santa Barbara audience. These landscapes, which are part of a fictional world called “Mojo,” each represent parts of Black identity.

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Curtis Roads: A Sonic Narrative

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Curtis Roads: A Sonic Narrative

Curtis Roads, professor and chair of Media Arts and Technology at UCSB, spoke to a Santa Barbara audience last week about his career in electronic music composition and music software development. During the lecture, he played some of his more recent pieces and updated his audience on future projects.

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The Unifying Power of Music

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The Unifying Power of Music

UC Santa Barbara’s Middle East Ensemble collaborated with two student organizations — the Persian Student Group and the Iranian Jewish Student Association — on a Persian music night last week. Students, community members and faculty came together to enjoy a night of cultural music, dancing and singing. Attendees were able to donate to the Center for Human Rights in Iran.

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Premiere: An Eclectic Composition Created for the AlloSphere

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Premiere: An Eclectic Composition Created for the AlloSphere

UC Santa Barbara’s AlloSphere hosted the premiere of “Musics Of The Spheres,” an experimental work by eclectic composer Robert Morris. His piece uses the full surround-sound capabilities of the AlloSphere to feature music from all across the globe.

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 Student Spotlight: A Woman of Color Composer in Classical Music

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Student Spotlight: A Woman of Color Composer in Classical Music

Classical music is often typified by staples of the concert repertoire, such as Beethoven and Mozart, but musicians are pushing for change. In a recent interview, Music major and composer Mia Paul discussed the importance of diverse representation in classical music. Identifying as a woman of color composer with a background primarily in Western classical music, she looks to reinvent the way people view classical music

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HFA Creativity Contest: Music

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HFA Creativity Contest: Music

This spring, UCSB’s Humanities and Fine Arts Division hosted a creativity contest to highlight creative student voices across the UCSB campus. Explore the music submitted by Noah Vela, Charlie Prindle, and Violet Joy Hanson.

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Cultivating Creativity

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Cultivating Creativity

This spring, UCSB’s Humanities and Fine Arts Division hosted a creativity contest to highlight creative student voices across the UCSB campus. Students from all walks of life submitted their original works of photography, poetry, prose, visual art, and music for the opportunity to be featured on the HFA website.

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Ancient Japanese orchestral tradition displayed on campus

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Ancient Japanese orchestral tradition displayed on campus

The Art, Design, and Architecture Museum at UC Santa Barbara has multiple art exhibitions on display year-round. Currently, it is showing a collection of instruments used for gagaku, an ancient Japanese style of orchestral music and dance.

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The Hidden Complexities of Jazz

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The Hidden Complexities of Jazz

For many students the names Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk and Chet Baker are just random names. That changes quickly for those, like anthropology student Jennifer Yoshikoshi, who take the course “Listening to Jazz,” taught by Jon Nathan in UC Santa Barbara’s Music Department. She describes how this course deepened her knowledge of music and music history.

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HFA Speaks: Arts Evolving in a Pandemic

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HFA Speaks: Arts Evolving in a Pandemic

Theater, Dance, and Music at UC Santa Barbara have persisted through the COVID-19 pandemic with a common strength: creativity. Theater and Dance department chair Irwin Appel, UCSB Dance Company director Delilah Moseley, and UCSB Gospel Choir director Victor Bell recently spoke at a Humanities and Fine Arts Division event HFA Speaks: Arts Evolving in a Pandemic, to discuss how the arts have changed, struggled, and adapted throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

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A Lifetime of Achievement in Piano

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A Lifetime of Achievement in Piano

After 60 years studying piano, UC Santa Barbara senior lecturer Charles Asche received the Lifetime Achievement Award for 2020 by the California Association of Professional Music Teachers. In a video interview, Asche expresses his gratitude for both the lifetime achievement award and for his lifetime of playing and teaching piano.

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