In April 2009 the Department of Music acquired seven new Yamaha T118 upright pianos for use in both student practice rooms and faculty studios.  Additionally, approximately thirty-five additional pianos are undergoing substantial renovation and repair over the summer.   FEMA funding for the acquisition and repairs was obtained by Missy Bowen, Operations Manager and Executive Assistant to the Chair. 

Celebrating the department’s acquisition of seven new Yamaha T118 upright pianos are, from left, Dr. Robin Williams, Lance Lafargue, Missy Bowen, Dr. James Hammann, Acting Chair, and Dr. Susan Krantz, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

Dr. Robin Williams, professor of piano, gives one of the new pianos a try as Missy Bowen, Lance Lafarge, and James Hammann look on.

MARSALIS MONDAY at WHITE HOUSE, KENNEDY CENTER

   UNO Professor Emeritus Ellis Marsalis, founding leader of the UNO Jazz Studies program and first to hold the UNO Coca-Cola Endowed Chair in Jazz Studies, was honored June 15, 2009 at the fifth annual Duke Ellington Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.  The concert, titled Celebrating a Jazz Master: Ellis Marsalis, featured the legendary pianist, composer, and educator along with sons Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo, and Jason Marsalis, with special guests Harry Connick, Jr. and Dr. Billy Taylor.
    Earlier in the day, the first family of jazz performed at the White House in the first of three programs sponsored by Michelle Obama focusing on American music and featuring workshops for music students and a short concert by the stars, who also included Paquito D’Riviera.
    The Marsalis family last performed together, with Connick, in 2001 at UNO’s Lakefront Arena to celebrate Ellis Marsalis’s contribution to the UNO Jazz Studies program upon his retirement from the university.
    The University of New Orleans awarded Ellis Marsalis an honorary doctorate in 2007.  He continues to be active in jazz education programs, particularly at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, as well as guest appearances and master classes at UNO and at UNO’s “Jazz at the Sandbar” concert series.
    At UNO, the Marsalis tradition, with sons Delfeayo Marsalis (trombone) and Jason Marsalis (drums) currently on the Department of Music Jazz Studies faculty.

UNO Music Technology Workshops for Teachers

   Student Spotlight Paul Miller

Paul received a Special Award from the Japan Club of New Orleans for speed in Japanese at the Second SouthCentral Speech Contest at Dillard University on March 28, 2009. He received $100 gift certificate for winning the contest.

Updated June 18, 2009