Global opportunities provide experience and accolades for KU School of Music students

By Anne Tangeman

Students in performance groups at the KU School of Music — majoring in everything from music to engineering and pre-med — are going places. The school’s commitment to providing travel opportunities through the KU Marching Jayhawks, choirs, jazz ensembles and other groups gives students transformative experiences, new perspectives and opportunities for recognition, including international awards. 

In the summer of 2023, the KU Chamber Choir traveled to Greece for the 41st International Choir Festival of Preveza, with Director of Choral Studies, Eduardo Garcia-Novelli. The 40-member choir competed with choirs from around the world and performed music in numerous languages including Estonian, Latvian and Latin. They received multiple awards including First Place in Free Program and Mixed Choir categories and the Special Prize for Best Program. Garcia-Novelli was also recognized as with the Special Prize for Best Conductor.  

The experience also resulted in an impromptu performance between the KU choir and the Slovenian choir of “Ta Na Solbici,” by Slovenian composer Samo Vovk. A video of the dynamic collaboration can be viewed on the KU School of Music’s Facebook page. 

This July, students in the KU Jazz Ensemble I will travel to Italy and Spain, under the direction Daniel Gailey, director of Jazz Studies. They will perform for audiences at myriad venues from small jazz clubs to large jazz festivals. The 20-piece ensemble comprises primarily undergraduate students with diverse majors including music, computer science, engineering, finance and philosophy.  

The ensemble has already made a significant mark this year, along with the KU Jazz Singers, by winning prestigious DownBeat Student Music Awards (SMA) for Outstanding Performance in the graduate divisions for Large Jazz Ensembles and Vocal Jazz Ensembles. Under Gailey’s leadership, the KU Jazz Studies Program has received 33 DownBeat Student Music Awards since 1992.