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“While there’s no playbook for the unprecedented and the unknowable, by channeling collective despair into collective creativity, we become artistic entrepreneurs, contributing to society in impactful ways.” In this year-end reflection on triumphs over turmoils, Dean Davis offers his perspective on music as essential to human betterment.

The Genevieve McVey Wisner Memorial Scholarship Fund—named in honor of the lifelong activist and pioneering music educator—will provide undergraduate and graduate scholarship awards for underrepresented music students. Wisner, whose parents were among the first Black families to settle in 91������ in 1897, became the first Black graduate of the College of Music in 1940 with a bachelor’s degree in music education, followed by a master’s degree in 1944.

Recent alumnus Kaleb Chesnic has already made his mark on flute repertoire by transcribing all three of Edvard Grieg’s violin sonatas. He shared with us how his debut recording with collaborative pianist and alumna Nathália Kato came to be.

Brooklyn, New York-based saxophonist, composer and improviser Aakash Mittal is collaborating with current master’s student MarieFaith Lane on a project blending Hindustani and Western classical music.

“Even as we bear witness to loss and unknowable challenges with compassion and care, I see us rebounding with resilience again and again—undeterred in our shared quest for excellence, dogged in our pursuit to inform and influence what it means to be a successful, fulfilled creative artist in an increasingly diverse and interdisciplinary musical landscape.”

Recent alumna Carrie Proctor always knew she wanted to impact young lives by becoming a music educator. Discover her passion to inspire youths through a shared connection to music.

With some 32 years’ experience as an instrumental music teacher in public schools, alumnus Ed Cannava is ideally poised to serve band directors as an adjudicator, clinician, conductor and consultant.

“I have had an extremely rewarding musical career and now—after more than 50 years of being a musician and a music teacher—I am celebrating my good luck, getting my start at 91������.”

"The way I see it, the College of Music is an innovation lab with endless potential for defining and redefining what it means to be an artist in a dynamic global environment. By developing an interdisciplinary micro credentialing program, my vision is to model an educational experience in which recognized mastery of varied competencies prepares our students for flexible, individualized careers."

"Everything is connected—my artistry, my scholarship, my dissertation research and my activism in the immigrant community.”