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PLU’s Director of Jazz Studies, Cassio Vianna, receives grant from the City of Tacoma to write and perform genre-bending composition Cassio Vianna, Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Jazz Studies, has been awarded a grant to write a 4-movement suite entitled Invisible Garden, that blends jazz, chamber music and Brazilian music. Posted by: Liza Conboy / April 18, 2024 Image: Jazz Under the Stars featuring Vianna/Bergeron Brazilian Quintet with Cassio Vianna on piano at PLU, Thursday

Pacific Lutheran University’s Jazz and Wind Ensembles go “Down Under” this summer Posted by: Mandi LeCompte / May 21, 2013 May 21, 2013 The University Jazz Ensemble and University Wind Ensemble will travel to Australia May 28 –June 11, 2013, to discover the “Down Under” and share their music with an international audience. Traveling to Melbourne, Bairnsdale, Canberra and Sydney, 49 students will discover both the rural and urban aspects of Australia, and perform and participate in musical

Think faster, work harder, feel more deeply Posted by: Mandi LeCompte / November 21, 2010 Image: PLU Associate Professor of Music, Violin, Svend Ronning,in his office. November 21, 2010 By Barbara Clements Looking back, Svend Rønning ’89 can’t remember when music wasn’t  part of his life. His mother was a piano teacher; his grandfather played the violin. In fact, he still occasionally uses a bow that his grandfather bought from a Sears and Roebuck catalogue in the 1920s. “Actually, it still

Three-time Grammy Award winning saxophonist Jeff Coffin joins the PLU Jazz Ensemble on stage Posted by: Mandi LeCompte / March 24, 2017 Image: Jazz Ensemble at PLU, Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. (Photo: John Froschauer/PLU) March 24, 2017 Musician, Composer, Educator The public is invited to a concert featuring the Rogers High School Jazz Band, the Pacific Lutheran University Jazz Ensemble and Jeff Coffin on Wednesday, April 19 at 8 p.m. in the Karen Hille Phillips Center for Performing Arts on the PLU

Marathon runner and musician- an interview with new music faculty member Lark Powers Posted by: Kate Williams / November 14, 2017 November 14, 2017 By Kate Williams '16Outreach ManagerIn demand as a solo and collaborative artist, as well as an adjudicator and presenter, Lark Powers brings her extensive experience to the PLU music department. What is your background? I grew up in Northern California in Humboldt county, on the coast close to the Oregon border. Growing up, I studied both piano and

Faculty Artists: Jessica Robins Milanese, soprano; Soon Cho, mezzo-soprano; James Brown, tenor; Barry Johnson, baritone; Oksana Ezjokina, piano; Lark Powers, piano; Jonathan Wohlers, harmonium. Conductor, Richard Nance had been looking forward to this event since last spring, especially with the addition of Oksana Ezjokina, PLU’s chair of piano studies. “Ever since she came to PLU, I have wanted to do Rossini’s “Petite Messe Solennelle” with Oksana Ezjokina at the piano. She is an incredible artist

Faculty Feature: Dr. Jeffrey Bell-Hanson, Professor of Music and Director of Orchestral Activities Posted by: Reesa Nelson / June 22, 2020 June 22, 2020 Why did you decide to study music? What sparked your interest in music and how did your academic path and career develop from there? It was a family business for me, so to speak. My father was my first teacher in both piano and trombone, and my first band director. I learned to read music before I learned to read English. The die was cast at an

howls. (The music is hauntingly original and, trust us, made to be heard rather than read: Listen here.) Manhattan, in fact, turned out to be quite the meaningful stop for Rottle: She also met the man who would become her fiancé, a jazz musician originally from Australia who was pursing his doctorate at the School of Music. After moving to his home continent, Rottle continued networking and ended up filling in as the flutist for Kupka’s Piano, a contemporary music ensemble. She’s also involved in a

and re-explain the teacher’s directions,” he recalls. He learned to play the organ himself, as well as the piano, then earned bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees in music. He is now an assistant professor of music and the director of jazz studies at PLU, and his role as an educator stretches far beyond the correcting and re-explaining of his early days. Vianna aims to teach his students about balance, especially when it comes to innovation in jazz music. “Improvisation, creativity, and

music conservatoires and colleges. Since 2017, Mr. Myer has released four recordings on the Steinway & Sons label. Fall piano students will participate in a digital masterclass with Mr. Myer. www.spencermyer.com Patty DarlingComposer, arranger, educator, band and director Patty Darling does it all. Ms. Darling has composed music for a wide variety of mediums, including works for orchestra, wind ensemble, chamber groups, jazz ensembles, and numerous instrumental soloists. She directs the Lawrence