UNC Department of Music

09/10/2026

“I think that maybe now more than any time in my life, collaborations with people from other places who have different cultures and different ideas are essential. It’s maybe the most important thing that we do.” -Prof. Michael Kris

This summer, Teaching Professor Michael Kris led a group of students to King’s College London, accompanied by a few faculty and alumni. In one week, they collaborated with faculty and students in the Choir of King’s College London and other leading schools for early music in Europe to put together a concert to celebrate a decade of musical collaboration between the universities. They performed music from the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Eight instrumentalists accompanied approximately 20 vocalists, including Prof. Kris, who performed with others playing sackbuts and cornettos. Other players included faculty and alumni from King’s, Universität Mozarteum, Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien and HFK Bremen.

“The music got better and better throughout the week. It was challenging, for sure, but watching it all come together was amazing,” UNC-Chapel Hill Teaching Assistant Professor and audio engineer Pablo Vega said. This summer, Michael Kris, teaching professor in … Read more

09/04/2026

Have a fantastic three-day weekend, Tar Heels! Get some rest, get some sun, and have some fun this weekend. We’ll see you next week! ☀️🎶

09/04/2026

Music department staff are year-long employees, but without all the faculty and students around, what do they do during the summer? The answer: some of the same things, as they support summer classes and workshops, a lot of preparation for the new academic year, and a little bit of everything! Thank you to these incredible staff members for their year-round efforts to keep the music playing across the department!

Music department staff are year-long employees, but without all the faculty and students around, what do they do during the summer? The answer: some of the same things as they support summer classes and workshops, a lot of preparation for … Read more

09/01/2026

Come experience live music with us this year! All tickets are now on sale.🎶

PS - Y’all really didn’t think we’d use stock audio for this one, right? Shout out to Johannes Bobb 👏

08/31/2026

Beat the heat this week and join us for some fantastic live music!

🎶 Today, Dr. Regina Helcher Yost will present a masterclass with UNC Flute students at 5:00 pm, followed by a guest artist recital at 7:30 pm. Both events are in Moeser Auditorium, are free, and count for CLE credit!
🎶 This Thursday, don’t miss UNC Jazz faculty and guest artists as they honor the legacy of John Coltrane with Latin jazz arrangements of his music, reimagining his compositions through Afro-Caribbean, Brazilian, and Afro-Peruvian musical traditions while honoring the spirit of improvisation that defined his artistry! Join us in Moeser Auditorium at 7:30 pm for this exciting free performance and get CLE credit!

08/28/2026

The people make the place, and we mean you, Tar Heels! 🩵🐏🎶

The music office staff is back together (with some new faces too!), and we’re ready to answer any questions you may have! Stop by and say hi anytime!

08/27/2026

The weekend is right around the corner, and we’ve got a couple of fantastic (and free) events happening!

The UNC Music Research Forum kicks off the academic year on Friday afternoon with a Lightning Round of Summer Research presentations! Join music faculty and graduate students in Person Recital Hall from 3:30-5:00 pm.

Then the third season of the Gut Instinct Chamber Music Project, “To BEethoven Rather Than to Seem,” takes the stage this Sunday at 4:00 pm! Violinist Nicholas DiEugenio and pianist Mimi Solomon will present Beethoven’s iconic “Kreutzer” Sonata and a newly commissioned work by David Kirkland Garner. With four more concerts throughout the 26-27 academic year, Gut Instinct takes on the large-scale project “To BEethoven Rather Than To Seem,” marking 200 years since Beethoven’s death and 250 since the U.S. Declaration of Independence. DiEugenio and Solomon will present all ten Beethoven Sonatas on period instruments along with five commissioned works written expressly for them.

08/27/2026

The Carolina Bluegrass Band’s time in Dublin is off to a phenomenal start! The band performed at the Royal Irish Music Academy today with Rhiannon Giddens on banjo and Justin Harrington on bones. This performance came at the end of the symposium “Songlines: Memory, Reclamation, and Repair in Ireland and the American South,” at which Giddens was the plenary speaker. The performance was impromptu, and after a short run-through of the chords, they launched into “Lights in the Valley,” with Giddens encouraging the crowd to sing the refrains.

Stay tuned for more glimpses into the incredible Irish excursion the Carolina Bluegrass Band and Marching Tar Heels are having in Dublin this week!
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08/24/2026

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Welcome (Back) Fest on Friday afternoon! We had a great time sharing more information about music opportunities at UNC. Students also got a sneak peek at an upcoming music library offering: portable record players you can check out!

08/20/2026

Come hang out with us at our Welcome (Back) Fest tomorrow at 4:00 pm ... now in the Hill Hall Rotunda due to weather!

We’re excited to welcome (back) our new and returning students, faculty, and staff at this fun informational festival! Join us from 4-5:30 pm for music, conversation, food, swag, freebies, games, and all the information that new (and current) students need to navigate the department!