The Hugh Hodgson School of Music’s Ensemble Series continues on Thursday, September 26 at 7:30 with a concert by the University of Georgia Symphony Orchestra in Hodgson Hall. “This concert celebrates nationalism in music,” says Director of Orchestral ActivitiesMark Cedel. 

The first part of the concert features favorite works of two of our greatest American composers.  To open the concert, Dr. Jaclyn Hartenberger, Associate Director of Bands, will guest conduct Samuel Barber's hauntingly beautiful Adagio for Strings. 

The Hugh Hodgson School of Music is excited for the new Faculty Artist Series season opener featuring husband and wife team, Col Legno Duo. The duo is made up of University of Georgia’s associate professor of bassoon, Amy Pollard, and her husband Scott Pollard, the Artist Affiliate in percussion at Emory University. This new season will kick-off on Monday, September 16 at 7:30 p.m. in Ramsey Hall.

UGA Opera Theatre currently produces two full opera productions per academic year plus an additional opera scenes program. The fall production is presented in Hodgson Hall in collaboration with the UGA Symphony Orchestra and the UGA Choirs.

The spring production is presented in the Fine Arts Theatre on North Campus. The Opera Ensemble class is open to anyone interested in performing in the opera chorus and does not require an audition. Occasional secondary roles are offered to singers in this ensemble. 

At the end of the academic year, usually in April, the Opera Ensemble presents an opera scenes program with piano in either Hodgson Hall or Ramsey Hall in the Performing Arts Center.

The Opera Theatre class is designed for more developed singers who generally sing the primary solo roles in each opera production. This class is open to singers by audition only.

Reimagined by international opera star Frederick Burchinal in 2006, the UGA Opera Theatre has spent the last eighteen years growing and developing, providing graduate and undergraduate students the opportunity to stretch the boundaries of their voices as they explore new and challenging repertoire. In 2021, Daniel Ellis, international director of opera and theatre, joined the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, bringing his expertise as a professional director and acting teacher. He has crafted all the wonderful operas at UGA for the past three seasons.

There is always a time in a university opera ensemble when so many graduations at once lead to a fresh start. Now is one of those exciting moments. As we welcome our incoming graduate students in vocal performance, as well as continue to develop our undergraduate singers, we are still selecting a piece that will support their professional growth. Tickets are already available with the general titles “Fall Opera” and “Spring Opera” at the time of this publication. We have narrowed down our short list and will have a separate announcement coming soon once rights and permissions have been confirmed.

The University Philharmonia is under the supervision of Mark Cedel.  The ensemble is conducted also by graduate students majoring in orchestral conducting.  It meets Tuesday evenings from 6:30 - 8:30 PM.  All students receive one hour of course credit.

The orchestra performs under the baton of Mark Cedel, and is primarily composed of music majors. Members are selected by audition.

All sections of the orchestra are auditioned prior to the start of each semester. Instrumentalists will find their audition information here.

ENSEMBLES

Jazz Ensemble I is the Hodgson School's advanced level big band, and as such is made up of advanced students.  The group is comprised of traditional big band instrumentation: saxophones, trombones, trumpets, and a rhythm section featuring drums, piano, guitar, and bass.  The band performs music of a variety of styles, including swing, be-bop, latin, and contemporary jazz. Performances take place both on campus and at off-campus events by invitation.

Jazz Ensemble II, an introductory level ensemble at the Hodgson School, introduces students to the experience of performing in a traditional big band. By participating in Jazz Ensemble II, students study the evolution of  big band music, familiarize themselves with stylistic comparisons, and refine their improvisational skills. 

Like Jazz Ensemble I, this ensemble is made up of traditional big band instrumentation, and plays music of various styles both on campus and in the community.

 The Jazz Studio Orchestra combines Jazz Ensemble I with string instruments to recreate the common instrumentation of a studio orchestra recording session.  The group's April 4, 2013 debut concert featured four commissioned pieces representing the broad variety of settings for this instrumentation, including movie sound tracks, Broadway shows, and commercial jingles.  

Like all other ensembles, the Jazz Studio Orchestra performs both on campus and elsewhere by invitation.

All UGA students are invited to participate in UGA's Jazz Combos, with the permission of the instructor. Combos are typically made up of a rhythm section of drums, piano, guitar, and bass, in addition to several horn players.  

Students work on American standards, jazz standards, latin jazz, and contemporary commercial compositions. The setting provides students with the opportunity to develop their improvisational skills. Each song rehearsed in combos is accompanied by an in-depth study of the piece's chord, melodic, and harmonic structures. Students are also encouraged to write their own original compositions for performance. 

Combos give one recital on campus per semester and are frequently invited to other performances both on and off campus.

Students interested in pursuing a minor in Jazz Music should be sure to audition and apply.  For more information about the wonderful opportunity, please contact David D'Angelo at ddangelo@uga.edu.

The UGA Chamber Music Society is a student run organization designed to help undergraduate students of all majors continue their passion for music by forming music ensembles and performing throughout the community. This is accomplished by providing students a platform to gain invaluable performance experience and also share live music to the Athens community, performing in such venues as retirement homes, hospitals, weddings, receptions, cocktail hours, and holiday festivities.



For more information, visit the UGA Chamber Music Society website.

The University of Georgia Contemporary Chamber Ensemble (CCE) is a performance group composed of graduate and undergraduate students. Since 1979 the ensemble has focused on the performance of modern masterworks and recent music. The ensemble has performed at many major metropolitan centers in the Eastern and Southeastern United States, including Carnegie Recital Hall in New York City, the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina; the Society of Composers, Inc. National Convention in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; and Atlanta, Georgia. During the last two years the ensemble has focused on a new campus concert series entitled UGA Concerts 1900+. Featured composers include Dominick Argento, George Crumb, Meyer Kupferman, Leo Smit, Erik Satie, Ned Rorem, Igor Stravinsky, Maurice Ohana, Huang Ruo, John Cage, and UGA composers Adrian P. Childs and Leonard V. Ball, Jr.

The University of Georgia Steel Band serves as a popular ambassador to the Athens music community and the public at large.  Made up of traditional steel pans from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the Steel Band is accompanied by electric bass, congas, drumset, and auxiliary percussion.

The steel band has served as artists-in-residence throughout Georgia, performing at numerous arts festivals and colleges throughout the southeast.  The group has also appeared at the Georgia Music Educators Association conference, various days of percussion, and many other events.

For information about other upcoming performances or to schedule a performance by the UGA Steel Band, please contact Timothy Adams, Jr..

Lineage Percussion, coached by Timothy Adams Jr. and Ms. Kimberly Toscano, was founded in 2014 by Trevor Barroero, Lauren Floyd, and Wesley Sumpter in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia. 

​In 2016, Lineage Percussion was a bronze medalist in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition becoming the first percussion group in the 43-year history of the competition to be a finalist in the senior division.  Before this, the trio was a semifinalist of both the Coltman Chamber Competition and the 2015 Fischoff Competition and was a third-place winner at the Percussive Arts Society’s Chamber Competition.  Passionate about supporting new works by contemporary composers, Lineage Percussion has commissioned and premiered over a dozen new works for percussion trio.  Endorsed as educational artists with Mike Balter Mallets and Remo Drumheads, they have presented clinics and performed recitals for elementary schools, high schools, retirement communities, and private organizations around the state of Georgia.

Deeply rooted in a rich history of orchestral percussion play, Lineage Percussion seeks to preserve and expand upon the traditions and style of percussion performance set forth by their teachers and their teacher’s teachers.  This balance of innovation and duplication results in the trio’s distinctive sound.  Whether they are playing marimbas, snare drums, bongos, or household objects, their identical training results in a uniform approach to each and every percussion instrument.



Trevor Barroero, gold medalist of over half-a-dozen concerto competitions, most recently won the Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy’s concerto competition which resulted in an invitation to travel to Russia this upcoming winter to perform as guest timpanist/percussionist with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra.  A native of Tucson, Arizona, Trevor has performed as a soloist with nearly every major orchestra in Southern Arizona including the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, the Tucson Pops, the Civic Orchestra of Tucson, the University of Arizona Symphony Orchestra, and the Tucson Philharmonia Youth Orchestra.  Trevor has been a featured guest performer on the Tucson Morning Blend television show and on the KXCI “Locals Only” radio broadcast.  He was a selected participant of the Aspen Music Festival for two consecutive summers and has attended the Juilliard Summer Percussion Seminar, the Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Institute.  Trevor performs as substitute timpanist with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra and as substitute percussionist with the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra and the Sierra Vista Symphony.  A Flinn Scholar, Trevor is currently completing his final year of undergraduate studies at the University of Arizona as he pursues a Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance.  For more information visit: www.trevorbarroero.com



Lauren Floyd is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree in percussion performance at the University of Maryland. Lauren has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, performing as 2nd timpanist alongside Jauvon Gilliam on their benefit concert for the ADL.  In 2015, Lauren was selected to participate in the Brevard Music Center's Summer Festival. She has served as principal percussionist of the UGA Wind Ensemble and UGA Symphony Orchestra and as principal timpanist of the Fountain Inn Symphony Orchestra. Lauren was the recipient of the Erica Stoffel-Murray Scholarship, a performance-based scholarship. She has performed with several chamber groups at the University of Georgia, including the UGA Percussion Ensemble, Steel Band, New Music Ensemble, and the Modular Ensemble. Lauren has also presented master classes at Dickerson Middle School and Walton High School in Marietta, Georgia.



Wesley Sumpter is finishing his last year of undergraduate studies at the University of Georgia in Percussion Performance. He has performed as substitute timpanist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and was a semifinalist in the 2014 and 2015 Atlanta Modern Snare Drum Competition.  He has performed as extra percussion with the Louisiana Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra Augusta and the Albany Symphony in Georgia.  Wesley has attended the Eastern Music Festival and Aspen Music Festival and School and he was a drummer on VH1’s feature film, Drumline 2: A New Beat. An avid drumset player, Wesley has performed as a studio drummer and freelancer throughout Athens and Atlanta, Georgia.  He has played with artists such as Macy Gray and has performed as a member of various bands including Bridges (Folk/Rock) and Mister Tie Dye (Funk/Fusion). When in Atlanta, Wesley teaches at Benjamin E. Mays High School.