This friday, January 15 at 8 p.m., UGA welcomes "Hogaku: New Sounds of Japan 2010" to Ramsey Hall in the Performing Arts Center. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Six of Japan’s top young musicians in Japanese traditional performing arts will give three performances of traditional Japanese music. Each showcase will feature a different instrument: the koto, a Japanese zither; the tsugaru-shamisen, a fretless lute from northern Japan; and Japanese drums.

Ronald Romm, widely acknowledged as one of the pre-eminent trumpeters and clinicians, will be on the UGA campus January 13-15 as a guest trumpet artist in the Hodgson School of Music. Romm will coach the graduate quintet, teach trumpet lessons, give two public master classes and perform a solo recital during the three-day visit, sponsored by the school of music.

Hodgson School of Music students Anna Baksheeva (violin), Joshua Teague (cello), and Liz Han (piano) will play in the MTNA regional competition at Samford University in Birmingham, AL on the weekend of the January 16. The trio, primarily coached by Despy Karlas Professor of Piano Richard Zimdars, will perform their competition program on Monday afternoon January 11 in Edge Recital Hall in the school of music at 3:35 p.m. The program includes music for trio by Ives, Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Brahms. The performance is free and the public is invited.

2010 is the bicentennial of the birth of the Romantic composer, Robert Schumann. The Hodgson School of Music will have several events to commemorate this anniversary, including our 2nd Thursday concert in February, Schumanniad (February 11). In addition to being one of the most important composers of the 19th century, Schumann was an influential critic. Serving as editor of the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik from its beginning in 1834 until 1844, he championed younger composers - Chopin and Brahms in particular.

Best wishes for a very Merry Holiday season from the Hugh Hodgson School of Music.

Get together with friends and family, stay in or go out, but listen to some music, make some music, share some music this holiday season. We're all better for it.

Look here for news and updates on events and performances at UGA in 2010.

The Hugh Hodsgon School of Music announces faculty searches for the following positions:

Director of Choral Music

Assistant Professor of Percussion

Assistant Professor of Trombone

Assistant Professor of Viola

It with a heavy heart that we report the following:

UGA music professor and renowned chamber musician Kenneth Fischer dies after illness

Exams at UGA begin later this week, and there is a full slate of HHSOM concerts and recitals scheduled for today. These include: String Chamber recital, with Matthew Burns on guitar, 3:35 p.m., Edge Recital Hall.

Another example of the extraordinary individuals on the faculty at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music: UGA Community Music School Director Kristin Jutras and assistant professor of piano pedagogy Peter Jutras are featured in a spotlight article by their alma mater, the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester.