Nicholas Enrico Williams is a Professor of Music and serves as the Director of Bands at the University of Georgia, where he coordinates one of the country’s largest and most comprehensive university band programs, conducts the University of Georgia Wind Ensemble, and oversees the graduate wind band conducting area. Prior to his time in Athens, he was the Director of Wind Bands at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (Melbourne, Australia). Before venturing to Australia, Dr.

D@wgByt3s is a UGA-based electronic music ensemble. Performing primarily compositions by UGA student and faculty composers, DawgBytes explores the cutting-edge of technology in music and multimedia performance. Drawing on students who have taken the 2-semester course sequence in Electronic Music Composition (as well as students from outside the composition area with some electronic music experience and who are interested in digital music-making), the ensemble works in a variety of environments (Max/MSP, Ableton Live, ROLI Equator, etc.) to explore the art of music composition in the digital world. 

"When exhaustion and cynicism are high and confidence continues to sink, we find ourselves faced with burnout. Burned out musicians struggle with motivation, feel as if their efforts don't matter, and get 'stuck' in mental and emotional cycles. The quality of our performance suffers, and, more importantly, the quality of our human experience does, as well. What aspects of our lives contribute to burnout, and where is the line between needing resilience and needing rest? Together, we will explore a public health model of intervention to manage critical burnout, treat distress, disrupt and divert harmful systems, and establish healthier patterns for the future." - Cayla Bellamy

"Since its earliest symphonic and operatic days, the bassoon has adopted a number of characters as its primary associations - the magical, the clownish, the tragic, and even the dying. The newest explorers of bassoon composition, however, challenge this with evocative depictions of native culture, lush love songs, percussive drive, and cries of torment and strength." 

Join Cayla Bellamy, Assistant Professor of Bassoon at Colorado State University and UGA alumna, for a tour of contemporary works by living American composers Nancy Hill Cobb, Reena Esmail, H. Leslie Adams, Jacqueline Wilson (Yakama), and Kevin Poelking.

Dr. Cayla Bellamy is a performer, collaborator, and pedagogue dedicated to advancing the music field through redefining standard practices in the bassoon studio and chamber ensemble settings.  She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Bassoon at Colorado State University, where she teaches applied bassoon, chamber music, and instrumental and virtual pedagogy, in addition to directing the New Music Ensemble and performing regularly with the Colorado Bach Ensemble and Pro Musica Colorado Chamber Orchestra. As a bassoonist and advocate for new music, she most recently embarked on a performance series presenting modern concerti by Joan Tower, Libby Larsen, James Stephenson, and Mathieu Lussier. This series continues into the upcoming concert season with a premiere performance of John Steinmetz’ newest concerto, The Illusion of Separateness for bassoon and string orchestra. Cayla’s contemporary music ventures extend beyond large ensemble works, including the world premieres of of Kevin Poelking’s There and Back for bassoon and piano and Denzel Washington’s A Moment on the Coastal Plains for unaccompanied bassoon, in addition to the recording premiere of Amy Beth Kirsten’s World Under Glass for five bassoons. 

She is also in the process of commissioning three new works by Ashley Floyd (for bassoon ensemble) and Frank Horvat (for flute and bassoon). Her debut album, Double or Nothing (2018), consists of premiere recordings for solo and duo bassoon and is available through the Mark Masters label on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify. Recordings from this album earned her first honorable mention in the American Prize 2020 Ernst Bacon Prize for the Performance of American Music, and she is currently recording her second project, a collection of new compositions for bassoon titled American Bassoon Voices. 

Cayla holds a Doctor of Music degree in Bassoon Performance and Literature from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, in addition to Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Music Education and Bassoon Performance from the University of Georgia, where she was distinguished as a National Presser Scholar. Her primary teachers include William Ludwig, Amy Pollard, William Davis, with additional studies with Nancy Goeres and Per Hannevold at the Aspen Music Festival and School. In addition to professional affiliations with the National Association for Music Education, College Music Society, and National Association of Wind and Percussion Instructors, she serves currently on the staff of the International Double Reed Society as Communications Coordinator and previously on the conducting faculties of the New York Summer School of the Arts and Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra. 

Offstage, Cayla is an amateur endurance athlete with academic research focusing on coaching methodologies, burnout, and the intersections of artistic and athletic training.

The University of Georgia Opera Theatre launches its 2022-23 season with “Faust” by composer Charles Gounod and librettists Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. Performances are Friday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, November 13 at 3 p.m. in Hodgson Hall at the Performing Arts Center on UGA’s East Campus, 230 River Rd, Athens, GA 30605.   Visit www.music.uga.edu or call 706-542-4400 for tickets.

Works by Claude Debussy, Vivian Fung, Anthony R. Green, Emily Koh, Michael R. Oldham, Amy Williams, and Bryan Wysocki

New works by students in Intro to Composition.