Student play cello with eyes closed.

School of Music News

The School of Music offers enriching undergraduate and graduate degree programs for students pursuing careers in composition, conducting, jazz studies, music education, and performance. We have more than 400 music majors studying under the guidance of experienced artist and performers, master teachers, and respected international scholars.

Current Music News

collage of a dozen musicians in various poses with their instruments.
Arts and Culture |

The contemporary chamber music series features 20th and 21st century works performed by faculty, students, and alumni.

creature holding a crystal globe
Arts and Culture |

The season-opening program features a cinematic work inspired by the composer’s travels and a guest performance by Pinecrest Academy Sloan Canyon.

dancers in the rose garden
Arts and Culture |

This free event features art exhibitions, live music, dance and theatre performances, film demonstrations, food and wine tastings, a beer garden, and much more.

collage of musicians
Arts and Culture |

NEXTET, the contemporary chamber music series at the UNLV School of Music, features 20th and 21st-century concert music performed by faculty, students, and guest artists.

jazz group holding their instruments
Arts and Culture |

The concert features selections from the Jazz Ensemble I album, My Favorite Things, and Back Home, from the Latin Jazz Ensemble and Joe Williams Scholarship Quintet's release.

Vassar College building
Arts and Culture |

The Vassar trilogy shines a light on women who have shaped history, championed the planet, and pushed the boundaries of science.

Music In The News

KVVU-TV: Fox 5

University offers 22-credit minor as demand for mariachi educators grows.

Associated Press

Axel Rodríguez Olivas nervously steps on stage, carrying a violin. He raises his bow and begins to play, his nerves melting away. Mariachi music explodes throughout the room as violins, trumpets, the guitarrón, and a stringed instrument called the vihuela launch into an upbeat melody. There they are joined by a warm voice as a tenor begins to sing. The 20-year-old musician is set to become the first student to graduate with a minor in mariachi from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, one of the only universities in the country to offer such a niche specialization.

KVVU-TV: Fox 5

The Elisa Gastelum Memorial Foundation is keeping young musicians' dreams alive by awarding mariachi scholarships to Las Vegas students, including one UNLV student who hopes to become a teacher himself.

KVVU-TV: Fox 5

For Irvin Garcia, mariachi music has been part of his life since sixth grade. Saturday, his trumpet joined the sounds filling Craig Ranch Regional Park as North Las Vegas kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month.

Las Vegas Review Journal

Pepe Jimenez articulates what has been in my head for years regarding the UNLV Jazz and Commercial Music shows at Ham Hall.

KNPR News

Students from UNLV’s Colleges of Fine Arts and Education collaborated to create hands-on learning experiences for children enrolled at the Lynn Bennett Early Childhood Education Center.

Recent Music Accomplishments

Amy Brown (Music) presented a session at the Silver State Technology Conference, titled "Data Driven In'formative' Assessment."  The session focused on strategies for developing formal assessments that promote engagement, real-time data, and feedback, with an emphasis on supporting diverse learners.
Rick Keller (Music) has published A Creator's Practical Guide to Music Technology through Kendall Hunt Publishing. The textbook offers a comprehensive, no-prerequisites guide to the full creative and business pipeline for today's music makers. Chapters cover assembling a home studio workstation, music creation and production, mixing, and the…
Linda Lister (Music) received Honorable Mention for the Richard Sjoerdsma Excellence in Writing Award. Named in honor of editor in chief emeritus Richard Sjoerdsma, who helmed the journal from 2001 to 2023, this biennial award honors the best feature article written for the Journal of Singing over the most recent two-year cycle. The…
Linda Lister (Music) published "Non dimenticar: Memory, Music, and Singers" in the May/June issue of the Journal of Singing, the official journal of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.
Jennifer Bellor and Jonathan Rhodes Lee (Music) curated a concert at the Rita Deanin Abbey Museum in Las Vegas. Presented as part of the RDA Performs series, the concert combined contemporary compositions by Bellor and music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by L. Couperin, G. Gabrielli, G.P. Telemann, and A. Vivaldi. The music was…
Jonathan Rhodes Lee (Music) performed twice in this year's Arizona Bach Festival. Lee appeared as soloist in the season's inaugural concert, presenting Bach's famous Brandenburg Concerto No. 5. Lee also served as continuo harpsichordist with the Festival Orchestra and Chorus in the rarely performance oratorio Esther by Giuseppe Cristiano…