Bienen Professor Wins Fourth Grammy Award
/sites/default/files/2025-02/crossing.jpgProfessor emeritus Donald Nally won his fourth Grammy Award to date with The Crossing for best choral performance.
Bienen School alumni, faculty receive 2025 Grammy nominations
/sites/default/files/2024-11/crossing.jpgProfessor emeritus Donald Nally has received his tenth Grammy nomination to date and several Bienen alumni are also among the 2025 nominees.
Bienen School alumni, faculty among 2024 Grammy Nominees
/sites/default/files/2024-11/20231110_grammys.jpgSeveral Bienen School of Music artists are among the 2024 Grammy Award nominees.
Looking Back at 10 Years of the Institute for New Music
/sites/default/files/2023-05/20230518_institute_letter_collage.jpgHans Thomalla, director of the Institute for New Music, reflects on the first 10 years of the institute's impact on the Bienen School of Music and greater Northwestern communities.
Bienen School hosts fifth biennial new music conference April 21-23
/sites/default/files/2023-03/20230322_nunc.jpgFor the first time in five years, the Institute for New Music hosts its biennial Northwestern University New Music Conference (NUNC! 5) in person from Friday, April 21 to Sunday, April 23.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2023/03/bienen-school-hosts-fifth-biennia…Northwestern faculty, alumnus among 2023 Grammy winners
/sites/default/files/2023-02/20230206_crossing.jpgDonald Nally, director of choral organizations at the Bienen School of Music, has won his third Grammy Award to date for best choral performance with The Crossing.
Bienen School announces new music concerts for winter and spring
/sites/default/files/2023-01/20230123_instute_winter_events.jpgTed Hearne’s SCOTUS-inflected choral cantata “Sound from the Bench” and NUNC! 5 are among the winter and spring offerings at the Institute for New Music at the Bienen School of Music.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2023/01/bienen-school-announces-new-music…2023 Grammy nominees include Northwestern alumni, faculty
/sites/default/files/2022-11/20221116_grammy-noms_0.jpgNorthwestern faculty and alumni are well represented among this year's Grammy Award nominees. The Crossing, Dover Quartet, Third Coast Percussion, and Brian d'Arcy James all received nominations.
World premiere by Christopher Cerrone captures messages of loss and hope
/sites/default/files/2022-04/20220412_nuso_choirs.jpgAfter a two-year postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, composer Christopher Cerrone’s work for choir and orchestra, “The Last Message Received,” will see its world premiere at the Bienen School of Music on Saturday, April 30.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2022/04/world-premiere-by-christopher-cer…Dunbar Early Music Festival Explores Bach
/sites/default/files/2022-09/20220318_road_to_bach.jpgThe 2022 Evelyn Dunbar Memorial Early Music Festival followed the compositional road to Johann Sebastian Bach.
Bienen School presents Midwest premiere of Jake Heggie opera Feb. 24-27
/sites/default/files/2022-02/20220202_heggie_events.jpgAmerican composer Jake Heggie’s Faustian opera “If I Were You” will make its Midwest debut in Northwestern University Opera Theater’s Feb. 24-27 production at Cahn Auditorium.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2022/02/bienen-school-presents-midwest-pr…Alumni, Faculty among 2022 Grammy Nominees
/sites/default/files/2021-11/grammy-noms_web_updated.jpgProfessor Donald Nally has received a Grammy Award nomination for the sixth consecutive year. Several Northwestern alumni are also among this year’s Grammy nominees.
Chicago’s Ear Taxi Festival to showcase Bienen School prominently
/sites/default/files/2021-09/20210909_eartaxi.jpgMore than 100 alumni, faculty, and current students of the Bienen School of Music will participate in Chicago’s Ear Taxi Festival September 15 through October 4.
Bienen School presents live, in-person “Eclipse” world premiere April 25-26
/sites/default/files/2021-04/20210429_eclipse.jpgThe Bienen School of Music presented its first live, in-person performances since March 2020 with the world premiere of Eclipse, a work designed to be performed in a socially distanced setting under a full moon.
Nally's The Crossing album on year's best list
/sites/default/files/2021-02/20201217_rising.jpgProfessor Donald Nally and The Crossing’s recording of Eriks Esenvalds’s "Earth Teach Me Quiet" was named one of the 25 Best Classical Music Tracks of 2020 by the New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/17/arts/music/best-classical-music.htmlChatting with … Kevin Vondrak
/sites/default/files/2021-02/20201130_vondrak_kevin.jpgConductor and composer Kevin Vondrak ’17 MMus talks about his arrangement of the “Alma Mater” and breaking out of a creative funk during COVID-19.
https://magazine.northwestern.edu/exclusives/choral-conductor-kevin-vondrak/Bienen faculty, alumni among 2021 Grammy nominees
/sites/default/files/2020-12/20201130_grammys_updated.jpgSeveral Bienen School faculty and alumni have received 2021 Grammy Award nominations.
Alma Mater featured in Northwestern campaign
/sites/default/files/2021-02/20201121_global_psa.jpgThe Bienen Contemporary Early Vocal Ensemble’s performance of the Alma Mater was featured in a new Northwestern public service announcement.
Springing into Remote Learning
/sites/default/files/2021-02/20200901_springing.jpgOn Monday, April 6, the Bienen School of Music began a historic spring quarter. Rather than meeting in classrooms, studios, and rehearsal halls, students and faculty gathered virtually.
Educators try to create meaningful, in-person arts education during COVID-19
/sites/default/files/2020-08/20200813_Nally_conducting.jpgIt’s not just numbers of students that is an issue during COVID-19, but also what arts education entails, said Donald Nally, director of choral organizations at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. “(In choir,) we sing and breathe deeply, and these are two things you don’t want to be doing right now,” Nally said. “It’s like a double-whammy.”
https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/ct-life-covid19-spread-arts-education…Grammy nominations honor faculty and alumni
/sites/default/files/2019-11/grammy_nominees_2019.jpgNominees for the 62nd annual Grammy Awards include Bienen faculty, alumni, and the current winner of the school's Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition.
Bienen Institute for New Music welcomes David T. Little and Judd Greenstein
/sites/default/files/2019-04/20190403_newmusic.jpgThe Institute for New Music welcomes contemporary American composers David T. Little and Judd Greenstein for an April 24-27 residency. Other new music events this spring include a Mivos Quartet residency and performances by the Contemporary Music Ensemble, Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble and University Chorale.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2019/04/bienen-institute-for-new-music-we…2019 Grammy Award winners include Bienen School faculty, alumna
/sites/default/files/2019-02/20190211_grammy_winners.jpgBienen School of Music faculty member Donald Nally and alumna Katrina Lenk are among the winners of the 61st annual Grammy Awards.
Q&A: Donald Nally talks third consecutive Grammy nomination
/sites/default/files/2019-02/20190206_nally_interview.jpgDonald Nally discusses the creation of Grammy-nominated "Zealot Canticles" with the Daily Northwestern.
https://dailynorthwestern.com/2019/02/06/lateststories/qa-prof-donald-nally-tal…Nally premieres ‘Fire in my mouth,’ with NY Philharmonic
/sites/default/files/2019-01/20190124_nally_premiere.jpgA chorus of 146 women and girls, including six current and former members of the Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble, will premiere Julia Wolfe’s “Fire in my mouth” with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Donald Nally.
https://dailynorthwestern.com/2019/01/23/ae/fire-in-my-mouth-to-reignite-a-conv…2019 Grammy Nominees include Bienen School faculty, alumni
/sites/default/files/2018-12/20181210_Grammy_noms3.jpgBienen faculty member Donald Nally, alumni Doyle Armbrust and Russell Rolen (of Spektral Quartet) and alumna Katrina Lenk have been nominated for 2019 Grammy Awards.
Bienen School hosts third biennial new music conference April 20-22
/sites/default/files/2018-04/20180403_new_music_0.jpgThe Bienen School of Music's Institute for New Music will host the third biennial Northwestern University New-Music Conference (NUNC! 3) April 20-22.
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2018/april/bienen-school-hosts-third-bien…Bienen School faculty, alumnus win Grammy Awards
/sites/default/files/2018-01/20180129_grammy_winners.jpgProfessor Donald Nally and alumnus Giancarlo Guerrero are among this year’s Grammy Award winners.
2018 Grammy nominees include Bienen faculty
/sites/default/files/2017-11/20171128_grammy.jpgBienen School faculty members Donald Nally and Taimur Sullivan and alumnus Giancarlo Guerrero have received nominations for 2018 Grammy Awards.
Donald Nally is John W. Beattie Chair of Music, Director of Choral Organizations, and conductor of the Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble and University Chorale.
Learn MoreKasdorf Gift Benefits Choral Program
/sites/default/files/2018-01/20170915_kasdorf.jpgThe recently established Thomas Kasdorf Scholarship in Choral Music will support two Bienen School choral conducting graduate students.
Bienen School alumni win Grammys
/sites/default/files/2018-04/20170213_grammys.jpgThird Coast Percussion won the 2017 Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for “Steve Reich” (Cedille Records).
Dunbar Festival Presents Handel’s Messiah
/sites/default/files/2018-04/20170109_messiah.jpgTwo sold-out performances of Handel’s iconic Messiah marked the Bienen School of Music’s 2016 Evelyn Dunbar Memorial Early Music Festival.
Grammy nominees include Bienen School faculty, alumni
/sites/default/files/2019-02/20171128_grammy_noms.jpgTwo Bienen School of Music faculty members and several alumni have been nominated for 2017 Grammy Awards.
British chamber music rounds out Bienen’s December offerings
/sites/default/files/2018-01/20161122_british.jpgNew professor of viola makes Northwestern debut as Chamber Orchestra soloist
https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2016/11/british-chamber-music-rounds-out-…Bienen School of Music Presents Four Holiday Concerts
/sites/default/files/2018-01/20161108_holiday_concerts.jpgDuke Ellington’s jazz arrangement of the Tchaikovsky classic, “Nutcracker Suite,” and historically authentic performances of Handel’s “Messiah” as well as choral and orchestral seasonal favorites are all part of the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music holiday celebration.
Northwestern University Music in November
/sites/default/files/2018-01/20161026_november_concerts.jpgA performance by classical guitarist Marcin Dylla and a vocal master class led by mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard will open two year-long concert series as part of a busy November events calendar from the Bienen School of Music.
Ear Taxi Festival to showcase Bienen faculty, students and alumni
/sites/default/files/2018-01/20160913_eartaxi.jpgThe inaugural Ear Taxi Festival, an upcoming celebration of contemporary classical music in Chicago, will include two Bienen School new music ensembles among its diverse lineup of performers. Several alumni, students and faculty members are also involved in the festival, which will take place October 5-10, 2016 in various Chicago locations.
Mostly Mozart Festival features two Bienen faculty members in ‘Seven Responses’
/sites/default/files/2018-01/20160822_mostly_mozart.jpgDonald Nally, John W. Beattie Chair of Music, led his professional chamber choir The Crossing, along with the International Contemporary Ensemble and Quicksilver, in a performance of Seven Responses on August 21 as part of the Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival.
NATS conference features Northwestern faculty and alumni
/sites/default/files/2018-01/20160714_NATS.jpgSeveral Bienen School of Music faculty and alumni recently took part in the 54th national conference of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). Held in downtown Chicago, the conference was the largest in NATS history with 1,322 participants.
Conducting student receives Beebe Fund for research in Mexico
/sites/default/files/2018-01/20160711_beebe_fund.jpgTyrone Clinton Jr., a doctoral conducting student of Donald Nally, has received the Frank Huntington Beebe Fund for Musicians. The $22,000 grant will support Clinton’s research in Mexico during the 2016-2017 academic year.