In the Media

79-year-old piano teacher accepted to Oxford and Cambridge music programs

79-year-old piano teacher accepted to Oxford and Cambridge music programs

UBC Music student Susan Evans (MMus, Music Theory), who has been teaching students in North Vancouver for the last two decades, has a decision to make after earning spots in two prestigious programs in the U.K./ Abby Luciano / North Shore News

Concert review: Jack M Campbell (violin) (BMus ’24), Alexis Fletcher (dancer)

Concert review: Jack M Campbell (violin) (BMus ’24), Alexis Fletcher (dancer)

UBC Music alum “Jack M Campbell’s Sounding Bombe: Enigma Project concludes its UK tour at the Brighton Fringe on June 3 […] the prodigiously gifted young violinist will be presenting his work at the Edinburgh Fringe on 18 August 2025 at the Surgeons’ Hall, Stephenson Theatre. Be prepared to have your mind blown by Sounding Bombe.” / The Strad

Spencer Britten marks Asian Heritage Month and Pride Month with recital Memoirs of a Gaysian

Spencer Britten marks Asian Heritage Month and Pride Month with recital Memoirs of a Gaysian

Chinese-Canadian tenor and UBC alum Spencer Britten (BMus’15, MMus’17) is set to debut their recital Memoirs of a Gaysian at the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto on May 27. / Yujia Huang for the Ubyssey

David Metzer

How recession pop music may be making a comeback

Host Gloria Macarenko sits down with UBC Professor of Musicology, David Metzer, to learn how an economic downturn can influence music./ CBC On the Coast

Classical music: VYSO looks to its past and future for 95th birthday celebration

Classical music: VYSO looks to its past and future for 95th birthday celebration

“At a time when music education in public schools faces alarming cuts, the role of the VYSO has never been more important. As students move through our four orchestras, they don’t just grow as musicians — they grow into thoughtful, engaged, and compassionate individuals, shaped by the kind of artistic training that helps build a better world.” ~ Jonathan Girard, UBC Director of Orchestral Activities/ Vancouver Sun

From Bach to beats: How Ryan Davis is redefining the viola’s sound

From Bach to beats: How Ryan Davis is redefining the viola’s sound

Blending classical roots with the pulse of folk, electronic, and hip-hop, School of Music professor Ryan Davis—known by his moniker “Radia”—is carving out a space for the viola that is both fresh and timeless. His journey as a violist and composer defies tradition, embracing a fusion of genres to breathe new life into an instrument often overshadowed in classical music./ UBC Faculty of Arts

Piano prodigy Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: “serious”, “introverted” and… extremely refined

Piano prodigy Jaeden Izik-Dzurko: “serious”, “introverted” and… extremely refined

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko is having an international career, Montreal piano music lovers will attend his Sunday afternoon recital at Pierre-Mercure hall. Alain Brunet had a chat with this more than excellent player./ Pro Musica

Stir Cheat Sheet: 5 things to know about the French Romantic opera Manon

Stir Cheat Sheet: 5 things to know about the French Romantic opera Manon

For this UBC Opera and Opera West collaboration, emerging stars take the lead in a classic story with a long history of fame and scandal / Stir Magazine

UBC Music Alum Jack Campbell

Vancouver violinist makes epic music for math that ‘changed the human race forever’

UBC Music Alum Jack Campbell (BMus ’24) has created music based on the mathematics used to crack the Enigma code during the Second World War. /Credit: Vancouver is Awesome

Alberta composer looks to Indigenous culture for composition, Controlled Burn

Alberta composer looks to Indigenous culture for composition, Controlled Burn

UBC Music Alum Cris Derksen’s (BMus’07) composition, “Controlled Burn” begins with a “col legno” passage, which is when the strings are hit by the wood back of the bow. For the Cree composer, the “crackly sound” is meant to emulate nature.