Most Recent
How To Be An Anti-racist Artist
This summer was a lot. That may be the understatement of the year. Between George Floyd, BLM, Covid, and Killer Hornets, my social media feeds were POPPING. Almost overnight I […]
Virtual Visionaries Week 6: Art Inspired by Identity
About the Authors Dr. Donia Jarrar (she/her) is an Arab and Muslim-American composer, pianist, and interdisciplinary artist. Born to a Palestinian father and an Egyptian mother, she grew up between […]
Virtual Visionaries Week 5: Managing the Artist Lifestyle
About the Authors Todd Buonopane has appeared on Broadway as Jean-Michel in Cinderella, Roger in Grease, Amos in Chicago and many characters in …Spelling Bee. He has toured with The […]
Virtual Visionaries Week 4: Freelance Musicians
About the Authors Amy K Bormet is a pianist, vocalist, and composer, known for her fearless free-wheeling style and dedication to creating new music. To collaborate with and celebrate women […]
Virtual Visionaries Week 3: Running an Arts Organization
About the Authors From Evanston, Illinois, Julie Nakagawa was a featured dancer with Christopher D’Amboise’s Off Center Ballet, Cleveland Ballet, and Twyla Tharp Dance. Returning to Chicago upon her retirement […]
Virtual Visionaries Week 2: Forging New Paths with Tanya Kalmanovitch & Ryan Muncy
About the Authors: Tanya Kalmanovitch is a Canadian violist, ethnomusicologist, and author known for her breadth of inquiry and restless sense of adventure. Her uncommonly diverse interests converge in the […]
Virtual Visionaries Week 7: Leading Beyond Crisis
About the Authors: Omari Rush has engaged the arts as both a passion and profession, and in each mode, he continues to enjoy discovery and deepening impacts. As executive director […]
Virtual Visionaries Week 1: Artist’s Many Roles with Tara Faircloth
Unbeknownst to many of us who make our way through music school, becoming a classical musician in America means signing up to be the Chief Executive Officer of a very […]
In Conversation with Theatre & Drama Assistant Professor Nancy Uffner
Nancy Uffner is a proud longtime member of Actors’ Equity Association. Her regional theatre stage management work includes the MUNY, Weston Playhouse Theatre Company, Lythgoe Family Panto, Goodspeed Musicals, Music […]
EXCEL Prize Winning Project Resumes This Month
The SMTD & Our Own Thing Piano Partnership Program (EXCEL Prize ‘18) provides free weekly piano lessons to Ypsilanti students and was created to address the lack of diversity and representation […]
EXCEL Partnering with SMTD Wellness Initiative
This academic year, EXCEL is partnering with the SMTD Wellness Initiative to present a series of events on Life-Work Balance. The Wellness Initiative was installed in Fall 2016 to provide […]
Connecticut Summerfest Seeking U-M Intern
For the second year in a row, Connecticut Summerfest is recruiting a University of Michigan student for their Arts Management Internship. The Connecticut Summerfest is a different kind of summer […]
EXCEL interviews Amy Porter
Featured in the March 2018 edition of New on NAXOS for her recording of Michael Daugherty’s Trail of Tears with the Albany Symphony Orchestra, flutist Amy Porter has been praised by critics for her exceptional musical […]
Interview with Ellen Rowe
Ellen Rowe, jazz pianist and composer, is currently Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation at the University of Michigan. She is a graduate of the Eastman School […]
Third Place Music Festival: Making Chamber Music Accessible
This week on the EXCEL Log, we are featuring student project, Third Place Music Fest, organized by Wesley Hornpetrie (MM ’18), Kaleigh Wilder (MM ’19), and Clay Gonzalez (current MM […]
Tim McAllister’s 8 Tips for Success
Hailed by The New York Times as a “virtuoso…one of the foremost saxophonists of his generation”, “brilliant” (The Guardian, UK), and “a sterling saxophonist” (The Baltimore Sun), Dr. Timothy McAllister […]
Interview: Rebekah Heller, bassoonist
Rebekah Heller is a uniquely dynamic solo and collaborative artist. Called “an impressive solo bassoonist” by The New Yorker, she is fiercely committed to expanding the modern repertoire for the bassoon. Her debut […]
