Music Newsletter
2026 Program of Music Newsletter
Message from the Program Head
Spotlight Stories
Faculty Kudos
Alumni Class Notes
Message from the Program Head
As part of the 2026 Corcoran NEXT Festival, music capstone students developed original concert programs, collaborated to craft immersive performance experiences, and produced original research exploring how music tells stories, shapes time, and brings people together across identities. This spirit of creativity and inquiry extends to our faculty who continue to contribute to the field through composing, recording, publishing, and performing on national and international stages. The 2025 Corcoran Music Festival highlighted the work of three full-time faculty members (Douglas Boyce, Heather Stebbins, and Ning Yu).
As this academic year comes to an end, we also celebrate the extraordinary career of Robert Baker, Associate Professor of Music (Voice) and Director of Performance Studies. Dr. Baker marked 35 years at GW with his recital, Better Together: Songs Celebrating 35 Years at GWU, held in the newly renovated Hammer Auditorium and can be viewed here. Dr. Baker was also the faculty speaker at the CCAS graduation ceremony. You can see his speech here, beginning at the 1:52:50 mark.
The music program continues to have a university-wide impact through ensembles, which are open to all GW students regardless of major. These ensembles help students build skills in collaboration, accountability, community, and creative expression throughout their undergraduate experience. Students shared their work throughout the year and in end-of-the-semester performances, many of which are livestreamed and archived on the program’s YouTube channel.
We continue to push the boundaries of music education through our liberal arts curriculum that embraces a variety of musical traditions and approaches to music-making. The program has developed a rigorous digital musicianship curriculum and expanded opportunities in electronic and computer music, including turntable lessons with Professor Ron Brown, also known as DJ RBI, a renowned hip hop DJ and DC native.
We look forward to another creative and musical year!
Best,
Loren Kajikawa
Program Head & Professor of Music (History & Culture)
Spotlight Stories
Beats, Bass and a Corcoran First
Senior music and biology double major Kendall Larade brought a new kind of capstone performance to the Corcoran School of the Arts & Design this year. Also known as DJ oatmi1kprinc3ss, Larade is the first Corcoran student to take one-on-one turntable lessons with music professorial lecturer Ron Brown, also known as DJ RBI. After three semesters of study, Larade presented “INTO THE GROOVE,” a DJ set developed for the 2026 NEXT Festival.
Working with Brown, who brings decades of DJ experience and a deep background in hip-hop history, Larade explored scratching, beat matching, transitions and the turntable as a creative instrument. Her capstone positioned DJing as a narrative art form; one that layers, remixes and reshapes music to create something new. By performing inside the Flagg Building, Larade also helped demonstrate the Corcoran’s growing possibilities for DJ education and performance. Read more about Larade’s journey in the GW Hatchet.
Music Capstones Explore Identity, Storytelling and Sound
As part of NEXT Festival 2026, graduating Music students presented capstone projects that reflected the breadth of their creative and scholarly interests. Across performances and research, students explored how music can tell stories, shape identity, build community and respond to the world around us.
This year’s projects included Adam Belhadfa’s political and musical analysis of metal’s evolving identity and culture; Kendall Larade’s turntable performance advocating for the inclusion of dance music in university curricula; Abhi Ranganathan’s collaborative concert of original works rooted in jazz, guitar and music production; and Lucy Schnaper’s repertoire inspired by timeless stories from Romeo and Juliet to The Odyssey. Brooke Shapiro highlighted saxophone works by women composers, while Michael VanderKam’s recital, We Live Here, reflected on humanity’s relationship with the natural world. Together, these projects showcased music as research, performance, collaboration and personal expression.
Faculty Kudos
- Congratulations to Robert Baker on his retirement and promotion to Professor Emeritus in Music.
- Congratulations to Ning Yu and Heather Stebbins on the release of their album Spirals.
- Congratulations to Douglas Boyce on the premiere of Othismos and other performances of his work at Williams College, Lawrence University, and the Williamsburg Biannual.
Alumni Class Notes
- Gina Ismene Chitty (B.A. 1985) is making waves in Australia and internationally as a composer of contemporary classical music. They recently released 4 works of ‚ÄúBrazi- jazzi duets‚ Äù - inspired by Brazilian music.
- Nica Albertson (B.A. 2023) won this year’s Grand Prize for the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest by the Songwriters Association of Washington. Her winning song, which she performed as part of her senior capstone recital, was written while she was a student at GW.
- Nica Albertson (B.A. 2023) was accepted into the Master’s Program in Audio Production at the University of Westminster
- Gabriel Figueroa (B.A. 2025) was accepted into the Master’s program in Experimental Humanities and Social Engagement at NYU.
- Nadia Litschke (B.A. 2024) was accepted into the Master’s in Voice program at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music.
- Maureen Rafter (B.A. 2024) was accepted into the Ph.D. program in Musicology at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill where she will continue her research on US music and politics. At GW, Rafter received the Luther Rice fellowship to support her work on Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen, which was featured in GW Today.
- Laya Reddy (B.A. 2022), recipient of GW’s Undergraduate Studies Award, is completing a law degree at Northwestern University.
- Anusha Tandon (B.A. 2024) was accepted into the graduate program in Music Production, Technology, and Innovation at Berklee Valencia.
- Schuyler Van Tassel (B.A. 2024) was accepted into the Master’s program at American University to pursue a degree in Intercultural and International Communication with a concentration in Public and Cultural Diplomacy.
- Jared Gozinskey (Minor, 2022) and Zach Blankstein (Minor 2021) are successfully touring and recording with their band Couch and will be headlining the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC this November.
- Max Cohen (B.A. 2025) was accepted into the Master’s program in Audio Technology at New York University
- Ruby Sigmund (Minor, 2024) was accepted to the Sound Art and Industries Program at Northwestern University.
- Nina Feliciano (B.A. 2022) is completing a Master’s degree in Screen Scoring at New York University