Doug Bratt, ’01, M.M. ’02, found that NIU was more than his second act; it was the encore that brought his passion...
Music News Archives
Northern Public Radio profile on School of Music’s Maria Kurochkina
Maria Kurochkina, assistant professor of music and director of orchestras was recently profiled by Northern Public...
Commencement profile – Khadija Nagi
Khadija Nagi, a DeKalb native, and now a proud graduate of the NIU School of Music is the subject of the fall 2025...
Support NIU Music scholarships and enjoy a 30+ year old Jazz Ensemble performance from the Rialto Square Theatre
On January 10, 1990 the NIU Jazz Ensemble (now known as the NIU Jazz Orchestra) played a concert at the iconic Rialto Square Theatre in Joliet, Illinois. The band had by then established a reputation as one of the very best collegiate jazz bands in the nation, a...
Music’s Bobby Broom to host a new jazz program on WNIJ 89.5
Beginning in June 2024, NIU Associate Professor of Jazz Guitar and Jazz Studies Bobby Broom will host a new original program, Jazz Spectrum, on WNIJ 89.5. Broom is a jazz guitarist and associate professor of jazz guitar and jazz studies in NIU’s College of Visual and...
Commencement profile: Chih-I Hsiao, Master of Music
The renowned World Music program at NIU is what drew Chih-I Hsaio to DeKalb after earning his degree in Music Theory of Taiwanese traditional music at the Taipei National University of the Arts. He chose to earn a Master of Music in World Music at NIU. "I have had a...
Award winners announced in College of Visual and Performing Arts
As the 2023-2024 academic year comes to a close, the College of Visual and Performing Arts has named this year's award winners. Students are honored on the basis of their academic achievement, community engagement, professional and interdisciplinary work and...
A decade in the making, Music’s Brian Hart has edited the history of the symphony in the Americas
Brian Hart thought the hardest part of editing the fifth volume of "The Symphonic Repertoire" was going to be filling the shoes of Indiana University's Peter Brown, who had created and written much of this series, which covers the history of the musical genre of the...
Honorary degree recipient to take part in Meet the Composer talk May 10
Chinary Ung, a prominent Cambodian American composer who is the 2024 recipient of the NIU Honorary Doctor of Human Letters degree will take part in a "Meet the Composer" talk, Friday, May 10 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Music Library on the ground floor of the NIU...
NIU Percussion imparts a new love of samba to Project FLEX
The percussion room in the NIU Music Building is often filled with the rhythmic sounds of music from all over the world. Lunchtime Thursday, April 25 was no exception, as samba music could be heard echoing down the hallway. What was different about it was the hour of...
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Young Artists Competition winner Jaden Teague-Núñez to perform with NIU Steelband
The first steelpan player to ever win the 2024 Crain-Mailing Foundation Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Young Artists Concerto Competition will take the stage with the world-famous NIU Steelband at their annual spring concert, Sunday, April 21 at 3 p.m. in the NIU Music...
Renowned guest artists to join Reggie Thomas for final performances
Reggie Thomas is retiring after ten years as professor of music and head of jazz studies at Northern Illinois University, and his farewell performances are going to be memorable. Thomas is the director of the acclaimed NIU Jazz Orchestra, who just last year performed...