Department of Music

Both the UC Concert Band and the California Youth Symphony celebrate their 75th year. Ever committed to educating students in the varied genres of wind band repertory, UC Davis Lecturer in Music Pete Nowlen has been director of the UC Davis Concert Band for 25 years and been with the California Youth Symphony for 35 years! The College of Letters and Science at UC Davis — home to the UC Davis Concert Band, arts and humanities, mathematical and physical sciences, cultural studies, the social sciences and more — also celebrates its 75th anniversary.

Collaborators and star performers of their instruments — Grammy Award-winning pianist Michelle Cann and Mexican Japanese American flutist Ráyo Furuta — will give an unforgettable performance at the Pitzer Center.

“[A] pianist of sterling artistry” 

Gramophone   

“The Rockstar of the Flute” 

Informador de Guadalajara   

This program is a celebration of the big band tradition, featuring jazz musicians from right here in our campus community. The bands will dig into Miles Davis's bebop staple Half Nelson and Jimmy McHugh's beloved standard Exactly Like You, among other selections. The two big bands of UC Davis are directed by Otto Lee, lecturer in music, who is a California native, saxophonist, educator, and composer. Lee received his D.M.A. degree in jazz studies from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 2017.