SMTD’s new Wellness Initiative is addressing the unique physical and psychological challenges faced by performing arts students. With the exception of intercollegiate athletics, there is no program at the University of Michigan that is more physically taxing than the study of the performing arts. Instrumentalists, singers, dancers, and actors constantly use their bodies in service to…

From digital analysis of Bach sonatas to mining data from crowdsourced compositions, researchers at the University of Michigan are using modern big data techniques to transform how we understand, create, and interact with music. Four U-M research teams will receive support for projects that apply data science tools like machine learning and data mining to…

The University of Michigan Bicentennial marks 200 years of extraordinary research, education, and public service. According to U-M’s official history, the institution was founded as one “that stresses both the life of the mind and the life of practical achievement; that is both broadly accessible and devoted to educating the leaders of the future.” While…

When graduate student Ashley Stanley (flute and chamber arts) arrived at Michigan in the fall of 2014, she recognized immediately that she was receiving a world-class education. “My playing ability was improving exponentially and I was getting the chance to work with serious colleagues with unbelievable talent,” she recalled recently. But Stanley also felt that…

This article first appeared as part of an Innovate Blue blog entry titled “Wolverine Women to Watch in 2016,” published on March 25, 2016. Although trained as a classical pianist, School of Music, Theatre & Dance student Melissa Coppola had a passion for rock and pop music from a young age. She heard about a…