Twelve faculty members, students, and groups are among the recipients of SOMD’s 2024-25 Committee for Equity and Inclusion grants. Totaling $14,000, the funding supports research, creative work, and guest artist engagements that advance diversity, equity, and inclusion within the School of Music and Dance and align with the University of Oregon’s IDEAL framework.
Faculty Awards
Hannah Thomas
Hannah Thomas received CEI funding to bring Tsaimbwom M. Akuchu to campus for Duck Jam, a cornerstone event in the UO Dance program. Akuchu, a tenure-track Hip Hop Theatre Artist and B-boy from California State University, Long Beach, is a Cameroonian artist deeply embedded in the Los Angeles Hip Hop and battle scene.
His visit enriched both the Dance Department and the broader community. Duck Jam is a Hip Hop dance showcase and exhibition that invites the UO, Eugene, and Portland communities to experience a vibrant "block party" celebration of Hip Hop culture through performances, an open cypher, and interactive engagement — all of which help raise awareness and drive enrollment in SOMD’s dance courses.
Oregon Bach Festival
Oregon Bach Festival used CEI funds to host a multi-day residency with Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble as part of OBF’s Chamber Music at Beall series. Collaborations with SOMD faculty, UO DEI Committees, and the Oregon Music Education Association Choral District 12 created impactful opportunities for both UO students and the broader community. A highlight of the residency was a DEIA panel where KVE members shared personal stories and reflected on the role of diversity in the arts, fostering meaningful dialogue on how music can serve as a platform for inclusion. A reception following the panel provided additional opportunities for connection and engagement with the artists.
World Music Ensemble
World Music Ensemble, an SOMD course, hosted Irish musicians Eliot Grasso and Brian Ó HAirt, introducing students to the diverse styles within traditional Irish music. Grasso is an internationally renowned performer and scholar of the uilleann pipes (and UO musicology PhD), while Brian Ó hAirt is a world champion singer of the west Galway sean-nós style and an Irish language expert. By presenting an alternate approach to music learning, the World Music Ensemble also promotes an alternate set of musical values: community over virtuosity, participation over perfection, and the joy of collective music-making.
Steve Vacchi
Steve Vacchi received travel support to serve as the recording producer for Aaron Pergram’s The Dragon Dream, which features composers from the Chinese diaspora. His involvement allowed him to become deeply familiar with the work, enriching his repertoire knowledge and expanding the range of new music he can share with his students. Vacchi writes, “I look forward to being an advocate of these works and helping to introduce them to the modern canon for the bassoon.”
Joyce Chen
Funds supported Joyce Chen’s participation in the Peking Opera Immersion Program at Princeton University. She also served as a graduate student facilitator, drawing on her prior experience with the online version of the program and her language skills as a native Mandarin speaker. Chen plans to integrate what she learned into future SOMD course offerings.
Arnaud Ghillebaert
Arnaud Ghillebaert received travel funding to present a series of recitals across Oregon, featuring pieces for viola by underrepresented composers.
Pius Cheung
Pius Cheung received CEI travel support for his East Coast masterclass and concert tour, with stops at the Eastman School of Music, University of Delaware, Temple University, and the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. The tour was part of Cheung’s ongoing project to compose and perform music that blends elements of Asian and Western music, art, and culture. He writes, “This type of ‘hybridization’ of the arts, I feel, resonates with my own cultural identity.”
Student Awards
Kaitlyn Clawson-Cannestra
SOMD student Kaitlyn Clawson-Cannestra received funding to present a paper on Florence Price’s art songs at the Society of American Music’s annual conference in Tacoma, Washington. Her project investigated how Price expertly crafts “epic endings” and how performers bring them to life through texture, piano-vocal interaction, and interpretive choices. Clawson-Cannestra hopes to contribute to the growing scholarship on Price’s music, introduce more people to her art songs, and elevate underrepresented voices in the music theory discipline.
Jay Morfin Montoya
Jay Morfin Montoya, an SOMD composition student, received CEI funds to attend the SPHINX conference. His goal is to discover new ways of programming music from his Latin culture as well as works by other underrepresented groups, including women and BIPOC composers. He aims to diversify the concert experience for classical music audiences and become a more inclusive educator and advocate within the field.
Désirée Pereira
With CEI funding, Désirée Pereira brought Brazilian singer Renata Fausto to campus for a recital featuring Brazilian songs. This recital was part of Pereira’s Cykler Scholars research project on Brazilian composer Edmundo Villani-Côrtes (b. 1930) and his “Cecília Meireles Cycle,” which has never been professionally recorded.
Fausto also led a joint masterclass with SOMD’s voice studios, offering feedback on Portuguese diction and interpretation. The collaboration provided a meaningful cultural experience for students and community members: a recital of Brazilian music performed exclusively by Brazilian women.
Helen Nebeker
Helen Nebeker received CEI funding in support of MTNA’s four-handed piano concert. Her proposal highlighted how four-handed repertoire has historically been underrepresented on concert stages due to gender biases in 19th-century Western classical music.
Sierra Freeman
Sierra Freeman purchased a new carbon fiber violin case with CEI funding, alleviating financial hardship. As a member of the Navajo nation, Freeman expressed that her presence in classical music has the potential to inspire other young Native American and BIPOC students to pursue careers in the arts.