WashU Music

10/16/2026

Our friends at New Music Circle are collaborating with us to present Joe Morris at an event at WashU. Composer, improviser, and multi-instrumentalist Morris will share his ideas about music, improvisation, and his life as an artist. Check out the other events he is doing through New Music Circle on their page!

In addition to his performance on 10/25 with Wadada Leo Smith, Joe Morris will be participating in two artist talks/workshops while in St . Louis. Both of these events are free and open to the public (no rsvp is needed):

Friday, October 23, 3:30pm @ 560 Music Center via , Room 113, WashU (560 Trinity Ave, 63130). Event page: Department of Music Lecture: Joe Morris, composer/improviser multi-instrumentalist

Saturday, October 24, 1pm (2218 S. Jefferson Ave, 63104). Event page: Artist Talk & Workshop (Free): Joe Morris at Dissonant Works 10/24

*for any additional questions about these events please send us a message, or visit newmusiccircle.org

About:

Joe Morris is an uncompromising and visionary artist who has redefined the boundaries of modern guitar. His playing draws heavily on the free-thinking ethos of avant-garde horn players, and utilizes clean tones and abstract intervallic systems within his improvising. In 2026 Morris was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 30th year of NYC’s esteemed Vision Festival for his role as a key figure in the ongoing legacy of free jazz and improvised music.

He serves on the faculty of the New England Conservatory and authored the seminal book, Perpetual Frontier: The Properties of Free Music. Through both his art and his pedagogy, Morris continues to map out the limitless possibilities of free improvisation.

10/15/2026

🎹🎻 A night of orchestral excitement awaits!

Join the WashU Symphony Orchestra TOMORROW NIGHT for Tapestry of Sounds, featuring WashU faculty pianist Nina Ferrigno!

From the drama of Verdi’s Nabucco Overture to Grieg’s magnificent Piano Concerto, this program has something for everyone! Enjoy the St. Louis premiere of Armando Bayolo’s A Shelter that Filters the Sun and a spirited finale with Britten’s Soirées Musicales.

🎶 Friday, October 16 | 7:30 p.m.
📍 E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall, 560 Music Center
🎟️ FREE and open to all!

Come support our talented WashU musicians and enjoy a fantastic evening of live orchestral music!

Washington University in St. Louis WashU Arts & SciencesWashU Symphony Orchestra Concert

10/14/2026

🎨🎶 Who says masterpieces only hang on walls?

This Friday, WashU Music faculty are bringing their talents to the Saint Louis Art Museum for Her Light, Her Line, Her Song!

Join Jennifer Gartley, Kimberly Jeong, Erin Haupt, and Yeon-Kyung Kim for an evening where art meets music, celebrating the creativity of remarkable women in both worlds. Inspired by the museum’s Women Impressionists and the Land exhibition, this concert features beautiful chamber music by women composers whose works deserve their own place in the spotlight!

📍 Saint Louis Art Museum
📅 Friday, October 16 | 7 p.m.
🎟️ Free and open to the public!

Washington University in St. Louis WashU Arts & Sciences Saint Louis Art Museum

10/14/2026

Join us on Friday, October 16, for a Department of Music lecture featuring WashU graduate students J. P. Cupps and Christina Smiley.

📅 Friday, October 16 | 3 p.m.
📍 Lopata House, Room 16
Free and open to the public.

J. P. Cupps - "An Unknown Infinite (Archive): Flow, Layering, and Rupture as a Fugitive Theory for Hip-Hop Form"
This paper explores concepts Tricia Rose’s "Black Noise" as foundational to theorizing musical form, situating them in a lineage of Black aesthetic thought that treats sonic and visual expression as one in the same. As a test case, it analyzes sonic and visual components to amani and King Vision Ultra’s 2020 studio LP, "An Unknown Infinite."

Christina Smiley - "(Sonic) Environments: Black Ecological Activism in Wadada Leo Smith’s America’s National Parks (2016)"
Taking up an invocation to narrate Black ecological engagement and activism, this paper engages with AACM composer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith’s 2016 album "America’s National Parks," to consider how Black musicians engage (with) the environment. Smith’s album attempts to narrate a holistic account of African Americans’ relationship to waterways, land, and the environment, broadly, and suggests that ecological and social concerns are deeply intertwined.

Washington University in St. Louis Arts & Sciences

10/13/2026

🎺🥁 Big brass, wonderful woodwinds, and a little Sousa to bring down the house!

Join the WashU Wind Ensemble this Thursday for an exciting evening of music featuring Holst’s First Suite in E-flat, the playful energy of "Play!," and plenty of John Philip Sousa! The concert will open with the WashU Percussion Ensemble. From soaring melodies to spectacular marches, this is a concert you won't want to miss!

📅 Thursday, October 15 | 7:30 p.m.
📍 E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall, 560 Music Center
🎟️ FREE and open to all!

Come enjoy a great night of music with our talented WashU musicians!

Washington University in St. Louis WashU Arts & Sciences

10/12/2026

TOMORROW NIGHT, guitarist/WashU Music faculty member Vincent Varvel and his quartet are mixing jazz with atmospheric electronica, funky rhythms, and some seriously creative improvisation. Expect the unexpected and join us for the WashU Jazz Series!

🎶 Vincent Varvel Quartet
📅 Tuesday, October 13 | 7:30 p.m.
📍 Pillsbury Theatre, 560 Music Center
🎟️ FREE!

Washington University in St. Louis WashU Arts & Sciences

10/09/2026

Aaron Copland at WashU in 1958 conducting in Graham Chapel and meeting with students 🤯🤯🤯

🎼 The day Aaron Copland came to town

When the "Dean of American Composers" visited WashU one winter weekend in 1958, a geology student worked up the courage to meet his favorite maestro.

🔗 Read alumnus Ronald Krieger's vivid account in WashU Magazine at the link in the comments.

10/08/2026

🍂🎶 The perfect Friday night? Beautiful weather, a stroll through the Delmar Loop, and an unforgettable evening of live music!

Take advantage of this gorgeous weather! Wander through the Loop, enjoy dinner at one of your favorite restaurants, and then head over to the 560 Music Center for TRAILBLAZER: A Tribute to Rebecca Clarke with Chamber Project St. Louis!

Discover the music of a woman who was truly ahead of her time. From her breathtaking Viola Sonata to her Piano Trio, Rebecca Clarke's music is full of surprises!

📅 Tomorrow! Friday, October 9 | 7:30 p.m.
📍 Pillsbury Theatre, 560 Music Center
🎟️ $20 General Admission | $5 Students | FREE for WashU Students with ID

A beautiful fall evening, great food, and extraordinary music. Sounds like a perfect Friday night to us! ❤️

🎟️ Get your tickets: https://music.washu.edu/events/chamber-project-st-louis-trailblazer-tribute-rebecca-clarke


Washington University in St. Louis WashU Arts & Sciences

10/08/2026

Make a night of it on Friday! Grab a bite at your favorite Loop restaurant, then head over to the 560 Music Center for TRAILBLAZER: A Tribute to Rebecca Clarke with Chamber Project St. Louis!

Discover the music of a woman who was truly ahead of her time. From her breathtaking Viola Sonata to her powerful Piano Trio, Rebecca Clarke's music is full of surprises—and you won't want to miss a note!

📅 Tomorrow! Friday, October 9 | 7:30 p.m.
📍 Pillsbury Theatre, 560 Music Center
🎟️ $20 General Admission | $5 Students | FREE for WashU Students with ID
Free Parking!

Dinner, a little culture, and a fantastic night out. Sounds like a perfect Friday to us! ❤️

🎟️ Get your tickets: https://music.washu.edu/events/chamber-project-st-louis-trailblazer-tribute-rebecca-clarke


Washington University in St. Louis WashU Arts & Sciences

10/05/2026

🎶 Tomorrow night—voices come together at WashU!

Join us for the inaugural WashU Choir Invitational, featuring guest conductor and clinician Brandon Williams, Director of Choral Activities at Rutgers University. An internationally recognized conductor, educator, and composer, Williams also has deep St. Louis roots, including work with the St. Louis Symphony IN UNISON Chorus and St. Louis Children’s Choirs.

Come celebrate an exciting new WashU Music tradition and an evening of choral music with students from local high schools and our WashU Chamber Choir! 🎵

📅 Tuesday, October 6
⏰ 7:30 p.m.
📍 E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall, 560 Music Center
🎟️ FREE and open to the public

Washington University in St. Louis WashU Arts & Sciences Washington University Choirs