Highlights from Sale’s full-length interview courtesy of Piano Magazine. Subscribe to read the full feature. Sara joined the faculty of Temple University's Boyer College of Music and Dance in 2016, after previously teaching at the Manhattan School of Music, New York University, and the University of British Columbia. Praised for her "intelligence, integrity and all-encompassing technical prowess" (New York Times), "thoughtful artistry in the full service of music" (Washington Post), and "astounding virtuosity" (Philippine Star), she was a Bronze Medalist of the 1986...

Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance Presents a One-Night Only Classical-Jazz Concert April 16 at Jazz at Lincoln Center with Orchestral Premieres by Billy Childs and Bill Cunliffe Featuring Performances by 100+ Student and Faculty Artists including Temple University’s Symphony Orchestra, Studio Orchestra, and Faculty Jazz Sextet: Terell Stafford, Dick Oatts, Bruce Barth, Tim Warfield, Mike Boone, and Justin Faulkner In Celebration of TU’s Faculty Jazz Sextet’s Album Release Fly With the Wind New York, NY (For Release 2.28.23) — The award-...

Noriko Manabe’s article, which breaks down the ambiguities of the Grammy-winning track by rapper Kendrick Lamar, was recognized with an Outstanding Publication Award from the Society for Music Theory last fall. “We gon’ be alright,” sings Pharrell Williams in the chorus of Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy-winning hit “Alright.” The song is included on Lamar’s 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly, which was released amidst political unrest in the country and at a time when the Black Lives Matter movement was gaining momentum. As such, the song quickly became adopted as a protest anthem, and...

"We Got to See What Jazz Sounded Like by People Our Age from Across the Country." Pianist Anthony Aldissi discovered jazz in his freshman year at Gibbs High School in Clearwater, FL. “My biggest ongoing inspiration is the great pianist Chick Corea,” he said. “I would like to share the joy of music with people the same way Chick Corea makes me feel.” When bassist Dan McCain was a sophomore at Philadelphia’s Arts Academy at Benjamin Rush, he discovered the power of jazz when his band director handed him charts like Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s “Take the A Train” and...

For the third year in a row, the Temple University Jazz Band (TUJB), directed by Terell Stafford, has placed at the 2023 Jack Rudin Jazz Championship, Jazz at Lincoln Center's (JALC) two-day invitational competition for top university and college jazz bands. TUJB is the only band to have placed every year since the championship began in 2020, having placed second last year and first at the inaugural event.  This year, JALC Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis awarded TUJB second place, along with an award of $7,500 to build on the...

Dean and Vice Provost Robert Stroker and Dr. Matthew Brunner, associate professor and director of athletic bands, led a special salute to William (Bill) Wilkinson, senior associate vice president for finance and administration, for his remarkable 40 years of service to Temple University. At halftime of the Temple Owls' Nov 19 home game against the Cincinnati Bearcats, Dean Stroker and Dr. Brunner presented Wilkinson with a signed and framed copy of the first page to Brunner's arrangement of U2's "Beautiful Day," which is one of Wilkinson's favorite tunes. During the...

On Friday, November 11, the Department of Music Therapy hosted the third international Arts & Quality of Life Research Center conference, Advanced Practice in Music Therapy, also marking the 10th conference since the Center's first one in 2006. In addition to sessions with Boyer music therapy faculty, the all-day event featured guest presenters from around the world including the University of Jyväskylä (Finland), University of Melbourne (Australia), Anglia-Ruskin University (England), Aalborg University (Denmark) and The Norwegian Academy of Music....

Baker Purdon’s debut album, Walking Through the Valley, includes work by Black composers, nearly all of which is being recorded for the first time. This past July, Boyer College of Music and Dance PhD student Baker Purdon released his debut album, Walking Through the Valley: Choral Music from Black Composers, 1919–2022. The project is a triumphant celebration of works by Black composers, and nearly all of the music on the album has never before been recorded. Following the summer of 2020 when protests erupted across the country in response to the murder of George Floyd at...

Boyer College mourns the loss of world-renowned, Grammy®-nominated jazz artist Joey DeFrancesco, largely considered one of the most significant jazz organists of our time. A native of the Philadelphia area with training at the Settlement Music School and the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, DeFrancesco has long been recognized in the local jazz scene. His remarkable career includes more than 30 studio albums and countless collaborations with artists like Boyer’s own Terell Stafford and Tim Warfield, Randy Brecker, Pat Martino, Van Morrison, and...