Department of Chamber Music

The Department of Chamber Music supports the work of 60+ student chamber music groups every semester, including students studying woodwinds, brass, strings, piano, and voice from the undergraduate through doctoral degrees. These groups receive weekly coachings from artist faculty, perform for one another and guest clinicians through a series of Chamber Music Forums, and showcase their work during live streamed end of semester Chamber Fests. Organizing and running their own rehearsal schedules allow these groups to take artistic and logistical responsibility for their unconducted ensemble work in multiple genres branching from the traditions of western classical music – not just music of the eighteenth through twentieth centuries, but also new music, renaissance to baroque music, bluegrass, improvisation, and more.

Faculty

The current chair is Matt Albert (he/him), the founding violinist/violist of Eighth Blackbird, the GRAMMY-winning new music sextet. The chair collaborates with five coordinators who oversee the group formation, coaching assignments, and repertoire choices for students in their respective areas. This structure allows the chamber music faculty to serve students cross-departmentally, supporting a wide variety of groups in a single pedagogical structure.

Matt Albert

Chair of Chamber Music and Associate Professor of Music

Amy I-Lin Cheng

Assistant Professor of Music

Piano Chamber Music Coordinator

Joseph Gascho

Associate Professor of Music and Director of the Stearns Collection

Early Music Chamber Coordinator, Harpsichord

David Jackson

Professor of Music

Brass Chamber Music Coordinator, Trombone

William King

Lecturer

Chamber Music

Kathryn Votapek

Clinical Assistant Professor of Music

Violin

Degrees

Graduate

Master of Music

Specialist in Music

Designed for pre-formed groups at the early stages of their professional career.

SM in Chamber Music

Performance Opportunities

The thriving chamber music scene at SMTD offers students nearly limitless options to perform, innovate, and collaborate in small, self-driven, and diverse ensembles.

Small ensembles from the traditional to the new.
Mixed ensembles including any combination of strings, winds, piano, percussion, and voice
ensembles studying different styles: roots music, improvisation, commissions, and more.
Chamber Arts Ensemble, an advanced course providing a nose-to-tail experience of putting on mixed media events.

See all Performance Opportunities

Competition Opportunities

Launched in 2014, with guest judges selecting winners from groups representing the breadth of SMTD’s chamber music offerings, the Briggs Competition is open to any instrumentation/voice types in unconducted groups of 3-10 members. Every member of an entering group must be enrolled at the University of Michigan in the winter semester of the competition.