YSM celebrates Class of 2026 at 133rd Commencement

On Monday, May 18, the School of Music celebrated its 133rd commencement ceremony, conferring 64 Master of Music degrees, 41 Master of Musical Arts degrees, seven Doctor of Musical Arts degrees, two Artist Diplomas, and one Certificate in Performance. 

In his address to graduates, José García-León, the Henry and Lucy Moses Dean of Music, invited the class to reflect on the humanity in music, the irreplicable spark behind their artistry. In light of rapid development and adoption of artificial intelligence tools, “What is it, exactly, that only a human being can do? What is it that makes us irreplaceable in the performing arts?” he asked. 

“Long before concert halls or streaming algorithms, human beings gathered to make music together,” he said. “They sang to mark births and deaths. They played to call communities into being, to express what language alone cannot always tell. Music could be entertainment, but it was also evidence, proof that people were here, that they felt, that they longed, that they belonged to each other.” 

He closed his remarks with an encouraging reminder to the graduates: “You are entering a necessary profession, one that will be more necessary — not less — as the world grows louder and less inclined to sit still and allow people to listen to one another.” 

As part of the ceremony, annual student awards were presented: 

• The Harriet Gibbs Fox Memorial Prize, awarded to the first-year student with the highest grade-point average, went to Leona Liu ’27MM 

• The Emily Anne Payne Dean’s Prize, the School’s highest award for excellence, was given to Maya Miro Johnson ’26MM 

The events of the day began with a processional led by trumpeters Terri Rauschenbach ’27MM, Jon Michael Taylor ’27MMA, and Ethan Wood ’27MM, trombonist Madelyn Stoklosa ’27MM, horn player Aidan Lewis ’27MM, and faculty members Kevin Cobb, William Purvis, and Scott Hartman. The class was led to and from the University ceremony on Old Campus by banner bearer Ezra Ora Calvino ’26MMA and marshals Arturo Abellan Sanchez ’26CERT, Naomi Keosha Wharry ’26MM, Maia Aramburu Senno ’26MMA, Hao Yang ’26AD, and Joel Bentley Thompson ’20MMA ’26DMA.    

Following a longstanding YSM tradition, those gathered joined in singing Schubert’s An die Musik, conducted by Hyun Ju Yang ’26MM, and featuring violinist Kate Arndt ’26DMA and pianist Vitalii Starikov ’26AD. The YSM Brass Ensemble concluded the day’s events with a recessional featuring works by Praetorius and Franck.