By Marina Gomberg, Associate Director of Communications and Marketing for the College of Fine Arts

After an extensive and thorough search for a new director of the University of Utah School of Music, College of Fine Arts Dean Raymond Tymas-Jones has appointed professor Miguel Chuaqui to the position.

“Professor Chuaqui was the only finalist to receive a unanimous recommendation for appointment from the search committee,” Tymas-Jones said. “He had an overwhelmingly positive response from faculty, students and staff as well. I want to extend my heartfelt appreciation to the members of the School of Music Director Search Committee for their commitment and stellar work.”

Chuaqui has been with the University of Utah since 1996 when he began as an assistant professor in the School of Music. Over the past nearly two decades, Chuaqui has risen through the ranks to become a full professor, head of the composition area and most recently serving as the interim director of the School of Music.

“The University of Utah School of Music has a long legacy of musical excellence, and I look forward to the opportunity to work with its outstanding students, faculty and staff to advance the distinction of its programs through new creative initiatives,” Chuaqui said. “It is an honor and a privilege to serve a community inspired, sustained and dedicated to music.”

Chuaqui is a Chilean-American composer who was born in 1964 in Berkeley, California, and then grew up in Santiago, Chile. He studied piano at the Escuela Moderna de Música and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. In 1984, he transferred to the University of California at Berkeley, where he majored in mathematics and music, studied electroacoustic music at the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies and went on to complete his doctorate in composition with composer Andrew Imbrie. His music, which includes orchestral, chamber, vocal and electroacoustic works, has been performed in venues in the U.S. and abroad.

His research interests include collaborations with colleagues in areas as diverse as modern dance (interactive dance systems) and the School of Medicine (interactive software development for therapeutic musical applications).

Chuaqui will be the next director pending approval by the Academic Senate and the Board of Trustees.

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ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF SCHOOL OF MUSIC

The School of Music educates professionally oriented students by providing rigorous musical and academic experiences. It also strives to serve both the art of music and its communities through performance, composition, research and publication, and the participation of its students and faculty in festivals, conferences, competitions and recordings. The School of Music serves as a vibrant center for intellectual, educational, and cultural musical activities within the university, community, region and nation.

ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS
The University of Utah College of Fine Arts faculty and programs challenge, immerse and ultimately prepare the committed student for a rewarding career in the arts. The College is home to the School of Music, the departments of Art & Art History, Ballet, Film & Media Arts, Modern Dance and Theatre.