Music news
We are immensely proud to celebrate Dr Lesley Schatzberger, a long-standing clarinet tutor within the School of Arts and Creative Technologies at the University of York, who has been awarded an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire).
We are delighted to celebrate Kate Pearson, visiting lecturer on our MA Community Music programme, who has recently been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM).
Daniel Hogan has made it to the finals of the competition which will take place in December 2025.
A recent development enabling musicians to improvise live music with AI-generated sound could be the biggest innovation since the advent of sampling, or perhaps even the invention of recorded sound, according to a researcher at York.
New album from Professor Thomas Simaku, with soloists of Ensemble Intercontemporain.
School of Arts and Creative Technologies Professor wins award at the Scottish Awards for New Music.
The results of a nationwide survey have revealed that the School of Arts and Creative Technologies is home to some of the happiest music students in the UK.
A team from the School of Arts and Creative Technologies (ACT) has won a Cultural Wellbeing grant to support a community initiative in York.
Researchers at the University of York have found that current AI-generated music is inferior to human-composed music.
The Aurora Orchestra conducted by Geoffrey Patterson premiere Martin Suckling's The Wolf, the Duck and the Mouse at London's Royal Festival Hall.
Dr Matthew Williams (Lecturer in Music, School of Arts and Creative Technologies) will be presenting during an event at Bristol University in March 2023.
Music PhD students Xinpei Zheng and Mengyao Zhao will be presenting their research at the International Conference on Music Education Technology.
We were delighted to welcome members of the Ensemble Intercontemporain for a three day residency at York. The ensemble are referred to as the world's flagship of contemporary music.
Auditions for our music ensembles start from 28 September.
Professor Martin Suckling's highly acclaimed disc, 'The Tuning', has been shortlisted for a prestigious Gramophone Classical Music Award.
Dr Liz Haddon, Dr Mark Hutchinson and Dr Caroline Waddington-Jones have all been published in this open access book.
We’re delighted to have some of the happiest music students in the Russell Group.
Dr Pete Dale is the Principal Investigator at the CUMIN research network
Hang Li, Xin Liu, Mengyao Zhao and Xinpei Zheng will be presenting their research at the conference at the University of Sheffield on 21 June 2022.
Thomas Simaku has been awarded the 2022-23 Karel Husa Visiting Professor of Composition at the Ithaca College in New York
2022 sees the two-hundredth anniversary of William Herschel, a profoundly significant figure in the field of astronomy, but one who made his early living as a musician - as an oboist, violinist, harpsichordist, organist, composer and impresario.
Applications are now open for Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) positions within the Music Department for the 2022/23 academic year.
Performed by internationally renowned musicians, Thomas Simaku’s music is featured in the Moderne Muziek Nijmegen Festival in Holland on 20th March 2022.
Internationally renowned Swedish saxophonist Anders Paulsson has made a video recording in Sweden of Thomas Simaku’s Soliloquy VI for Soprano Saxophone.
The project aims to reveal the hidden acoustics of historic locations around the globe.
The School of Arts and Creative Technologies is delighted to announce the installation of a new state-of-the-art Audient ASP4816 into the recently refurbished Richard Orton studio.
Articles by a recent MA in Music Education student and a current PhD candidate have recently been published.
Related links
Dr Lesley Schatzberger Awarded OBE
Posted on Thursday 12 February 2026
Lesley received the honour from HRH Prince William on 14 January 2026 at an Investiture at Windsor Castle. The award, originally announced in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2025, recognizes her extraordinary "Services to Children with Life-Limiting Illnesses and Communication Difficulties."
Dr Richard Powell, Head of Music, noted the profound impact she has had on campus:
"Lesley has been a hugely important presence in the Music Department for so many years, as both a performer and a much-loved clarinet teacher. Her work with Jessie's Fund has been an inspiration for our staff and students across the last three decades... it's wonderful to see her leadership recognised in this way on a national level."
The School of Arts and Creative Technologies and the wider University of York community send their warmest congratulations to Lesley on this thoroughly deserved recognition of her passion, commitment, and artistry.
Read more about Lesley's fantastic work with Jessie's Fund and her OBE: https://jessiesfund.org.uk/founder-lesley-schaztberger-awarded-obe/