The School of Music’s spring opera—composed by a Jazz Studies professor—features UI students from across the Performing Arts At Iowa and beyond

Fierce, written by librettist Sheila Williams and composed by UI jazz studies and piano professor William Menefield, truly is an opera for the 21st century. The 90-minute, one-act opera, performed at Hancher on April 26 and 27, 2024, follows four teenage girls finding identity and purpose in the world as they write their college essays in a high school writers’ workshop. Directed by William Menefield, the Hancher performances feature an ensemble of UI singers, musicians, and dancers, with production support from the UI School of Music, the Performing Arts Production Unit, and Hancher Auditorium.

Sean Harken, a student in the University of Iowa School of Music, found a natural outlet for his musical talents. The Iowa City native created the soundtrack for a new video hyping the Performing Arts at Iowa initiative.

The $11K award from the GRAMMY Museum® Grant Program will help the Rita Benton Music Library to digitize and preserve some of the earliest recordings of Czech music made on American soil: 173 wax and gold-moulded cylinder recordings of Czech music and recitations dating from 1903 to 1908. Buehner, who is director of the Rita Benton Music Library, and Daniel Johnson, digital preservation librarian, are the project coordinators.