UCSD - University of California - San Diego

01/13/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/13/2026 11:07

Jan. 21 Concert Honors Over Three Decades of Musical Collaboration

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January 13, 2026

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Try as he might, Steven Schick cannot think of a single significant musical project he's produced that did not emerge, in some way, from his ties to the Department of Music at the University of California San Diego. When he first arrived on campus in January 1991 as a new faculty member, he couldn't have predicted that the artistic community he joined would foster thousands of fruitful and fulfilling musical partnerships.

To acknowledge this impact, Schick has programmed the annual Reed Family Concert as a tribute to the generosity and support of the faculty colleagues, students and alumni he has collaborated with over the past 35 years. The concert will be held at 7 p.m. on Jan. 31 in the acoustically refined Conrad Prebys Concert Hall, featuring four works that bookend his tenure at the university thus far.

"Nearly my entire creative life can be traced to this university and to the collaborative spirit that flourishes here," shared Schick. "There is a willingness to cross boundaries between disciplines and create things that don't exist elsewhere."

Titled "In a Community of Musicians," the concert is made possible through the generosity of Ann and Joel Reed, who in 2015 established the Reed Family Presidential Chair, held by Schick. In addition to the event, the funding enables new research directions for Schick, supports travel to global performances and expands the collection of instruments available to students.

A love note to a cherished community of musicians

What can audiences expect at the Reed Family Concert? The program will encompass three technically demanding percussion performances and a provocative sound poem blending vocals with electronics.

On his first day at UC San Diego, Schick approached faculty member Brian Ferneyhough about composing a piece for him. The result was "Bone Alphabet," which Schick has since performed more than 400 times around the world. "It became a staple of my repertoire and is still the most complex music I know."

He pairs this with "For Robert Erickson," the newest work he's collaborated on with faculty colleague, Professor Rand Steiger. An homage to Department of Music founder Robert Erickson, the solo piece will be performed by Schick on two vibraphones, cymbals and electronics.

"Nearly my entire creative life can be traced to this university and to the collaborative spirit that flourishes here." Professor Steven Schick

Schick's collaborations with graduate students have been equally important to him. He honors this through a performance of "Dmaathen" by composer Iannis Xenakis, to be played with graduate student Carlos Rosas on oboe. It was a Xenakis composition that Schick performed during his faculty audition.

The concert will culminate with an avant-garde sound poem called "UrSonata," created by Dada composer Kurt Schwitters. Written over a period of 10 years (1922-32), the work reimagines language as pure sound rather than meaning in a rejection of convention. Schick will lend his voice to the work, which will be processed in real time by an electronics system composed by Professor Shahrokh Yadegari.

On the musical horizon

The Reed Family Concert is part of a series of performances that Schick has organized. His goal is to highlight the most important threads of his personal journey at UC San Diego. These complement hundreds more music, theatre, visual arts, dance and cinematic arts events held each year - all part of the university's dynamic arts ecosystem, known as ArtsConnect.

Schick performs the U.S. premiere of Iannis Xenakis's "Rebonds" in April 1990, part of his audition for the UC San Diego faculty. Photo: Josef Kucera.

Feb. 18: The Chou Commission
7 p.m., Conrad Prebys Music Center Experimental Theater

Two new works will be performed by graduate students Jiyoung Ko and Myles Ortiz-Green. Each was commissioned to perform a work using one of the percussion instruments donated to the university by Chinese American composer Chou Wen-chung, a friend of Professor Emeritus Roger Reynolds. The concert will also feature the U.S. premiere of "Caminar" by Associate Professor Wilfrido Terrazas and "Liquid Borders" by Grammy-winning Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz.

May 6: The Solo Percussion Music of Roger Reynolds
7 p.m., Conrad Prebys Music Center Experimental Theater

Schick will perform three works by faculty colleague Roger Reynolds that highlight the composer's combination of cutting-edge compositional thought and deep emotional resonance. They will include marimba solo "Autumn Island" and two chamber ensembles - "Watershed" and "Here and There" - which employ electronics and spatialized sound in the exploration of the boundaries between humans and technology.

May 17: The Arcades Festival
Time to be announced; Conrad Prebys Music Center

Schick is faculty advisor for The Arcades, an undergraduate-led music festival made possible through a grant from the Farfy Foundation. Now in its second year, the festival is designed as a diverse musical marathon with concurrent performances in multiple venues throughout the Conrad Prebys Music Center.

May 27: Sonic Explorations
7 p.m., Conrad Prebys Music Center Experimental Theater

Soon after joining the faculty, Schick founded the graduate student percussion ensemble red fish blue fish. For more than three decades, the ensemble has played in high profile concerts around the globe, from Lincoln Center in New York to the Centre Pompidou in Paris. This concert will feature short prepared or improvised pieces that explore the sonic potential of a single instrument. In addition, a new work titled "Glost Fire" by Assistant Professor of Music Ti McCormack will be presented.

The Department of Music presents more than 200 concerts each year. The program is recognized as one of the premiere centers in the nation for education and innovation in new music. Composers, performers, improvisers, computer music researchers and music scholars engage with vital ideas and new technologies to push the boundaries of contemporary music. Learn more about upcoming concerts and music education at UC San Diego.

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