#FrostBuilt Alumni

“The Frost School of Music boasted an excellent musicology program as well as saxophone studio. The opportunity to study with world-renowned professors Dale Underwood, Dr. Deborah Schwartz-Kates, and Frank Cooper was a huge factor in my decision to go to UM. The generous scholarships and teaching assistantships, beautiful weather, and beer sold on campus were a bonus.”

My favorite experience at Frost was having a cross-functional course load in the music, business, and communications schools. This structure helped me gain an in-depth look at the various different parts of the business and how important it is to know that no one area of specialty exists in a vacuum.

"As a Miami local, I had admired the musicians of Frost since I was a child, and since then, I would manifest that I would one day study piano performance there. At the advice of my brother's violin teacher, I began private lessons with the wonderful Tian Ying, who coached me through the audition process. The audition process and beginning of my studies at UM was a completely new and exciting experience for me as I had been homeschooled all my life until my first day of college."

The first thing that attracted me to Frost was the faculty I met when I interviewed. They clearly cared about me as an individual and it was obvious that they enjoyed a real camaraderie with each other. It was clear to me then, and in the five years which followed, that Frost was the sort of place where people were afraid to express joy in their work, and that can be a surprisingly rare characteristic in higher education. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to be mentored by such gifted musicians and artists, and I remain friends with many of them to this day.

I also had the opportunity to explore the real-world application of my studies, serving as Assistant Director of the Other Music Ensemble, and helping host two major composition conferences on campus. Those experiences served me well as I’ve hosted various conferences in the years since.