The mission of the Center for American Music is to advance the teaching, scholarship, and performance of American music from all traditions in the Americas through research, educational, and performance programs of the highest quality.
Inaugurated in the fall of 2002 and housed within the Butler School of Music, the Center continues to promote research and scholarship through annual workshops and speakers series. It also sponsors The Longhorn Music label, now distributed by NAXOS, which features performances by Butler School of Music ensembles and faculty. Recent releases featuring American music include: In the Thick of It by the UT Jazz Orchestra, Sacred Music of José Maurício Nunes Garcia by the University of Texas at Austin Chamber Singers, Over the Rainbow and Bach Again by the UT Saxophone Ensemble, and Joseph Turrin’s The Scarecrow and Duke Ellington’s Queenie Pie by the Butler Opera.
The Center for American Music is the only such center or institute to be integrated with a comprehensive school of music within a major research university. Our Center aims to create a strong community of scholars, performers, and industry professionals in a collaborative learning environment. It also draws upon the University’s exceptional programs in American history and American studies, unique archival collections, and superb general library system.
Austin is known as “the live music capital of the world,” and its unparalleled musical scene and burgeoning recording and film industries provide the perfect context for the study of American music in its many guises: from traditional folksong, country, blues, and gospel, to rock, rap, blue-eyed soul, and contemporary concert music. The Center for American Music at the University of Texas seeks to forge links between the academy and the community to facilitate an unprecedented exchange between musicians, scholars, students, and citizens of Austin.