The School of Music and Dance gratefully acknowledges the generous and transformative support of our donors. Thanks to their encouragement, students have performed alongside renowned guest artists and attended workshops, lectures, masterclasses, and residencies led by top musicians, choreographers, scholars, and industry leaders. Donor generosity has made unforgettable experiences possible—from international performance trips to the peace of mind that comes from knowing their education is afordable.
In 2024–25, the school hosted 250 events and presented major concerts in San Diego, Imperial Beach, and El Cajon. Faculty excelled in nationally and internationally recognized creative and scholarly work, enriching their teaching and inspiring students. We celebrated the return of our Mariachi Ensemble, graduated our largest dance class ever, and launched a new dance education specialization. This fall, we will open applications for a new master’s program in music education—the frst of its kind in the county.
With your continued support, we will keep training the artists, educators, and leaders of tomorrow.
Kevin Delgado, Ph.D. Director, Associate Professor of Music School of Music and Dance
Propelling the SDSU Community Forward
Community Music School Director's Endowed Fund
Anonymous donors supported the Community Music School by establishing an endowed fund to help recruit and retain leadership, and to provide support for priorities critical to sustaining the School’s mission, as determined by the Director of the School of Music.
Community Music School students
Thriving in the Aztec Experience
Kinsey Claudino, Class of 2025
Class Level: Undergraduate Student College: Professional Studies and Fine Arts
Major: Music
Kinsey Claudino, an outstanding undergraduate in music, entrepreneurship, and business, aspires to work in the music industry, supporting artists through a record label or working on a marketing team.
Claudino has been involved in SDSU music ensembles such as the Wind Symphony, Symphony Orchestra, Big Band, Trombone Euphonium Choir, Trombone Quartet, Marching Band, and Pep Band. Additionally, she has participated in Aztec Music Group, Women’s Rugby, and Tau Beta Sigma, SDSU’s music service sorority.
She has also interned at the La Jolla Music Society, The Music Company, and Belly Up Presents, where she learned to be proactive and strengthened her task management skills.
Claudino said her most infuential faculty member was Dr. Eric Starr—a professor she knows she can always rely on and has consistently been in her corner.
Her advice to incoming students: College is what you make of it, and having a support system is one of the best things you can do for yourself.
College is what you make of it, and having a support system is one of the best things you can do for yourself. — Kinsey
Andrew Ginzel, Class of 2025
Class Level: Graduate Student College: Professional Studies and Fine Arts
Major: Critical Studies in Music
Andrew Ginzel, an outstanding graduate in critical studies in music, conducted a research project examining Fleetwood Mac’s resurgence in contemporary culture through memes, online trends, and musical techniques as a refection of a cultural longing for countercultural ideals.
Ginzel aspires to pursue a career in teaching. As a music educator, he is passionate about helping individuals become well-rounded musicians who are technically profcient, creatively confdent, and deeply aware of their unique voices and purpose. He hopes to prepare his students to navigate diverse genres and equip them for meaningful, sustainable careers in the music industry.
Ginzel also aims to contribute to the scholarship of American popular music at the intersection of countercultures and musical expression. He hopes to become a published author in academic journals and eventually write a book on these topics.
He said his academic advisor, Dr. Eric Smigel, has played a crucial role in his development as a writer, providing the support and guidance needed to refne his skills and strengthen his academic work at SDSU.
“
Andrew is passionate about helping musicians fnd their unique voices while exploring how pop culture phenomena, like Fleetwood Mac’s resurgence, refect deeper countercultural currents.
Celebrating Shared Success
Statistics
of Interest
Overall Graduation Rate: Approximately 78%, placing SDSU among the top public universities in California for timely degree completion
Retention Rate: Around 89%, refecting a high level of student satisfaction and continuity
Undergraduate Students: Approximately 32,064
Graduate Students: Approximately 4,508
Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Dance: One of only three CSU campuses ofering this professional degree, with an optional concentration in dance education. This 132-unit program prepares students to teach dance in K–12 settings and serves as a pathway to SDSU’s Single
Subject Teaching Credential in Dance.
Recent Highlights
Master of Music Education: Set to launch in Fall 2026, this graduate program is designed for K–12 music educators seeking advanced credentials or preparation for doctoral studies. Courses will be ofered in the evenings and during the summer to accommodate working professionals.
Academic Excellence
Educator Preparation
With a 78% graduation rate and 89% retention, SDSU ranks among California’s top public universities—ofering standout dance degrees, including a rare BFA in Dance.
SDSU’s BFA in Dance Education prepares students for K–12 teaching, while the new MM program ofers fexible graduate study for music educators.
Brian Levy, Ph.D.
Title: Assistant Professor, Director of Jazz Studies College: Professional Studies and Fine Arts
Achievement: Dr. Brian Levy is a jazz saxophonist and musicologist with a Ph.D. in Musicology from Brandeis University and a D.M.A. in Jazz Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music.
From 2013 to 2023, Dr. Levy was a full-time faculty member at the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) in Boston. He held a joint appointment in the Department of Jazz Studies (as assistant chair) and the Department of Music History and Musicology. At NEC, he taught both performance and academic courses, including jazz improvisation, jazz history, jazz theory and analysis, the philosophy and aesthetics of music, and musicological research. He also directed the jazz ensemble program, coached ensembles, taught studio lessons, advised doctoral candidates, and served as the Fulbright Program Advisor. In 2021, he received NEC’s Louis and Adrienne Krasner Teaching Excellence Award.
Dr. Levy is a member of a European-based jazz group, The Rick Hollander Quartet Featuring Brian Levy. Since 2016, the ensemble has completed thirteen European tours and released two albums on Laika Records: The Best Is Yet to Come (2019) and On the Up and Up (2016).
His research interests have led to a coauthored improvisation textbook with scholar-author Keith Waters, professor of music theory at the University of Colorado Boulder. Their book, Learning Jazz Improvisation through Historical Voices: Roles, Rhythms, and Routines, is currently in production with Oxford University Press. One reviewer remarked, “Frankly, the book already has me reimagining my approach to teaching and practicing jazz improvisation.”
Faculty Achievements
Chuyun Oh, Ph.D.
Title: Associate Professor of Dance Theory College: Professional Studies and Fine Arts Achievement: Chuyun Oh (Ph.D., Performance Studies, UT Austin) is a Fulbright scholar and Associate Professor of Dance Theory/Practice at San Diego State University.
Dr. Oh is the author of K-pop Dance: Fandoming Yourself on Social Media (Routledge), an Amazon New Release bestseller in 2022, which was shortlisted for the Dance Studies Association’s (DSA) de la Torre Bueno® First Book Award.
As a pioneer of K-pop dance studies, she ofers the frst K-pop dance theory course in the U.S. and issues "K-pop Creator Certifcates" through her research institute, Oniz Lab. Her award-winning scholarship and performances on pop dance and ethnography have received multiple national and international grants and have appeared in over sixty global media outlets, thirty keynote speeches and book talks, anthologies, and top-tier journals, including Dance Research Journal, Dance Chronicle, Text and Performance Quarterly, Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, Communication, Culture & Critique, The International Journal of the History of Sport, The Journal of Popular Culture, and others.
Starting classical ballet training at the Kirov Academy of Ballet and Sun Hwa Arts School at the age of seven, she performed internationally as a professional ballet and modern dancer during her early career, earning awards in international dance competitions. She was a visiting assistant professor and guest choreographer at Hamilton College, New York.
She currently serves on the editorial boards of Text and Performance Quarterly and Dance Chronicle, and on the DSA’s de la Torre Bueno® First Book Award committee.
