In the Piano Studio, students are encouraged to seek out their strength and potential through a program designed to serve individuality and diversity. Our piano students are compelled to build a strong technical foundation, push their limits of excellent pianism, and grow as compassionate musicians.

The UCF Percussion Ensemble, under the direction of Thad Anderson, offers students well-rounded experiences in all facets of ensemble playing. The ensemble presents audiences with varied programs that feature significant works for idioms such as chamber, mallet, large, historic, and world ensembles. The group frequently works with composers to commission and premiere new works for percussion ensemble. Some of these recent projects have included collaborations with Marc Mellits, Tiffany Connell, Jonathan Kolm, John Psathas, Bill Ryan, D.J. Sparr, Paul Lansky, David Bennet Thomas, Charles Griffin, James Norman, and Zack Browning. The debut UCF Percussion album, Patterns, was released in 2014 and features new quartets for two marimbas and two vibraphones. The ensemble presented the New Literature for Percussion Ensemble session at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in 2014 (Indianapolis, IN) and a concert of new music for clarinet and percussion ensemble at the 2017 International Clarinet Association ClarinetFest (Orlando, FL).

UCF's graduate string quartet program launched in Fall 2019. The string quartet graduate assistantship is a two-year program where students will earn their [M.A. Music degree](https://performingarts.cah.ucf.edu/program/music-master/). The curriculum emphasizes intensive work with world-class faculty through lessons and coaching while offering an array of performance opportunities in chamber music concerts and large ensembles, including the Orlando Philharmonic. String quartet students will perform as a member of the Pegasus String Quartet and perform locally, regionally and nationally throughout the year. The quartet program is led by world-renowned violinist [Ayako Yonetani](https://performingarts.cah.ucf.edu/faculty-staff/profile/273), a professor at UCF and a member of Japan's premier chamber ensemble, Kioi Hall Chamber Orchestra.

Founded in 2017, the UCF New Music Ensemble is a performance-oriented chamber group focused on diverse repertoire from the 20th and 21st-centuries. The ensemble is used as a laboratory for instruction in chamber performance skills encompassing the various styles of conventionally notated works but will also introduce other contemporary approaches such as improvisation, electro-acoustic music, and graphic scores. The ensemble frequently rehearses and premieres newly composed works by resident students, faculty and visiting guest composers. Registration Link: https://cah.ucf.edu/events/music/

This year's UCF Opera scenes program consists of four brief operas in English and an added scene from a famous operetta (also performed in English). The four identical concerts (Nov. 9, 10 and 16 in the Rehearsal Hall) are a product of an Opera Workshop class. The course instructors, Thomas Potter and Robin Jensen, customize the choice of scenes each year. This year's selections center on a game of bridge, three anxious coeds in a dorm room, the making of a pizza, a lesson in carefully choosing one's stated dreams and the aforementioned operetta Closer. Come and support the future of opera, and expect to have a good time doing it - appropriate for all audiences. Registration Link: https://www.purplepass.com/events/299335-ucf-opera%3A-a-potpourri-of-scenes!-nov-9th-2024 Registration Info: $15, $5 Student/UCF ID

UCF has two Jazz Chamber groups. These small groups perform music appropriate to the level of musicianship in the group. Repertoire and improvisation skills are the main focus of these groups. The Jazz Chamber groups perform frequently around Central Florida.