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Help Student Composers Develop New Works

The Music Department at the University of California, Santa Cruz builds on a long tradition of blending experimental and traditional approaches to music, bringing advanced technology into soundscapes inclusive of Black and Global African musics; Central Asian, Hindustani, Indonesian, Korean, and wide ranges of hybrid and diasporic traditions. Our faculty specialize in living traditions—for us that means asking the challenging questions that it takes to bring tradition to new “life.”


The Music Department has been fine-tuning a new approach to the learning our community needs to make these challenging ideas come to life. Each year we invite intrepid artists like Pamela Z, the Del Sol Quartet, or experimental piano-percussion quartet Yarn/Wire to spend time collaborating with student composers—not just teaching them but making music with them, acquainting them intimately with a new and unfamiliar musical world outside the walls of any classroom. “It’s been the highlight of my experience at UCSC,” says Seth Glickman, who was selected to participate in both residencies. “To be in direct contact with artists like these who are pursuing new ideas in music and the performance of it, and getting a close up view of their process, is so incredibly valuable. It’s made me really stretch and expand as an artist.” PhD candidate Alex Wand raved about the experience in 2021, in a collaboration that “broadened our conception of what it is to be a composer.”


This year our festival aims to bring the music of prodigious and brilliant new artist JLin, along with the talents of the Chicago-based Third Coast Percussion, to our residency program. They’re excited to work with us—but the department’s resources only go so far: your help will make it possible to invite these artists into deeper conversations with our students, turning a simple concert experience into weeks of interaction on works-in-progress. It’s an opportunity for composers to take risks, hear their most unusual ideas, learn, try again, and repeat.


Even a small donation makes a big difference. Larger donations of $250 or more can help us support an ensemble to spend invaluable time on a new approach to sound-making, or to improvisation, turning it from imagination into a practical way to make great music. But even $5 makes a huge difference: you’re helping us provide logistical support, meals, and transportation to keep our rehearsals lively, energetic, and professional.

Success!
Social Butterfly
Congratulations to Grupo Folklórico Los Mejicas de UCSC on engaging their community and rallying support for their project!
Completed
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Night Owl
The project with the most individual donors between 12 midnight and 1 am will receive $1,000. 2nd place will receive $500. Generously sponsored by an anonymous donor.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $1,000 Formula Slug 36
2 $500 Pilipino Cultural Celebration 22
3 Tech4Good Student Programs 17
4 Grupo Folklórico Los Mejicas de UCSC 17
5 KZSC Radio 10
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Morning Mayhem
The project with the most individual donors between 10 and 11 am will receive $1,000. 2nd place will receive $500.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $1,000 Cloud 9 A Cappella 62
2 $500 Women's Lacrosse Team 32
3 Autoslug 32
4 UCSC Slug Rugby 22
5 UCSC Fencing Club 22
Ended
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Happy Hour
The project teams with the most donors between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. will take home extra challenge funds! $1,000 for first place and $500 for second place. Generously sponsored by Professor of Theater Arts Patty Gallagher.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $1,000 Rocket Team at UCSC 51
2 $500 UCSC Surf Club 34
3 STEM Diversity - Plant the Seed for Big Dreamers 21
4 SOL Ultimate Frisbee 18
5 Undergrads Supporting System-Impacted Filmmakers 16
Ended
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Slug Surprise
The project with the most individual donors between 10 and 11 p.m. will receive $1,500, 2nd place will receive $750 and 3rd will receive $500. Generously sponsored by an anonymous donor.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $1,500 Formula Slug 47
2 $750 STEM Diversity - Plant the Seed for Big Dreamers 42
3 $500 UCSC Slug Rugby 32
4 Rocket Team at UCSC 32
5 UCSC Fencing Club 23
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Leaderboard
Indie 100
The project with the most individual donors giving $100 or more will receive $1,000. Second place will receive $500. Generously sponsored by an anonymous donor.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $1,000 UCSC Slug Rugby 129
2 $500 STEM Diversity - Plant the Seed for Big Dreamers 65
3 Alumni Association Scholarship Fund 62
4 UC Santa Cruz NCAA Cross Country and Track & Field 47
5 Okinawa Memories Initiative (OMI) 43
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New Recruit
*Limited to projects who have not participated before* The project with the most individual donors on Giving Day will receive $2,500, 2nd place will receive $1,000 and 3rd place will receive $500. Generously sponsored by an anonymous donor.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $2,500 Cloud 9 A Cappella 155
2 $1,000 Autoslug 152
3 $500 VSA at UCSC 97
4 Women's Lacrosse Team 67
5 AIRC supporting Native students' wellness! 34
Ended
Success!
Best in Show
Congratulations to CENTER FOR AGROECOLOGY: UCSC FARM for their engaging and fun video!
Completed
Leaderboard
Early Riser
The project with the most individual donors between 7 and 8 am will receive $1,000. 2nd place will receive $500. Generously sponsored by an anonymous donor.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $1,000 Okinawa Memories Initiative (OMI) 49
2 $500 UCSC Slug Rugby 24
3 Tech4Good Student Programs 23
4 SOL Ultimate Frisbee 12
5 Formula Slug 11
Ended
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Mid-day Motivator
The project with the most individual donors between 12 noon and 2 pm will receive $2,500, second place will receive $1,000 and third place will receive $500. Third place generously sponsored by UC Santa Cruz Foundation Trustees Panda Kroll and Janet Buck.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $2,500 Formula Slug 155
2 $1,000 STEM Diversity - Plant the Seed for Big Dreamers 146
3 $500 UCSC Slug Rugby 99
4 Undergrads Supporting System-Impacted Filmmakers 64
5 Okinawa Memories Initiative (OMI) 49
Ended
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Mad Dash
The project with the most individual donors between 6 and 8 pm will receive $2,500, second place will receive $1,000 and third place will receive $500. Generously sponsored by an anonymous donor.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $2,500 Rocket Team at UCSC 213
2 $1,000 STEM Diversity - Plant the Seed for Big Dreamers 203
3 $500 Pilipino Cultural Celebration 97
4 City on a Hill Press 69
5 UCSC Slug Rugby 54
Ended
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Final Frenzy
The project with the most individual donors on Giving Day (12am-12am) will receive $10,000, second place will receive $5,000 and third place will receive $2,000. First place award generously sponsored by the UC Santa Cruz Foundation Board Opportunity Fund.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $10,000 STEM Diversity - Plant the Seed for Big Dreamers 462
2 $5,000 UCSC Slug Rugby 405
3 $2,000 Formula Slug 300
4 Rocket Team at UCSC 289
5 Undergrads Supporting System-Impacted Filmmakers 201
Ended
Leaderboard
Indie 500
The project with the most individual donors giving $500 or more will receive $2,500. 2nd place will receive $1,000.
Rank Prize Department Donors
1 $2,500 UCSC Slug Rugby 16
2 $1,000 Okinawa Memories Initiative (OMI) 15
3 Alumni Association Scholarship Fund 13
4 CalTeach Landesman Fund for Math/Science Teachers 13
5 Academic Excellence (ACE) Program 12
Ended
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