OAKLAND MAGAZINE COVER STORY FEATURES RENOWNED MILLS COLLEGE MUSIC DEPARTMENT

Oakland, CA - The internationally renowned Mills College Music Department is acclaimed in Oakland Magazine’s October 2007 issue. Entitled “The Evolution Starts Now; Mills College Pushes the Limits of Contemporary Sound,” the cover article by Derk Richardson begins with the early influences of Henry Cowell, Lou Harrison, John Cage, and Darius Milhaud, and provides an in-depth overview of the department’s development as a vital force in experimentalism and creativity in contemporary composition and performance.

Commending Mills’ music program, Richardson writes, “Today, more than ever, the Music Department…is a crucial hub of experimental and electronic music, ranking second to none in the world and fostering cross-pollination and collaboration in the local creative music scene.”

In addition to providing key perspectives from interviews with music faculty members David Bernstein, John Bischoff, Chris Brown, Fred Frith, and William Winant, Richardson includes feature articles about the significant influence of Mills on famed alumnus Dave Brubeck and the Kronos Quartet.

According to Chris Brown, professor of music and co-director of Mills’ Center for Contemporary Music, “Students do come here for a degree, which will help them professionally in whatever real-world jobs they might need to have on their creative path after Mills. They are also after skills—as players, composers and electronicists. But to my mind, these are rarely more important than the opportunity to explore their ideas in a disciplined, yet unfettered way, in the company of other like-minded musicians. I think that most students come to be part of the creative community.”

Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering innovative degree programs to approximately 900 undergraduate women and 500 graduate women and men. Ranked one of the top colleges in the West by U.S. News & World Report and one of the Best 366 Colleges by the Princeton Review, Mills provides a dynamic liberal arts education fostering women's leadership, social responsibility, and creativity. Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California, on 135 lush acres, Mills was recently selected by the New York Times as one of three outstanding California colleges for students to consider.

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