Students in University of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music will learn from one of America’s leading composers, attend premiere musical productions nationwide and network with music industry professionals as part of a new partnership launching this fall.

The Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music and Pacific are partnering to establish the Inclusive Music Initiative, a partnership conceived by Pacific’s Conservatory of Music and composer Gabriela Lena Frank. As part of the initiative, Frank will serve as University Artist in Residence at Pacific for 2025-2026. The Berkeley native is a Latin Grammy winner, a Guggenheim Fellow and was recently inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

By elevating musical traditions and cultures that have been historically underrepresented in American concert and school music programs, the Inclusive Music Initiative models a wholistic approach to music, collaboration and community engagement.

Through the partnership and pilot program, Pacific students and faculty will travel to New York and Chicago to attend Frank’s debut productions with the Metropolitan Opera and the Chicago Lyric Opera productions of “El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego.” The piece is a magical-realist portrait of Mexico’s Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, with libretto by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Nilo Cruz.

Students will serve as interns with the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy, learning with alumni composers, partnering in recording sessions of new works and engaging in community service.

During residencies in Stockton throughout the academic year, Frank will also teach composition, coach small ensembles, lecture in music management courses and speak with Pacific’s cultural communities.

“I am thrilled to embark on this partnership between the University of Pacific and my cherished academy, inclusive of its talented, multi-faceted alumni pool of composers,” said Frank. “I’ve long held certain ideals dear — that composers are cultural witnesses of the times they live through, that they speak to communities beyond the concert halls, and that in their formative years, they thrive in a practicum-based learning environment that encourages their personal stories. To that end, my composers and I look forward to co-establishing the Inclusive Music Initiative and pilot program with Pacific’s Conservatory of Music.”

The Washington Post has named Frank one of the most significant women composers in history. She recently completed a seven-year tenure as Composer in Residence with the Philadelphia Orchestra and joined Pacific as composer-in-residence in 2024.

Frank is known for putting cultural heritage at the heart of her music. Informed by the works of Bela Bartók and Alberto Ginastera, Frank incorporates her experiences traveling to South America and her studies of Latin American folklore into her work as a diaspora artist. She also draws inspiration from poetry, mythology and native musical styles that she weaves into a Western classical framework that composes her unique sound.

“We are proud to appoint Gabriela Lena Frank University Artist in Residence,” said Dean Peter Witte. “Pacific is a center of excellence in music, community engagement, inclusion—one that is always student-centered. Gabriela is the embodiment of those values. Nationally accomplished, Frank is also profoundly committed to being a mentor and educator. She does the work. In her music, in her keynotes, and with students, one message rings aloud: all are welcome.”

Pacific’s Conservatory, the first collegiate school of music in the West, is one of the most inclusive music schools in the country. Sixty percent of music majors at Pacific identify as students of color—32% more diverse than music major enrollment nationally, according to figures reported to the National Association of Schools of Music.

“We are honored to host Gabriela Lena Frank, who is an acclaimed leader in supporting emerging composers from diverse cultures, experiences, and backgrounds,” said Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Mary Lomax-Ghirarduzzi.

 “Cultural identity and multicultural understanding are a central theme in her music education and compositions – Gabriela’s commitment to advancing equity and inclusivity are aligned with Pacific’s values.”