Performing Arts

A multimedia concert celebrating the 250th anniversary of America’s founding spotlights a famous poem by Allison Hedge Coke, distinguished professor of creative writing at UC Riverside. Hedge Coke’s “America, I Sing You Back,” published in 2011, is one of three related poems that inspired “I Hear America Singing,” a traveling stage production.

In a black-box theater with dark walls, bright lights, and an empty stage, student actors relied solely on their voices and expressions to bring a series of 10-minute plays to life at UC Riverside's 19th Playworks event. Covering topics ranging from the impacts of ICE and AI to experiences with grief and love, the stage readings took place in the Studio Theatre of the Arts Building. A small stage surrounded on three sides allowed the audience members and actors to observe each other in an intimate setting. 

​ UC Riverside has been selected to host Belgian audio producer and educator Frank Duchêne next spring as a Fulbright scholar in residence. “This is a great recognition of the teaching and research happening in the UCR Music Department,” said Liz Przybylski, a professor of music at UCR, who led the effort to bring Duchêne to campus.

In March, “Golden” from the film “KPop Demon Hunters” became the first K-Pop song to win the Oscar for Best Original Song. Celebrating that moment at the 98th Academy Awards was DaEun Jung, a UC Riverside assistant professor of dance, who participated in a live performance of “Golden” as a Korean cultural consulting choreographer and dancer. 

Sara Hovda, a student in the Master of Fine Arts program at UC Riverside, has won the 2026 Trio Award for her debut poetry manuscript, “Night’s Grammar.” “I was honestly beside myself,” Hovda said.