Anne Schneller, Violin Performance ‘18

Hometown: Olathe, KS

“I came to KU because of the faculty, the environment, and the affordability.”

“All of the faculty have passion for music and are excited about the particular facet of music that they teach. The environment is both supportive and serious. A lot of other schools have a competitive atmosphere, but the KU community is very encouraging. In the violin studio, I don't feel like I’m ever trying to compete against my peers, but that we are all a team competing against who we were as musicians the day before. Finally, I chose KU because it was affordable. College can get quite expensive these days, and KU was able to provide the financial support to make studying music a possibility.”

Kai Ono, Piano Performance and Music Composition ‘17

Hometown: Irvine, CA

Kai Ono received DownBeat Magazine’s Outstanding Composition Award in the category of undergraduate composition for large ensemble. Kai performed the piece, “Everybody is with Everybody Else,” in 2016 at a concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

 “As a member of the KU Jazz Ensemble I and KU Wind Ensemble, I’ve had the opportunity to play some of the newest written music in both the classical and the jazz world. Both groups are nationally renowned, providing incredible performance and recording opportunities.”

“My dream after I graduate is to become a composer-pianist. I don’t necessarily have to always play my own works, and my works don’t necessarily have to be limited to the classical piano medium - I suppose this composer-pianist label is more to say that I hope to spend many of my days composing and performing in the future.”

“One of my favorite things about KU School of Music is the beautiful courtyard at the center of the building. After the chaos of practice, classes, rehearsals, and work, I seem to continually end up sitting on the stairs in the courtyard looking up at the night sky with Murphy Hall surrounding me. I find it to be powerfully representative of the warm community that the School of Music offers its students, faculty, and staff.”