School Notes: School of Music
September/October 2023

New dean begins tenure at Yale School of Music

José García-León was appointed dean of the School of Music and joined the administration on September 1. He previously served as dean of academic affairs and assessment at the Juilliard School where, Yale University president Peter Salovey said in announcing the appointment, “he established and expanded a wide range of institutional initiatives, including the development of new degree programs, certificates, and curricula, . . . [and] introduced innovative instructional technologies, opened a new branch campus in China, and enhanced opportunities for musical and academic exchange with partner schools.” Prior to his work at Juilliard, García-León was associate dean at the University of New Haven’s College of Arts and Sciences. A pianist by training, García-León is also “a noted scholar,” Salovey’s announcement said. “He has traveled the world to present his research on the roots of and multiculturalism in flamenco music, the similarities and differences between Argentinian tango and the tango flamenco, and the composition of jazz and classical music.” 

García-León was born in Spain, where he studied at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Seville before earning a bachelor of arts degree in music from the State University of New York at Binghamton and a doctor of musical arts degree in piano performance from the Manhattan School of Music. García-León succeeds Robert Blocker as the Henry L. and Lucy G. Moses Dean of the Yale School of Music. “By garnering from the wealth of resources of a world-class university and strengthening the bridges with its incomparable roster of professional schools,” García-León said, “the music school has the potential to renew and create new paths in the music profession, moving forward onto a vibrant future in which curiosity, creativity, compassion, and collaboration will be indispensable.”