The Crane School of Music

09/07/2026

09/04/2026

The Crane School of Music welcomes a few new faculty this fall. Among them is Laura Nerenberg, who will be teaching violin (alongside Dr. Liesl Doty). Laura is a Suzuki Violin, improvisation teacher and improvisation pedagogy coach for music teachers, and she has taught improvisation to students and teachers from 6 continents. She has also worked with students at uOttawa, Queen's University and Carleton University.

Since her graduate and undergraduate studies in violin performance at uOttawa and the Hartt School, Laura has studied complementary modalities like body-mapping and improvisation, which she integrates into her teaching.

An active chamber music performer, Laura is a founding member of Gatineau's Ensemble Prisme. She plays modern and Baroque violins in a duo with NACO harpsichordist, Thomas Annand, and founded the Triptych Piano Trio. She plays with several jazz ensembles like the Ottawa Jazz Orchestra and Courage 4.

Complementing her commitment to Suzuki pedagogy, Laura teaches her students a wide variety of repertoire. She routinely includes works by living, Canadian, BIPOC, LGTBQ+ and women composers in her performances and her student concerts. Her students also regularly perform their own improvisations and compositions and explore other genres like fiddle, jazz and Blues. Adnd in 2024 and 2025, Laura performed her inaugural autobiographical solo play, Jewish-ish, over a dozen times – often to sold-out audiences – from St. John's to Victoria to Whitehorse.

We are thrilled to have Laura joining us to work with our violin students!

09/03/2026

The Crane School of Music welcomes a few new faculty this fall. Among them is Santiago García Cuevas, who will teaching Audio Technology courses. Santiago is a professional audio engineer, researcher, musician, and educator based in Montreal, Canada. His work spans sound recording, mixing, mastering, music production, live sound, immersive audio, and electroacoustic music.

At McGill University, Santiago served as Concert Coordinator, Senior Recording Engineer, Senior Live Sound Engineer, and Webcast Technician, contributing to the recording and production of concerts, recitals, and academic events. His research focuses on immersive audio and three-dimensional sound capture, culminating in the publication of his work in the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society and its presentation at the 2024 Audio Engineering Society Convention in New York City.

A recipient of two John R.E. Bradley Prize Awards and the 2023 Audio Engineering Society SRC Gold Award, Santiago is passionate about preparing the next generation of audio professionals through a combination of rigorous technical training, creative exploration, and love of music.

We are delighted to have Santiago joining us this fall!

09/03/2026

The Crane School of Music welcomes a few new faculty this fall. Among them is pianist Dr. Ryan Reilly. Ryan has concertized throughout the United States, Spain, France and Switzerland and his honors include First Prize, Audience Prize, and the Prize for Best Interpretation of a Spanish Work at the 2017 Frechilla-Zuloaga International Piano Competition in Valladolid, Spain, as well as the Prix Georges Filipinetti from the Haute École de Musique de Genève. He has appeared as soloist with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y Leon, The Orchestra of the Haute École de Musique de Genève, and the Schenectady Symphony Orchestra, amongst others.

Ryan received his doctorate from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, where he was among the last students of Leon Fleisher. He holds degrees from the Juilliard School (Pre-College, BM, MM) where he studied with Julian Martin, and a Master Soliste from the Haute École de Musique de Genève where he studied with Dominique Weber. He is indebted to his first teacher Anikó Szokody, with whom he studied for ten years.

We are excited to have Ryan working with our piano students this fall semester!

09/01/2026

🏆 Top 10 in the nation!

SUNY Potsdam has been ranked No. 9 nationwide in Washington Monthly magazine’s inaugural Best Colleges for Rural America list, recognized among the country’s leading institutions serving rural students and communities.

Out of 1,200 rural institutions, SUNY Potsdam was:
🎓 The only New York State college in the Top 20
🎓 The highest-ranked SUNY campus
🌎 No. 9 nationally for expanding opportunity, supporting social mobility and preparing students for successful careers

This recognition reflects what we’ve been proud to do for more than two centuries: provide an outstanding, affordable education that helps students thrive while strengthening the North Country and beyond.

Read more: www.potsdam.edu/news/BestRuralCollege

08/28/2026

Alumni News: Georgie Rickard (2017 Piano Performance/Music Business double major) reached out with an update. She notes that since graduating from Crane, her career “has expanded from performance and music business into composing music for film and video games.” In 2025, Georgie earned a Master of Music in Screen Scoring from New York University, and she is pictured here on her NYU graduation day. Her work in film music has included composing music for the feature film “Boxcutter,” and her video game audio work has received an Honorable Mention for Best Audio at NYC Global Game Jam and second place in the IGDA | Unlikely Collaborators Game Jam. She also wrote “I’m grateful for my time at Crane!” Thank you, Georgia, and best wishes in all your creative endeavors.

If you are an alum with news to share, feel free to reach out anytime to [email protected]

08/27/2026

We are excited to welcome the Class of 2030 to the SUNY Potsdam campus! Welcome Weekend activities are kicking off - get the full schedule here: https://bit.ly/4wRivt2

08/24/2026

08/21/2026

One more week... It is far too quiet at Crane right now, the halls are empty, and the building seems lonely. We are all looking forward to everyone returning to campus and welcoming those new students who are joining us for the first time! Safe travels, everyone!

08/19/2026

SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music Officially Dedicates Rehearsal Room in Honor of Francis C. & Marilyn A. Horner.

Marilyn A. Horner recently made a historic gift of $2 million to the Potsdam College Foundation to support scholarships and programs at Crane, demonstrating her deep commitment to supporting Crane students and music education. In honor of the gift, the College recently dedicated the recently renovated C107 rehearsal room in Bishop Hall in honor of Mrs. Horner and her late husband, Francis C. Horner. "We are profoundly grateful to Marilyn Horner for her extraordinary generosity and her unwavering belief in the transformative power of music education," said SUNY Potsdam President Dr. Suzanne R. Smith.

Pictured are SUNY Potsdam representatives with Marilyn Horner and some of her family members during a visit to her residence in Bonney Lake, Wash. Marilyn Horner (second from left) is flanked by SUNY Potsdam President Suzanne Smith (center) and her husband, Brett Lloyd (far left), along with Horner’s daughter and son-in-law, Lisa and Stan Hernacki (right).

For more about Marilyn and this gift, see the news release at https://potsdam.meritpages.com/news/SUNY-Potsdams-Crane-School-of-Music-Receives-2-Million-Donation/61108