All students of jazz percussion study the Cuban masters, mainly by listening to recordings and watching videos. But the opportunity to hear and see these artists in person — and to actually study and perform with them — is rare.

That’s exactly what 12 School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD) jazz students did over their 2017 spring break, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor. For one week, the students — 10 percussionists, one bassist and one pianist — toured the country, learning about its history, religion, economics, politics, art and, of course, its music.

The trip was led by Michael Gould, professor of music (jazz percussion) in SMTD’s Department of Jazz and Contemporary Improvisation, and included three days in Havana followed by stops in Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Matanzas and Varadero.

“Because we study the music of other cultures so much, we need to get our feet on the ground and see the actual masters performing in their hometowns,” Gould said. “And we need to get not only the sounds, but the sights and the smells.”

“This is the where these rhythms are played authentically,” said Kayvon Gordon, a junior. “There are musicians in New York, Brooklyn, Miami, but Cuba is where all the rhythms originated, where they were born. I think it’s necessary for one who wants to study the music to go to the source.”

The University of Michigan Library’s Orson Welles collection is now the world’s most comprehensive resource for Welles scholars and fans, thanks to a gift of new materials from his daughter Beatrice Welles.

Archivists have received approximately 21 linear feet of material that unveils a portion of Orson Welles’ life and career to which few have ever had access. “This collection marks the University of Michigan as the top institution to go to for comprehensive research on Orson Welles’ life and career,” said Philip Hallman, curator of U-M’s Mavericks & Makers collection. “It contains a lot of missing pieces from the ’50s and ’60s that represent his many identities — Welles as an artist, Welles as a young man, Welles as a father, Welles as a husband.”

Orson Welles, who died at age 70 in 1985, is best remembered for his innovative work in radio, theater, television and film. His 1938 broadcast of H.G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds” and 1941 film “Citizen Kane,” which he co-wrote, produced, directed and starred in, are among some of the most memorable creative works of the 20th century.

U-M welcomed the first addition to the Welles archive back in 2005; since then, it has grown substantially to become the most extensive international collection of items and materials on Welles. The collection can be found within U-M’s Screen Arts Mavericks & Makers archive, which also includes materials from Robert Altman, Ira Deutchman, Alan Rudolph, Nancy Savoca and John Sayles.

The University Symphony Orchestra performed two George Gershwin masterpieces — “An American in Paris” (1928) and “Concerto in F” (1925) — in new critical editions that reveal, for the first time in decades, the composer’s original intent for the works.

The original states of each composition were revealed during research for the “George and Ira Gershwin Critical Edition,” the lead project of the U-M Gershwin Initiative, based at the School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD).

The free concert took place at U-M’s Hill Auditorium and was conducted by Kenneth Kiesler, SMTD director of orchestras and professor of conducting. It featured internationally acclaimed piano soloist and SMTD professor of piano Logan Skelton, performing “Concerto in F.”

The new critical edition of “An American in Paris” restores just over 100 measures of music previously cut from the score. The new measures were uncovered by musicologist and SMTD professor Mark Clague in his research. Clague was recently featured in national media when he discovered that the taxi-horn pitches in this piece have been performed incorrectly for more than half a century. Audiences will hear the original pitches in this test performance of the new edition.

The U-M Gershwin Initiative is a long-term partnership with the Gershwin family to bring the music of George and Ira Gershwin to students, scholars, performers and audiences across the U-M campus and worldwide.