The Frost School of Music at the University of Miami is mourning the loss of Carlos R. Abril, a professor of music education and associate dean for research whose passion, dedication, and scholarship were elevated by an innate warmth and generosity that deepened his impact on countless students and colleagues. An alumnus of the Frost School (B.M. ’93) who returned to teach in 2011, Abril passed away at home on June 30, surrounded by his family. The cause of death was colorectal cancer, which was diagnosed this spring. He was 56.
"Carlos Abril exemplified the highest ideals of music education,” said Serona Elton, interim vice dean of the Frost School. “His dedication to his students, his passion for teaching and research, and his belief in the transformative power of music made him an invaluable member of our community. Equally memorable were his kindness and positive outlook, which enriched the lives of everyone around him. We will cherish the legacy he leaves behind."
Professor Carlos Abril oversaw research at the Frost School. Photo courtesy of the Frost School of Music.
Abril was a leader in music education in the United States and internationally, and his scholarship and voluminous writing, in which he frequently advocated for a more inclusive vision of music education, helped shape the discipline.
“Dr. Abril was a titan of the field,” the group Music Workshop wrote on Facebook. “His research broke down barriers—visible and invisible—that keep children from experiencing music in school, and his scholarship shaped how educators everywhere approach making music education accessible and meaningful for every student.”
One of Abril’s final acts was to ask that a fund be established in his name to support music education at the Frost School. The school has honored his wish by creating the Dr. Carlos R. Abril Memorial Music Education Fund.
Carlos Abril with students a few years ago. Photo courtesy Frost School of Music.
“My family invites you to honor my life and legacy with a gift to the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami,” Abril said in a statement which was shared in announcing the fund. “Contributions should support music education, an area that meant so much to me throughout my life and career.”
A Miami native from a large and loving family, Abril did far more than simply teach students how to teach. He encouraged students to bring their whole selves into teaching and to understand its life-changing potential. He modeled mentorship, often co-presenting research with former and current students at conferences, boosting their careers and demonstrating his commitment to developing the next generation of music educators.
“We have tried to open their eyes to being part of and leaders in a broader music education community,” Abril said to Frost News in 2025 about the department’s efforts with undergraduates. “They need to see themselves as… future leaders in the field.”
Frost School professor Carlos Abril with students, colleagues, and friends. Photo collage courtesy Frost School of Music.
Among the former students who paid tribute to Abril on social media was Kara Iwanowski, B.M. ’23. “His enthusiasm and love for not just teaching music but connecting with every one of his students have inspired me every day since becoming a teacher,” she wrote on Facebook. “Every student who ever had the privilege of learning from him will honor his legacy every day.”
“He challenged us to think more deeply, ask questions, and see the world with curiosity and wonder,” wrote Vimari Colón-León, B.M. ’17. “His work with Latinos in music education had a huge impact on my academic journey, but what I’ll remember most is the kind of person he was. He truly cared about his students.”
After graduating from the Frost School, Abril earned a master’s in horn performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in 1994 and a PhD in music education from The Ohio State University in 2003. He began his career teaching music in Miami-Dade County Public Schools from 1994 to 2000, going on to be an assistant professor and later associate professor and coordinator of music education at Northwestern University from 2003 to 2011 before returning to the Frost School.
Carlos Abril speaking recently at the Frost School. His scholarship made him a leader in the field of music education. Photo courtesy of the Frost School of Music.
Abril chaired or was a member of committees at the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and had a decades-long relationship with the International Society for Music Education (ISME), for which he sat on commissions, committees, and planning seminars, as well as the editorial board of the ISME-sponsored research journal Revista Internacional de Educación Musical. He co-edited three books: “General Music: Dimensions of Practice,” “Teaching General Music,” and “Musical Experience in our Lives: Lessons we Learn, Meanings we Make” and wrote dozens of book chapters and journal articles. He delivered keynote addresses on five continents and was a visiting scholar or guest lecturer at 36 institutions in the U.S., Canada, Spain, and Mexico.
His honors included the Phillip Frost Award for Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship, the Frost Centennial Medalist Award, the Florida Collegiate Music Educator of the Year Award, and multiple University of Miami Provost's Research Awards.
Carlos Abril (far right back) with fellow Frost School faculty members with their Frost Centennial Medals at the celebration of the school's centennial in April 2025. Photo by Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images.
Abril was a profoundly kind, instinctively generous man with a natural ability to acknowledge people and bring them together, inspiring deep affection from his colleagues at the Frost School and in his far-flung circle.
Stephen Zdzinski, a fellow professor of music education whose office was next door to Abril’s, said Abril would host potluck holiday parties for faculty and teaching assistants every December, where they exchanged gifts and sang carols in three languages. Abril was a groomsman at Zdzinski’s wedding in 2017, traveling to upstate New York with his husband Miguel Morales. “Carlos talked with everyone at the ceremony and reception,” Zdzinski said. “He talked for three hours at the reception with my best man even though they had never met before.”
Carlos Abril (lower left) with fellow Frost School faculty and others at his annual Christmas party. Photo courtesy Frost School of Music.
Don Coffman, the recently retired professor emeritus and chair of the Music Education department, described Abril in an obituary he wrote for ISME, which multiple organizations shared.
“Those who knew him will remember his easy smile, his gentle laugh, his enthusiasm, and his generosity, which all appeared in small, constant ways,” Coffman wrote. “His long right arm and ever-ready iPhone captured hundreds of group selfies over the years of friends, colleagues, students, and family, all pulled into frame for one more picture together… We are privileged to have known him.”
Abril is survived by his husband Miguel Morales; his father Carlos E. Abril and stepmother Caty Abril; his sister Marquel Abril and her children Alexia, Dwayne Jr., and Natalia; his sister Melissa Abril-Dotel, her husband Oscar Dotel, and their daughter Chloe; his sister Melanie Abril, her husband Owen Gaither, and their daughter Riley; and his sister Michelle Abril; and by his brother Luis Abril, wife Danaise Abril and their children Derek and Samantha; his brother Jason Abril and wife Valentina Abril; and his brother Jeffrey Abril.
In lieu of flowers, Abril’s family asks that donations be made to the Dr. Carlos R. Abril Memorial Music Education Fund at miami.edu/carlosabril.
Note: portions of this memoriam were taken from Don Coffman’s obituary of Carlos Abril for ISME.
