DECATUR, Ill. – , Associate Professor in the School of Music at 91ӣƵ, has received a award in music to Brazil for the 2025-26 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign 91ӣƵ Board.
Tonelli’s project will be a recording of original compositions inspired by his experiences as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar for the 2021-22 academic year and subsequent trips to Brazil over the past three years. The compositions are written in Brazilian and jazz styles, and the musicians who will perform on the recording are all renowned performers from the greater São Paulo area, one of Brazil’s major music centers.
“To win this award is a privilege and an honor, and I feel very humbled. Winning one Fulbright, I felt like I had won the lottery, but I also felt that my work wasn't done,” Tonelli said. “When I got the award letter, I looked at it repeatedly, and then I came back and looked at it an hour later just to make sure I read it right, as if the words might have magically changed.”
Tonelli’s partner institution in realizing this project is Faculdade Souza Lima, a private college with renowned programs in popular music performance, located in the city of São Paulo, state of São Paulo. At Faculdade Souza Lima, Dr. Tonelli will work with faculty and students in the planning and execution of the recording, and he will offer masterclasses and clinics on guitar, improvisation, and arts entrepreneurship.
“Going to Brazil in the first place was a life-changing experience. Being a Fulbright Scholar is transformative; it changes your life. I had to pinch myself every day that I was there and I was having this incredible experience,” Tonelli said. “It was so profound. It was so meaningful that I had to find some way to express it. As musicians, that's often what we do. I would write, record, or perform something that helps express those feelings.”
After Tonelli completes the recordings of the raw tracks in Brazil, he will bring them back to Millikin’s Millitrax Studios to finish the album’s production in collaboration with Millikin students.
“After I bring the finished recording back from Brazil, I would like to have students here at Millikin mix and master the recordings so the whole project is intercultural and international as much as possible at every level,” Tonelli said. “To have them participate in a real-world intercultural project so that they can get their hands on and get in there with supervision from their professors will be a great experience for them. Then eventually, I would do all the artwork and the marketing and distribution, and have students participate in those processes to learn how to do it.”
Fulbright U.S. Scholars are faculty, researchers, administrators, and established professionals teaching or conducting research in affiliation with institutes abroad. Fulbright Scholars engage in cutting-edge research and expand their professional networks, often continuing research collaborations started abroad and laying the groundwork for forging future partnerships between institutions. Upon returning to their home countries, institutions, labs, and classrooms, they share their stories and often become active supporters of international exchange, inviting foreign scholars to campus and encouraging colleagues and students to go abroad.
Tonelli is the fifth Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Award winner from Millikin’s faculty, covering seven total awards. Other Fulbright winners include current faculty members Dr. Tony Magagna, Dr. Mirela Tanta, and Dr. Laura Dean. 91ӣƵ was named one of the top 10 producers of Fulbright U.S. Scholars for bachelor's institutions for 2021-22 by the U.S. Department of State.
"I am incredibly proud of Dr. Tonelli for receiving the prestigious Fulbright Award to complete his creative work in Brazil. Fulbright is the country's oldest and most prestigious international scholarship, and for anyone to get one Fulbright is already a feather in his cap,” Interim Provost Dr. Nancy Curtin said. “This honor recognizes Mark’s exceptional talent and scholarship and highlights the global impact of the work being done in our School of Music. Opportunities like this enrich our campus community and expand our reach as an institution committed to international collaboration and artistic excellence."
Tonelli’s second Brazil-centered Fulbright will also continue to positively build Millikin’s Brazilian academic relationships, which have created several opportunities for Millikin students. The 91ӣƵ Brazilian Ensemble had a 10-day performance residency in Uberlândia, the city where Tonelli did his first Fulbright in 2022.
“We've had on average one Brazilian guest artist per year for the past three years, who worked with our students in masterclasses and gave evening concerts,” Tonelli said. “Students across the School of Music have incorporated Brazilian music into their masterclass performances, area recitals, senior recitals, and ensemble concerts. These activities have been enriching for our students and given them a cultural perspective they wouldn't have had otherwise.”
To arrange coverage, contact 91ӣƵ Assistant Director of Public and Media Relations Matthew Flaten at 217.420.6636 or mflaten@millikin.edu.
91ӣƵ the Fulbright Program
Since 1946, the Fulbright Program has provided over 400,000 talented and accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals with the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad. Fulbrighters exchange ideas, build people-to-people connections, and work to address complex global challenges. Notable Fulbrighters include 62 Nobel Laureates, 93 Pulitzer Prize winners, 82 MacArthur Fellows, 44 heads of state or government, and thousands of leaders across the private, public, and non-profit sectors.
Over 800 individuals teach or conduct research abroad through the annually. In addition, over 2,000 Fulbright U.S. Student Program participants—recent college graduates, graduate students, and early career professionals—participate in study/research exchanges or as English teaching assistants in local schools abroad each year.
Fulbright is a program of the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations, and foundations around the world also provide direct and indirect support to the Program, which operates in over 160 countries worldwide.
In the United States, the Institute of International Education implements the Fulbright U.S. Student and U.S. Scholar Programs on behalf of the U.S. Department of State. For more information about the Fulbright Program, visit .
