A student choosing to major in music can develop a course of study intended to cultivate specific musical interests and abilities. Advisers in each music field may suggest the best academic plan for each student. Areas of focus include performance or composition in classical, jazz, or electronic music genres; western music research and history; music theory and analysis; and ethnomusicology. To fulfill requirements in a desired focus, students are suggested to take no fewer than six 200/300 level theory and history courses by the time of graduation. Additional requirements may include regular enrollment in one or more of the performance workshops, private lessons, composition workshops, or ensembles that are offered each semester. By the time of moderation, a student should ideally have completed half of their suggested course requirements.

Students’ Moderation and Senior Projects should ideally reflect their expressed musical interests and goals, whether they are based in performance, composition, research, analysis, or any combination of these. The Moderation Project for a student focused on composition or performance usually consists of a 25-40 minute recital, highlighting original work and/or other repertoire. For students interested in music scholarship or analysis, a substantial music history or theory paper serves as an appropriate moderation project.

A Senior Project in music can be accomplished in a variety of ways. Performers and composers usually present two concerts from 30 to 60 minutes each. For some composers, one concert can be replaced by an orchestra work written for performance by The Orchestra Now. In certain circumstances, a finished, sophisticatedly produced recording or multimedia project serves in place of a live performance. Music History and Theory students typically present an advanced, scholarly research or analysis paper as the main component of a Senior Project.

 

College & Community Ensembles

Unless otherwise noted, each ensemble is for one credit.  It is possible to participate in more than one ensemble and receive additional credit accordingly.  If private lessons are taken in conjunction with an ensemble, one or two credits may be added.  Private lessons must be separately registered.

 

92062

MUS 104

 Bard College Orchestra

Erica Kiesewetter

Zachary Schwartzman

M            7:30 pm-10:00 pm

OLIN AUDT

PA

PART

2 credits  Auditions for new members will be on September 11, 2017. Please contact Greg Armbruster at [email protected] regarding auditions. The first rehearsal is September 18, 2017. Class size: 30

 

92035

MUS 105

 Bard College Symphonic Chorus

James Bagwell

 T           7:30 pm-10:00 pm

OLIN AUDT

PA

PART

First rehearsal will be September, 12, 2017 at 7:30 pm. Class size: 35

 

92053

MUS 106

 Bard Community Chamber Music

Luis Garcia-Renart

    TBD

  TBD

PA

PART

Class size: 16

 

92041

MUS 108 AB

 Baroque Ensemble

Alexander Bonus

 T           10:00 am-12:00 pm

BLM 117

PA

PART

Performance ensemble focusing on music from 1550-1750. Instrumentalists and vocalists are welcome to audition. Class size: 15

 

92219

MUS 108 CV

 Samba Ensemble

Carlos Valdez

     F          12:00 pm – 2:00 pm          -

BLM N211

PA

PART

Samba Ensemble provides the opportunity to learn exotic Brazilian rhythms (samba, maracatu, batucada, samba reggai). Class size: 20

 

92073

MUS 108 MS

 Electric Guitar Ensemble

Matthew Sargent

M            6:40 pm-8:00 pm

BLM N119

PA

PART

This ensemble will focus on contemporary/experimental electric guitar repertoire, including Steve Reich, Julius Eastman, Lois Vierk, Paula Matthusen, John Cage, and others. Enrolled students will also be encouraged to compose new works for the ensemble. The ensemble will present a concert at the end of the semester.  The course requires the ability to read musical notation (non-reading students committed to learning notation may contact Matt Sargent prior to registration).  Class size: 10

92076

MUS 108 PS

 Mixed Trios, Quartets and Quintets

Patricia Spencer

    TBD

  TBD

PA

PART

Mixing winds and strings in an ensemble offers special challenges (such as matching tonguing and bowing) as well as unique colors, and taps into a wealth of repertoire. Choices for flute and strings include classics by Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn, strong works by more recent composers (Amy Beach, Alberto Ginastera, and others) and contemporary giants such as John Harbison, Thea Musgrave and Nicholas Maw.  Choices for clarinet or oboe or bassoon and strings likewise include a wide range:  Mozart, Danzi, Brahms, Joan Tower, Shulamit Ran, and many, many more. Class meetings are arranged according to the schedules of those who sign up. Class size: 6

92077

MUS 108 PS2

 Ensemble for Any Instrument

Patricia Spencer

 T           7:30 pm-9:00 pm

Bard Hall

PA

PART

The large variety of works written “for any instruments” invites exploration of atypical groupings – flute, marimba and tuba have been known to project wonderful blends.  This repertoire often requires a high degree of responsibility on the part of the performer: not only choosing dynamics and tempos but also instrumentation of various phrases and sometimes overall structure.  Members of this ensemble will engage in musical thinking outside the bounds of “normal” chamber music, and will discover how (or if) that may open a new dimension in their approach to more conventional performance.   Class size: 6

Repertoire under consideration:

Frederic Rzewski, Attica [or Les moutons de Panurge]

Arnold Schoenberg, Canon for Thomas Mann, and other canons

Christian Wolff, Snowdrop

Judith Shatin, Grito del Corazón

Kurt Schwitters, Ursonate (selection)

Stefan Wolpe, Selections from “Music for Any Instruments” 

 

92034

MUS 108D

 Ensemble: Chamber Singers

James Bagwell

 T  Th     4:40 pm-6:40 pm

BITO CPS

 

PART

2 credits.  Class size: 25

 

92037

MUS 108F

 Ensemble: Community Jazz OrchESTRA

Thurman Barker

M            7:00 pm-9:00 pm

BLM N211

PA

PART

Class size: 12

 

92080

MUS 108H

 Ensemble: Balinese Gamelan

Ketut Suadin

Maria Sonevytsky

M            5:00 pm-7:00 pm

OLIN GREEN ROOM

PA

PART

Class size: 20

 

92038

MUS 108J

 Ensemble: Percussion

Thurman Barker

 T           4:00 pm-5:30 pm

BLM N211

PA

PART

Class size: 12

 

92065

MUS 108N EL

 Contemporary Jazz Composers

Erica Lindsay

M            4:40 pm-6:40 pm

BLM HALL

PA

PART

2 credits This class will involve the interpretation of contemporary composers’ works, ranging from sextet to big band.  This will be an advanced class restricted to instrumentalists (and vocalists) who have the necessary reading, technical, and interpretive skills to perform demanding music.  There will be a featured composer who will visit as a guest artist and perform in concert with the ensemble each semester.  Pieces written by student composers involved in the jazz composition classes will also be performed.  Class size will vary according to the amount of qualified instrumentalists and the instrumentation requirements of the featured composer.  Interested students are encouraged to sign up at registration, although confirmation of participation will only be given after auditions are held. Auditions will be conducted during the first scheduled class meeting.  Class size: 12

 

92067

MUS 108R

 Bard Georgian Choir

Carl Linich

   Th       4:40 pm-7:00 pm

BDH

PA

PART

The Bard Georgian Choir is an all-vocal group that studies and performs traditional polyphonic songs from the Republic of Georgia (former USSR). Most songs are taught orally, and no previous singing experience or music reading skills are required. Special vocal techniques are also explored, including ornamented singing and yodeling. The group performs concerts at the end of each semester. Carl Linich, the choir’s director, has been a scholar, teacher and acclaimed performer of Georgian polyphonic singing since 1990, and is a founding member of Trio Kavkasia. A basic ability to match pitch is required. Please contact the instructor directly: [email protected] to arrange auditions. Class size: 30

 

92048

MUS 121

 History on the Music Stage: Poppea & Hamilton

Gergely Fazekas

 T  Th     11:50 am-1:10 pm

BLM N210

AA

AART

Opera as ‘high-art’ is often seen in contrast to the Broadway musical as a form of public entertainment. Yet in mid-17th century Venice, at the beginning of its history, opera was showbiz par excellence. Operas by Cavalli, Sacrati and Monteverdi—and their production and reception—far closer resemble today’s Broadway musicals than contemporary opera does. The course offers a comparative study of one of the best known early baroque operas, Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea (1642), and the new Broadway hit, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton (2015). Both works are based on a historical narrative (one on the story of the eccentric ancient Roman emperor Nero, as described by Tacitus, the other on the American founding father, Alexander Hamilton, as described by historian Ron Chernow), both play with the conventions of the respective genres (Monteverdi with the standard operatic forms such as lament, lullaby, love duet, while Miranda pairs Broadway style with hip-hop), both use an elevated form of speech in the dialogues (one the recitative, the other rap), and both offer the audience an irresistible musico-dramatic experience.  Class size: 20

 

92059

MUS 169

 Listening to String Quartets

Marka Gustavsson

 T  Th     10:10 am-11:30 am

OLIN 104

AA

AART

Many composers of string quartets reserved that particular genre for their most profound and unusual utterances. We will listen to the expressive, conversational music in this form, from its roots in the Classical First Viennese School, through German Romanticism, European Nationalism, the Second Viennese School, up to and including American and European Modernism. In addition to developing tools for listening to this complex polyphonic texture, through classroom experience with recordings, and attending concerts, we will read composers’ letters such as Beethoven’s Heiligenstadt testament, as well as articles from current publications including such authors as Alex Ross, Kyle Gann, Christopher Gibbs, and Richard Taruskin. Assignments will include two papers (5 pages), one concert review, informal writing in class, and a final project. Knowledge of music notation is not required.  This course does no fulfill a music history credit.  Class size: 16

 

92046

MUS 171

 Jazz Harmony I

John Esposito

M  W       9:40 am-11:30 am

BLM N211

PA

PART

Cross-listed: Africana Studies  Introduces the basic harmonic structures that are components of the Blues and the Tin Pan Alley songs that modern Jazz musicians used as vehicles for improvisation. Basic keyboard skills are learned including transposition. The semester includes a short historical survey of Blues and of Jazz from Ragtime to the Swing era as part of the effort to understand the practice of the technical/aesthetic fundamentals specific to Jazz as a 20th-century African American music including an introduction to the contribution of female musicians to the Jazz legacy. There is an ear-training component to this course. The melodic component includes singing the basic 20th-century harmonic materials, Blues melodies and transcriptions of solos by Jazz masters. It includes the practice of the syncopated rhythmic language underlying linear melodic phrasing. This course fulfills a music theory/performance requirement for music majors. Required course for moderating into the Jazz program.   Class size: 22

 

92075

MUS 185

 Intro to Ethnomusicology

Maria Sonevytsky

 T  Th     10:10 am-11:30 am

BLM N210

SA

SSCI

 

Cross-listed: Anthropology This course provides an introduction to the discipline of ethnomusicology, the study of music in and around its social and cultural contexts. Through our exploration of the materiality and meaning of music, we will listen to wide-ranging examples of sounds from around the globe. We will consider ways to listen deeply and to write critically about music. We will examine how music has been represented in the past and how it is variously represented today, and will develop ethnographic research and writing skills. We will ask questions about the utility and value of music as a commodity in our everyday lives and in our globalized world. We will debate the ethics of musical appropriations and collaborations. We will examine both the foundational questions of the discipline (addressing debates about musical authenticity, musical origins, universals, comparative frameworks, and the preservationist ethos) as well as recent subjects of ethnomusicological concern. Topics will include: media and technology; post-colonial issues; music and language; hybridity; circulation and consumption; music and labor; music and gender; and the relevance of music to contemporary indigenous politics and human rights.   

Class size: 15

 

92033

MUS 190

 Death Set to Music

James Bagwell

 T  Th     11:50 am-1:10 pm

BLM N211

AA

AART

This course will discuss and analyze a number of key musical works that use death and mourning as subject matter.  Works to be analyzed will include the Requiems of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giuseppe Verdi, Johannes Brahms, Benjamin Britten and Paul Hindemith.  Other works will include Johann Sebastian Bach’s Johannes-Passion, and Ich habe genug (Cantata 82).  Evaluation will be based on two exams and a research paper.  This course fulfills a music history requirement for music majors. Class size: 20

 

92040

MUS 201

 Music Theory / Ear Training

Erika Allen

Alexander Bonus

M T W Th                 1:30 pm-2:50 pm

BLM N217

PA

PART

This course serves as an introduction to music theory and music making, and is the entry-level course to the classical theory sequence. Basics of musical notation will be the starting point, after which we will move quickly to scales and recognition of triads and seventh chords, as well as rhythmic performance. At all times the course will emphasize analysis of real music, and an ear-training component will reinforce the theoretical knowledge with practical experience. There are no prerequisites; the course serves as prerequisite for Music Theory II and all high-level theory courses. This fulfills theory requirements. 

Class size: 20

 

92036

MUS 211

 Jazz in Literature I

Thurman Barker

M  W       10:10 am-11:30 am

BLM N210

AA

AART

Cross-listed: Africana Studies; American Studies This course presents some of the short stories and poems by Rudolph Fisher, Langston Hughes, Ann Petry, and Julio Cortazar. The texts used in this section is Hot and Cool by Marcela Briton and the Harlem Renaissance Reader, edited by David Lewis.  This course counts towards the music history requirement for the music program. Class size: 22

 

92050

MUS 233

 Evolution of the Sonata

Kyle Gann

 T  Th     11:50 am-1:10 pm

BLM N217

AA

AART

Sonata form is the most pervasive collective achievement in European music, running from the early 18th century on and still influencing the way much music is written today. It was considered such a natural phenomenon that it was discussed as having been "discovered," not merely invented by humans, yet in many ways it was an artificial formula that killed as much music as it enlivened. This analysis course will study sonata form in its glorious heyday, before it was officially labeled by A.B. Marx in 1828. We'll start with simple binary forms of Kuhnau and Sammartini, proceeding through works of C.P.E. Bach, Haydn, Clementi, Mozart, Dussek, Beethoven, Hummel, and Schubert, with Schumann and Brahms as an epilogue. The course will be graded on two analysis papers and weekly analysis of sonatas and symphonies given in class. It fulfills a theory requirement for music majors and is intended for musicians who have had Theory 1 and 2 or the equivalent, but any interested and qualified student is welcome. Class size: 22

 

92082

MUS 238

 History of Electronic Music

Richard Teitelbaum

  W         1:30 pm-3:50 pm

BLM N119

AA

AART

In the 1920’s, a number of new electronic instruments such as the Theremin, the Ondes Martenot, and the Trautonium were invented, and a number of composers, including Hindemith and Messiaen, composed new works for them.  After the invention of magnetic recording tape in the late 40’s electronic music became an enterprise that was produced in special studios and fixed on tape for later playback. Starting around 1960, John Cage and David Tudor began experimental performances with such works as Cartridge Music (1960), Variations II and other pieces that reintroduced the live performer to the electronic medium.  Many composers, such as Mumma, Behrman, Lucier, Ashley, Stockhausen, Nono, and Boulez, as well as collective improvisationally-based groups such as AMM Music in London, and Musica Elettronica Viva in Rome soon followed suit.  During the 60’s and 70’s, with the advent of smaller and the more personal synthesizers invented by Moog, Buchla and others, the field of live electronic music became a practical reality. Some ten years later, a similar sequence of events took place with regard to computer music, where the large mainframes of the 50’s and 60’s were superseded by the PC revolution of the late 70’s and 80’s.  This was followed by the more recent development of the laptop that has enabled performers to carry powerful, portable computers on stage. This course will trace these developments, examine the literature of the field, encourage live performances of “classic” pieces, and the creation and performance of new compositions and improvisations. It is strongly recommended that this course be taken in conjunction with Electro-Acoustic Ensemble.  This course counts towards the music history requirement for music majors.  Class size: 16

 

92071

MUS 240

 Introduction to Electronic Music

Matthew Sargent

M  W       10:10 am-11:30 am

BLM N119

PA

PART

This hands-on course will serve as an introduction to music technology and will focus on the creation of original work, including a final project, through the use of digital and analog tools and processes. Students will be introduced to foundational practices in electro-acoustic sound production and their contemporary/digital analogues, with particular emphasis on signal processing, studio and field recording, and modes of diffusion, including multichannel installation and live performance, and instruction in digital audio workstation software (Logic Pro, Pro Tools, and others). Examples from the history of electronic music will assist students in exploring contemporary approaches to electronic music software and technology. Enrollment in the course automatically gives students access to the Bard electronic music studios. Class size: 20

92051

MUS 250

 Postmodern Music / Postmodern   Listening

Kyle Gann

 T  Th     3:10 pm-4:30 pm

BLM N217

AA

AART

For thirty years postmodern has been a notoriously difficult term to apply in music with any consistency. The late theorist Jonathan Kramer, though, advanced a view that postmodern is less a musical attribute than a style of listening, and his posthumous book Postmodern Music, Postmodern Listening represents the most profound work available on the topic. This course will use that book as a text, and will explore issues such as, what does it mean when we mix different styles in a piece of music? How do we know when to listen ironically? Is surreal music possible? Can music reorder our sense of linear time? Is postmodern music inherently a critique of modernism, or a new historical period? We’ll be listening critically, sometimes ironically, to works from Charles Ives and Carl Nielsen to John Cage to John Adams to George Rochberg to John Zorn and beyond, basically constructing a philosophical framework for justifying musical style choices in the 21st century. Coursework will include two research papers, additional readings, and plenty of class and Moodle discussion. Some prior acquaintance with musical analysis will prove helpful, and we will be reading musical scores in class,  though compensatory skills in other areas might successfully substitute. This course fulfills a music theory requirement for music majors. Class size: 22

 

92081

MUS 254A

 Pronunciation & Diction for  Singers I

Erika Switzer

 T  Th     10:10 am-11:30 am

BDH

 

PART

This two-semester course is an introduction to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), its symbols and practical use in performing or preparing Italian, French, German and English vocal literature. The fall semester will be devoted to the English and Italian languages, the spring to German and French. Through song literature, students will take from this course a basic understanding of pronunciation rules and rhythm of each language. No previous knowledge of the languages is required. Class size: 10

 

92061

MUS 262

 Topics in Music Software: video game and media composition

Paul Hembree

M  W       11:50 am-1:10 pm

BLM N119

AA

AART

Cross-listed: Experimental Humanities  In this course, students will learn how to integrate sound and music into interactive experiences, primarily using the Unity game engine and editor. Unity is a widely used tool in interactive media design, allowing users to publish stand-alone applications on multiple platforms, including desktop, mobile, web and virtual reality. Specific topics will include contrasting sample-based vs. procedural sound design, musical cues that adapt to user input, algorithmic or generative music, and techniques for designing convincing spatial audio. Students will also learn basic programming concepts, using easy-to-integrate scriptable behaviors in the C# language. This course is open to majors and non-majors. Students should have some previous classroom experience in electronic music (such as Introduction to Electronic Music), electronic arts, or computer science.  Class size: 15

 

92055

MUS 265

 Literature & Language of Music – Romantic MUSIC

Christopher Gibbs

M  W       11:50 am-1:10 pm

BLM N217

AA

AART

A survey of selected musical works composed in the late 18th and 19th centuries.  Works will be placed in a broad historical context with specific focus on stylistic and compositional traits.  In addition, musical terminology, composers and historical and theoretical methodology will be introduced and described in relationship to the repertoire.  Students will be evaluated on the basis of short essays and two listening exams.  This course counts towards the music history requirement for music majors.  It is not required that students have taken the first semester (Music 264), which covered music from the Middle Ages to 1800. 

Class size: 20

 

92045

MUS 266A

 American Popular Song 1900-1929

John Esposito

M  W       11:50 am-1:10 pm

BLM N211

AA

AART

DIFF

Cross-listed: Africana Studies, American Studies - This performance-based course is a survey of the major American popular song composers of the Tin Pan Alley era, whose work forms the core of the  Jazz repertoire. Composers studied will include Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Walter Donaldson, Vincent Youmans, Richard Whiting, Henderson/Da Silva/ Brown and others. The course will include readings, recorded music, and films. The students and instructor will perform the music studied in a workshop setting. Prerequisite: Jazz Harmony II or permission of the instructor. This fulfills a music history requirement for music majors.  Class size: 22

 

92049

MUS 277

 J. S. Bach's Musical Imagination

Gergely Fazekas

  W  F     11:50 am-1:10 pm

BLM N210

AA

AART

J.S. Bach has long dominated concert programmes and music history curricula as the foremost representative of Baroque music. This fact has distorted both how we see Bach and the music of his age. The course attempts to put Bach back into his own time, giving an insight into the musical and cultural contexts in which Bach worked. After two general introductory classes, the course surveys the most important genres that Bach cultivated. His sonatas, concertos, suites, organ works and cantatas will be compared with those of his fellow composers Corelli, Vivaldi, Handel, the French clavecinists and North-German organists. Vocal music will be the topic of three subsequent classes, then the focus will be put on more theoretical issues such as what kind of contrapuntal and formal mechanisms work beneath the surface of Bach’s music. Questions of a more aesthetic nature will appear at the end the course: how Bach treated the texts he set to music, how and why he built up carefully designed sets and cycles from his works, and where to place him in the aesthetic landscape of the early 18th century.  Class size: 12

92042

MUS 328

 A History of Rhythm: finding the beat in european music from 1000 to 2000 ce.

Alexander Bonus

 T           1:30 pm-3:50 pm

BLM N210

AA

AART

“In the Beginning, there was Rhythm,” states the opening of an influential nineteenth-century study on time, motion, and labor. Although catchy, the adage is utterly fallacious. As this course attempts to show, there was never agreement about the phenomenon of “Rhythm” in the whole of human history. Musical rhythm, like time, is more accurately considered a relativity -- notions of musical motion, pulse, and meter vary across locations, communities, and individuals. Indeed, musical time changes over the course of time itself. In a History of Rhythm, students will discover various definitions for “The Beat,” multiple meanings and practices that dictated “good rhythm” within various musical cultures. Weekly lectures focus on historical musical notation, pedagogical techniques, compositional trends, and performance practices. The class will also analyze musical manuscripts and first editions by Machaut, Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Beethoven, Stravinsky, and others. An ability to read music is required. Through the student's successful completion of a final project, this course can fulfill either the music history or theory requirement. Class size: 14

 

92110

MUS 335

 Jazz:The Freedom Principle III

Thurman Barker

M            1:30 pm-3:50 pm

BLM N210

 

AART

Cross-listed:  Africana Studies, American Studies  The third part of a four-part course in Jazz History. This section is a study of modern jazz from 1937 to 1950. Emphasis will focus on modern musicians such as Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillispie and Max Roach. We will examine the solo and combo style of these musicians. Also we will examine how the music developed from Swing to Bebop. This will be illustrated with recordings and films. This course employs a cultural approach designed to look at the social climate surrounding the music through the 40’s, such as World War II, Jim Crow laws in the south and the recording industry strike. Classroom discussions will focus on the different styles of each musician. Students will be evaluated by written assignments and oral presentations. This course reaches out to anyone with an interest in Jazz and would like to get a better understanding of the music and its effect on our culture in the last 100 years.  Enrollment limited.  This course counts towards the music history requirement for music majors.  Class size: 15

 

92074

MUS 347

 Contemporary  Ethnographies  of  Music and Sound

Maria Sonevytsky

  W         2:00 pm-4:30 pm

BLM N210

AA

AART

Cross-listed: Anthropology   Students in this advanced seminar will read and interpret recently published ethnographic works on music and sound. We will examine the themes, intellectual frameworks, and guiding questions of cutting-edge critical music and sound studies, and learn how to situate individual projects into broader frameworks of knowledge. Selected authors will visit the seminar to provide a “backstage” perspective on the process of research and writing. Seminar participants will be able to choose at least one text (a recently published monograph or journal article) on a topic of their interest that will be read by the entire class. Topics may include: war and acoustic violence, the politics of aesthetics, gender and performance, cultural policy and music, indigenous modernities and human rights, media and childhood, and other subjects. Regions studied may include: South Africa, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Australia, Japan, Nepal, rural Vermont, and other areas subject to students’ interests and expertise. Students will be expected to lead class discussion once during the semester, provide weekly discussion questions, and write two short book reviews. Preference will be given to students who plan to pursue an ethnographic senior project in Music, Anthropology, or Sociology. Class size: 15

92072

MUS 352

 Electronic, ELECTROAcoustic, and Computer composition

Matthew Sargent

M            1:30 pm-3:50 pm

BLM N119

PA

PART

This course, intended primarily for music majors, will be focused on the individual creative work of the students enrolled. The course will serve as a workshop environment for student work: participants will be expected to regularly present and discuss their ongoing compositional projects. These will be examined by the instructor and other class members. Students may also take on collaborative works, installations, and intermedia projects. Analyses and class presentations of contemporary electroacoustic repertoire will also be expected of the students during the semester. This fulfills a music theory requirement. Class size: 12

92084

MUS 364

Composition Techniques for Musicians and Orchestrations toolkit

George Tsontakis

  W         1:30 pm-3:50 pm

BLM N211

PA

PART

A multi-faceted workshop designed for composers, conductors and instrumentalist to include all aspects of composing and manuscript and parts formatting and preparation for student's original chamber to orchestral works. Unveiling the composition techniques by "modeling" historical masters in order to enhance ones own work. Writing after works by composers such as Debussy, Stravinsky, Ravel, Schoenberg, Bartok and Messiaen. Students will offer works to review as well, including conductor's and performers score study. Class size: 12

 

92047

MUS 366C

 Advanced Contemporary Jazz Techniques  III

John Esposito

 T           9:10 am-11:30 am

BLM N211

PA

PART

Cross-listed:  Africana Studies  This course will focus on strategies for improvisation without predetermined chord structures or rhythmic frameworks and on methods for shaping performances spontaneously.  We will also explore collaboration with artists from other disciplines such as dance, spoken word and visual arts. This class is open to moderated upper college students who have successfully completed advanced contemporary Jazz techniques A & B. Class size: 15

 

92269

MUS 367A

 Jazz Composition I

Erica Lindsay

  W         6:00 pm-9:00 pm

BLM N211

PA

PART

This class acts as an introduction to jazz composition, covering first practical aspects of notation, instrumentation, Sibelius/Finale and score/parts preparation that will be necessary for the remainder of the two year sequence.  The focus of the first semester is on the less structured realm of modal harmony. Students compose and have their piece performed in class on a weekly basis allowing them to begin to find their own voice and to master the practical techniques necessary for a successful performance of their work. Class size: 12

 

92054

MUS PROJ LGR

 Special Projects

Luis Garcia-Renart

    TBD

 TBD

 

PART

Interested students should contact Prof. Garcia-Renart in person (Blum 201). Class size: 8

 

 

MUSIC WORKSHOPS:

Workshops carry 2 credits, unless otherwise noted.

 

92063

MUS WKSH EK

 Advanced Orchestral Audition Prep.

Erica Kiesewetter

    TBD

 TBD

PA

PART

This class is for advanced violinists (and any orchestral instrumentalist) who would like to learn orchestral excerpts for festival and orchestra auditions. The student is expected to prepare 3-5 excerpts in the semester, play in class most weeks, and participate in feedback. The class will involve detailed coaching on the excerpts including a focus on understanding the work in context and the composer's style, advice on preparation and performance anxiety and mock audition practice. Final is a mock audition with 3-5 excerpts.  Class size: 12

 

92058

MUS WKSH GM

 Sonata & Chamber Workshop

Marka Gustavsson

Blair McMillen

    TBD

 TBD

PA

PART

This workshop will explore the wide repertoire of sonatas with instrument and piano, as coached by the professors. Students may sign up as a pre-formed group or be placed. Open to college and conservatory students by recommendation or audition.  Class size: 12

 

92052

MUS WKSH LGR

 Performance Class

Luis Garcia-Renart

  W         4:00 pm-7:00 pm

BLM HALL

PA

PART

Students must contact Prof. Garcia-Renart in person prior to online registration (Blum 201). Class size: 25

92083

MUS WKSHA

 Workshop: Composition

Joan Tower

M            1:30 pm-3:50 pm

BLM HALL

PA

PART

This workshop is for both composers and performers- primarily music majors who can read music. The process is one of learning how to put one's musical soul onto the page, pass that page first to players in the class and then to Conservatory players as well as the College Players who record and play these pieces.  All along the way, the hope is that the music will "come back" to the composer as he or she had intended it to with some kind of profile and excitement.  Students should email Prof. Tower ([email protected]) prior to registration to determine eligibility. Class size: 10

 

92069

MUS WKSHB RM

 Workshop -  Performance Class: Wayward Women; Female Composers in a Man’s World

Rufus Muller

M            4:40 pm-7:00 pm

BITO CPS

PA

PART

Song recitals can often be boring, or even alienating.  In this class we explore ways to make the performance of art song moving and satisfying for performer and public alike.  For collaborative pianists as well as singers.  Class size: 15

 

92044

MUS WKSHL

 Workshop: Opera Workshop

Teresa Buchholz

Ilka LoMonaco

Rufus Muller

  W         4:40 pm-7:00 pm

BDH

PA

PART

In the Fall Semester we prepare a themed program of operatic excerpts (choruses, ensembles, solos), which is performed in the Fisher Center, fully staged and with orchestra, in the early part of the Spring Semester. Typically this involves intensive rehearsals during the week before Spring Semester, and evening rehearsals in the first week of semester. Students enrolling in the Fall Semester for two credits thus commit themselves to the final rehearsals and performances in the Spring Semester, which earn them an additional two credits.  Enrollment is by audition. Please contact Professors Müller ([email protected]) and LoMonaco ([email protected]) for details.  Class size: 30

 

92079

MUS WKSHN

 "Hands-on" Music History

Patricia Spencer

 T           5:00 pm-7:00 pm

BDH

 

PART

Members of this class will explore our musical past by playing it!  Also improving sight reading, the course will cover a sampling of chamber music

from different eras.  Members will build familiarity with a wide variety of harmonies and musical styles (mostly European) from the Renaissance through

the present.  Background readings and class discussion about the composers will provide historical context for the works being played. Parts and scores

will be provided one week in advance for those who prefer to prepare their sight-reading.  Composers may include but are not limited to: Gesualdo,

Machaut, di Lasso, Monteverdi, Purcell, Frederick the Great, J.S. Bach and his sons, Vivaldi, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Dvorak,

Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Ravel, Copland, Cage, Carter, Rzewski and many more. Works will not be rehearsed to a performance level, but may occasionally be repeated.  Class size: 16

 

92066

MUS WKSP3

 Workshop: Jazz Improvisation

Erica Lindsay

   Th       4:40 pm-7:40 pm

BLM N211

PA

PART

This class is an ensemble performance workshop focused on developing improvisational skills within the harmonic context of both jazz harmony and free improvisation. The goal is to develop facility in being able to improvise over harmonic structures from the blues to more free form styles of improvisation. Students are assigned to an ensemble that is appropriate to the level of their experience. Class size: 12

 

92261

MUS WKSP7

jazz vocal workshop

Pamela Pentony

   Tu       4:30 pm – 7:00 pm

BLM HALL

PA

PART

Beginning level course:  The Jazz Vocal Workshop is a performance workshop designed to familiarize the beginning singer with the components of a successful jazz performance.  How to begin a song (intros) and how to end a song (outros and turnarounds), how to pick a key, a song and a tempo.  How to utilize simple (and not so simple) arrangements.  Particular attention is paid to phrasing.  The language of scat singing, with emphasis on practice in every class.  The forms of the blues, rhythm changes and 32 bar song form, and practical applications taken from The Great American Songbook.  There is one (or more) concert(s) scheduled during the semester and students are encouraged to seek out and perform in many local venues.  There is a final exam in this class. Class size: no limit.

92262

MUS WKSHD

sight reading workshop

Mike DeMicco

   Tu       12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

BLM HALL

PA

PART

This workshop is designed to improve basic music reading skills. Drawing from a varied selection of material such as lead sheets, jazz fake book charts and simple to intermediate classical etudes, students learn to read melody and rhythm more confidently. This course works well for C (concert) instruments and may be adapted for other instruments as well. Class size: 14

 

 

PRIVATE LESSONS – (register for lessons with a drop/add form.)

All students are eligible for private music instruction. Lessons can be taken for either one or two credits or audited (no credit). In order to receive credit, the student must be registered with the Registrar’s office. Registration for private lessons must be completed by the end of the add/drop period (September 13th).

When lessons are taken for credit, the student must also be enrolled in a music ensemble or the equivalent, to be determined by the Music Dept. The ensemble can be taken for credit or audited. Students taking lessons for credit are assessed a nominal lab fee of $200 per semester by the college (approximately $16.66 per lesson X 12 lessons) whether it is 1 or 2 credits. Students receive 12 lessons per semester. If private lessons are audited (no credit), a fee is mutually agreed upon by the student and the instructor. Audited lessons will not appear in the student’s registration or on the transcript. If students are taking more than one lesson, the same rules apply as above – the student must be enrolled in another ensemble to receive the lesson rate of $200 per semester.

 


Ø  Kathryn Aldous - violin

Ø  Teresa Buchholz – classical voice

Ø  Ira Coleman - jazz bass

Ø  David Degge - percussion

Ø  Mike DiMicco - jazz guitar

Ø  Dani Dobkin-  Serge modular synthesizer

Ø  Greg Glassman - jazz trumpet

Ø  Marka Gustavsson – violin, viola

Ø  Larry Ham – jazz piano

Ø  Ryan Kamm - classical bass

Ø  Erica Kiesewetter – violin

Ø  Ilka LoMonaco- classical voice

Ø  Blair McMillen - piano

Ø  Rufus Müller – classical voice

Ø  Peter O'Brien - jazz drums

Ø  Isabelle O’Connell - piano

Ø  Pamela Pentony - voice (jazz)

Ø  Steve Raleigh – jazz guitar

Ø  Raman Ramakrishnan - cello

Ø  Patricia Spencer – flute

Ø  Erika Switzer – classical piano

Ø  John Charles Thomas - trumpet (classical and jazz), French horn and didjeridu

Ø  Carlos Valdez – Latin jazz, hand percussion and drums

Ø  Bruce Williams - jazz and classical saxophone