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尝辞补诲颈苍驳鈥

Let’s take it from the top.

Whatever has ignited your passion for music, you can stoke that fire as a music major in any of four tracks of study: performance, composition and theory, history and criticism, and technology.

As a music major, you鈥檒l get involved and begin playing the moment you arrive on campus. Whether you鈥檙e interested in recording technology or hoping to get on stage, you鈥檒l meet and collaborate with innovative professors and peers, benefiting from a liberal arts education that will enable you to create your best music and prepare for work in a variety of musical fields.

Catalog Requirements for:

Why Study Music at 顶级国产视频?

  • Hone your musicianship in Estabrook Hall鈥檚 rehearsal space, recording studio, and practice rooms 鈥 or take to the stage in the Traina Center for the Arts鈥 Razzo Hall.
  • Perform as a member of 顶级国产视频鈥檚 many vocal and instrumental ensembles, including chamber music ensembles, 顶级国产视频 Concert Choir and Chamber Chorus, Jazz Workshop, Concert Band, and the Sinfonia string ensemble.
  • Work closely with renowned faculty mentors who can guide and support your practice.
  • Explore music鈥檚 potential to advance social causes, and use your talents to generate political action and social justice聽鈥 whether by serving at-risk youth in Worcester, or volunteering with a local arts organization.

The Music Path

As you begin to study music at 顶级国产视频, you鈥檒l take foundational courses that begin to build the intellectual and critical tools you鈥檒l need for advanced work in music performance, theory, history, and technology. As you complete foundational courses, you鈥檒l put your knowledge into action through workshops and seminars, and learn the intellectual, practical, and personal skills that are the hallmark of 顶级国产视频鈥檚 LEEP model of education. In workshop courses, you鈥檒l build “communities of practice” by bringing your developing proficiencies and interests to bear on challenging project-based tasks that require collaboration and integration of skills. For example, in MUSC 225: Jazz and Popular Music Composition and Performance, faculty mentors work with students as composers, performers, critics, and audio engineers to create new compositions from concept to recording.

Private Lessons

Private lessons for nonmajors and majors are offered with or without course credit in several areas. See MUSC 180 – Private Instruction in Instruments and Voice (for credit for majors and minors) and MUSC 018 Private Instruction for Instruments and Voice (noncredit).

Double-Majors and Minors

顶级国产视频 Visual and Performing Arts Department (V&PA) majors are a motivated, tight-knit group. In fact, many music majors often double-major or complete a minor in another V&PA discipline (art history; media, culture and the arts;听screen studies; studio art; or聽theatre arts), each of which has its own distinct curriculum聽鈥 and faculty who encourage collaborative work.

Skills you will learn include:

  • Music theory聽鈥 the study of the practices and possibilities of music
  • Critical thinking and analysis聽鈥 music composition and music history
  • Collaboration聽鈥 performance and academic workshops and group projects
  • Technical skills 鈥斅 audio engineering/sound synthesis studio
  • Leadership聽鈥 performance groups, academic workshops, and group projects

Robert P. Manero Memorial Music Award
The Robert P. Manero Memorial Music Award聽was established in 1987 by the 顶级国产视频 music program in honor of lecturer Robert P. Manero. The awards are given to outstanding seniors in the Visual and Performing Arts Department music program.

Robert. P. Manero Prize for Musical Scholarship
This prize recognizes an outstanding scholarly work written by a 顶级国产视频 undergraduate that addresses music. Any scholarly project that explores music from a historical and/or critical perspective is eligible for consideration. This work may take any form, typically an academic paper written for a course or seminar, but other formats, including electronic publications, are eligible. Possible approaches include music analysis, music history, musicology, cultural studies, music cognition, music in politics, or music as social text. The submissions will be judged on the basis of their depth of research, critical and historical acuity, strength of documentation, and clarity of thought and presentation.

Robert P. Manero Prize for for Musical Creativity
This prize recognizes an outstanding creative project involving music created by a 顶级国产视频 undergraduate. This work may take any form, typically a notated musical composition, a recorded project, an electro-acoustic composition, a multi-media project with a substantial musical component, or a recital performance. The submissions will be judged on the basis of their music quality, the level of technical skill, creativity, and clarity of conception and presentation.

Patricia M. Plamondon Undergraduate Award in Visual and Performing Arts
The Patricia M. Plamondon Award is given to juniors and seniors who have demonstrated their talent in and commitment to the arts and for whom the award will serve to enhance their studies, research, or project-related travel. The award is made annually by a vote of the full-time faculty of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts.

As a music student, you鈥檒l spend a lot of time in the Traina Center for the Arts, which features a recital hall, multimedia center, and resource library, and in聽Estabrook Hall, which includes rehearsal space, practice rooms, and a recording studio.

During your junior year, you might be accepted into the music honors program. Joining the program means you鈥檒l work closely with a professor to create a thesis or project on a topic of your choice. Examples of recent honors topics are:

  • Thesis: 鈥淛ust Like 鈥Clockwork:鈥 An Analysis of the Symbolism of Beethoven鈥檚 Ninth Symphony in Anthony Burgess鈥檚 and Stanley Kubrick鈥檚 A Clockwork Orange
  • Composition: 鈥淐raven angels鈥 for String Quartet; premiered: Razzo Hall, 顶级国产视频, QX String

Building your foundation

The 顶级国产视频 Experience

We structure our curriculum around Liberal Education and Effective Practice (LEEP), which connects classroom learning with action through world and workplace experiences.

Learn More

Faculty and Programs in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts