[WesMaps Home Page] [Course Search] [Course Search by CID]

MUSIC

Professors: Anthony Braxton, Neely Bruce, Alvin Lucier, Mark Slobin (Chair)

Associate Professor: Eric Charry, Su Zheng

Assistant Professor: Peter Hoyt

Adjunct Professors: Abraham Adzenyah, Ronald Kuivila, Mr. Sumarsam, Tanjore Viswanathan

Adjunct Associate Professor: Angel Gil-Ordóñez

Adjunct Assistant Professor: Jay Hoggard

Artist-in-Residence: I. Harjito

Visiting Artist: David Nelson

University Organist: Ronald Ebrecht

Departmental Advising Experts (2000-2001): Neely Bruce, Peter Hoyt

 

Private Lessons Teachers: Pheeroan Aklaff, Drums; John Banker, Tuba; Garrett Bennett, Bassoon/Saxophone; Carver Blanchard, Guitar/Lute; Curt Blood, Clarinet; Eugene Bozzi, Percussion; William Braun, Piano; Nancy Brown, Trumpet; Susan Burkhart, Guitar; Perry Elliot, Violin; James Fryer, Trombone; Priscilla Gale, Voice; Robert Hoyle, French Horn; Mary Hoyt, Baroque Strings; Masayo Ishigure, Koto; Andrew Leonard, Guitar; Tony Lombardozzi, Guitar(Jazz); Shirley Meier, Voice; Sarah Meneely-Kyder, Piano; Veejay Mokkapati, South Indian Vina; Sally Ranti, Harp; Julie Ribchinsky, Cello; Wayne Rivera, Voice; Sanda Schuldmann, Piano; Fred Simmons, Piano(Jazz); Ray Spiegel, Tabla; Peter Standaart, Flute; Libby Van Cleve, Oboe; Marvin Warshaw, Viola; Roy Wiseman, Bass; Chai-lun Yueh, Voice.

The Music Department offers course work and performing opportunities in both Western and non-Western music at undergraduate and graduate levels. Prior to acceptance as a music major, students must complete MUSC103 (Elementary Theory and Practice) or pass the equivalent by exam. Major programs are put together by the students in consultation with their advisors. They reflect the individual interests and needs of the students. The department requires that a program proposal, including all music courses previously taken and those planned for the future, be submitted at the time of application to be a major. Students considering a music major are advised to come to the department office where they will be assigned a major advisor. The Music Department requires the completion of an in-house major concentration form, which will be given to each student when he/she is assigned an advisor. Since the music faculty as a body approve all major programs, prospective majors are urged to complete this form two weeks before the deadline for declaration to allow for music faculty action.

Two guidelines must be applied to all major programs:

1. A major program should have a healthy balance between classroom courses (history, theory, style) and performance courses (private instrumental and vocal instruction, ensemble). It is a fundamental principle of the Wesleyan music program that the study of music and the experience of music should reinforce and inspire each other.

2. A major program should show evidence of work in at least one musical tradition outside the area of the student’s prime concentration. The understanding that comes with new experiences is an essential part of the music opportunity at Wesleyan.

The program includes four credits of required courses for the major. Every major is required to enroll in MUSC101 (Worlds of Music) twice, or one semester of MUSC101 and one semester of MUSC206 (How Ethnomusicology Works). Each major is also required to take two semesters of MUSC300 (Seminar for Music Majors), which is offered each semester.

Prospective majors should note that courses at the 100 level are by nature preparatory; any will be helpful as general background and for obtaining permission to enter higher-numbered courses. However, eight courses above the 200 level are required.

The Music Department expects its majors to continue to refine and extend their performance skills throughout their undergraduate careers. This often means that students take performance courses over and above the normal four or five courses per semester so that they may maintain a balance between classroom and performance work while keeping up their performance skills and, at the same time, satisfy the University expectations that they have at least 20 courses outside the major. This practice may mean that they end up with more than 34 courses for the B.A. Students are reminded that a load of six or more courses in one semester requires the permission of the dean. Music majors should be aware, however, that only performance courses taken during their junior and senior years, or after they have declared a music major, can be counted toward the major–up to five.

All music majors are required to complete a senior project by the end of their final year. The purpose of the project is to give focus to the major by means of independent creative work and to encourage independent study with the close advice and support of a faculty member. Students who choose to undertake an honors thesis may count this as their senior project.

Special activities. The department supports a number of unusual activities, many of which are available to the student body in general as well as to music majors. Among them are the Concert Choir, a large choral group; chamber ensembles and orchestra; ensembles in Javanese, African, African American, and Indian traditions.

The possible foci of study include Western classical music; new music with an emphasis on acoustical explorations; African American music; performance and theory in Indonesian, Indian, and African musics; and European and American music outside the art tradition. These and other possibilities are not mutually exclusive but can be studied in combinations that reflect the interests of individual students. The music profession is international. In many areas of music study at least one foreign language is essential.

Private-lessons program. Private lessons are available for all instruments and voice in Western art music, traditional music, and African American music. Lessons are considered a one credit, per semester, course. An additional fee, $607.80 per semester, is charged for these private lessons. Approved music majors in their junior and senior years are eligible for partial subsidy when taking one (1) private lesson, per semester, with a private-lessons teacher.

Departmental colloquium. An ongoing departmental colloquium is intended for the entire music community. It includes presentations by Wesleyan faculty, students, and outside speakers and encourages general discussion of broad issues in the world of music.

The study facilities include a working collection of music instruments from many different cultures; a music-instrument manufacturing workshop; a 45-piece Javanese gamelan orchestra; a large formal concert hall and a small, multipurpose concert hall; an electronic music studio coupled to a professional recording studio; a computer-arts studio capable of producing electronic music, video art, and environmental simulations; a music and record library; and an archive of world music.

The following is a classified listing of courses offered by the department. (Those numbered above 500 are graduate courses.)

STYLISTIC ANALYSIS

1.Western European music

Worlds of Music (101)

Introduction to Experimental Music (109)

Performing Emily (117)

Haydn & Mozart (121)

Medieval Renaissance Music (221)

Baroque and Classical Music (222)

Music of the 19th and 20th Centuries (223)

The Art Song (225)

Opera (227)

Electroacoustic Music (295)

Computers in Music (296)

Music, Recording & Sound Design (354)

2.Musics other than Western European art music

Introduction to East Asian Music (240)

The Gendering of Music (242)

Afr.Prescences I: Mus. Of Africa (250)

Afr. Presences II: Mus. In the Americas (251)

Body and Soul (270)

Music of South India (313)

Music of North India (314)

Music & Theater of Indonesia (348)

History of African-American Music (381)

Mus. Of Coltrane,Mingus & Coleman (385)

THEORY AND COMPOSITION

Elementary Theory & Practice (103)

Beginning Harmony and Tonal Counterpoint (203)

Intermediate Harmony and Tonal Counterpoint (204)

20th-Century Composition Techniques (205)

Composing, Performing & Listening to Experimental Mus. (236)

Materials and Principles of Jazz Improvisation I (387)

Materials and Principles of Jazz Improvisation II (389)

Jazz Orchestra (397, 397)

Graduate Seminar in Composition (508)

Seminar in South Indian Music (514)

Seminar in Indonesian Music (516)

Comparative Theory (522)

PERFORMANCE

  1. Private instruction
  2. Private Music Lessons (106, 206, 406)

    South Indian Music: Vocal (433)

    South Indian Music: Flute (435)

    South Indian Music: Mrdangam (437)

    South Indian Music: Solkattu (439)

    South Indian: Kanjira (441)

  3. Group instruction

Choral Teaching of African American Music (400)

Mande Music Ensemble (415)

Choral Singing: Concert Choir (426)

Choral Singing: Wesleyan Singers (425)

Wesleyan Orchestra (428)

West African Drumming: Beginners (445)

West African Drumming: Intermediate (446)

West African Drumming: Advanced (447)

Javanese Gamelan: Beginners (451)

Javanese Gamelan: Advanced (453)

Instrumental Chamber Performance (460)

Conducting: Instrumental & Vocal (461)

Steel Band (471, 472)

MUSICOLOGY

Graduate Seminar (505)

Being an Ethnomusicologist (507)

Graduate Seminar in Contemporary Music (509)

Problems and Methods (517)

Seminar in Historical Methodologies (519)

Seminar in Interdisciplinary Studies (521)



Last Update 8/00

 Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions.

Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459