Music - Hamilton College Clinton

Music from Hamilton College Clinton is a Campus Bachelor Music degree that prepares you for a Vocational Programs career. MUSIC IS A FUNDAMENTAL FORM OF HUMAN ART, communication and pleasure ? celebratory, sacred, exploratory and communal. Music is typically one of our earliest and simplest childhood experiences, yet it also can achieve the dizzying complexity of a great symphony. It can be as structured as a string quartet or as fluid and improvisational as a jazz solo. It inspires and informs a remarkable range of human movements and activities, from dance crazes to military marches, from medieval prayer to modern choreography. Hamilton's program in music, in the liberal arts tradition, uses an interdisciplinary approach to explore and build proficiency in the many dimensions of musical experience. The music program provides a range of performance opportunities on and off campus for student musicians and vocalists. Students also explore the historical contexts and theoretical concepts behind many musical styles and forms. The curriculum includes courses in music theory, history, solo and group performance, world music , jazz history, jazz arranging, contemporary music technology, women in music , the psychology of music and conducting. OPPORTUNITIES A performer's "research" is usually the development of performance skills through rehearsal, guidance and commitment. Hamilton's eight ensembles offer a breadth of opportunity exceptional for a college of our size. Students are encouraged to participate in more than one ensemble, and participation earns partial course credit. Solo performance options are also provided. Choir. This group of about 60 singers produces a musical or operetta each year and undertakes an annual spring concert tour. Orchestra. The group now comprises more than 70 students and has recently performed the works of Mendelssohn, Ives, Mozart and Stravinsky. The orchestra has also commissioned new works by several composers. Jazz Ensemble. Focusing on the big band sound, the Jazz Ensemble also provides opportunities for improvisation. It has toured New England and performed at Carnegie Hall. Oratorio. The Hamilton College and Community Oratorio Society, numbering about 135 singers, brings together students, faculty, staff and neighbors to sing great choral masterworks. Brass Choir. The Brass Choir provides music for various College functions as well as performing concerts off campus. Woodwind ensembles. These ensembles encourage the study and performance of music for various combinations of wind instruments. The repertory has included works by Mozart, Richard Strauss, Jacques Ibert and Irving Fine. Chamber music groups. These groups give instrumentalists the opportunity to participate in small ensembles made up of a variety of string and wind instruments and piano. Solo performance. Vocal and instrumental soloists have a range of performing opportunities, including departmental concerts, recitals and featured appearances with ensembles. The department offers courses in vocal and instrumental solo performance by a faculty of private instructors. A fee is charged for such instruction; students receiving financial aid are eligible for assistance In meeting the cost. THE SENIOR PROGRAM The Senior Program is a culminating experience in which senior music majors integrate and build on their first three years of study. The centerpiece of the program is the senior project, a two-semester creative and intellectual effort carried out under the close supervision of at least one faculty member. Senior projects may be either performance- or research-based. More ... RESOURCES The Hans H. Schambach Center for Music and the Performing Arts houses the 700-seat Carol Woodhouse Wellin Performance Hall, two large rehearsal halls, 15 practice rooms, faculty offices and classrooms. Facilities for music also include a well-equipped studio for electronic music; a music library that contains more than 24,000 compact discs and other recordings; state-of-the-art listening and video equipment; computers and synthesizers that assist students in ear training and in instruction in music theory; and a laboratory for experiments in the psychology of music . Instruments of various kinds are available for student use without charge. The College possesses several Steinway grand pianos, a variety of wind, brass and string instruments, a two-manual Noack organ in the College Chapel, a Steinmeyer one-manual Positif organ, a two-manual Dowd harpsichord, a Fudge clavichord, a kora and a Javanese gamelan. View more details on Hamilton College . Ask your questions and apply online for this program or find other related Music courses.