Vocal Performance, B.M.

Program Mission: The School of Music seeks to provide professional training to talented students who pursue careers as performers, teachers, and scholars, and to offer experiences in music to all persons of the College and community, thereby enriching cultural backgrounds and developing musical skills.

Program Goals: The School of Music thus realizes its mission in men and women who as music majors:

• Develop intellectual curiosity about, and the ability to evaluate, the meaning of music and its role in mankind’s search for aesthetic communication and human understanding;
• Strive to become sensitive, well-rounded musicians, through the development of technical proficiency and corresponding creative ability in their primary area(s) of musical performance;
• Develop basic and advanced musicianship skills, and acquire a broad knowledge of historical musical styles;
• Commit themselves to a lifetime of increasing musical awareness and appreciation in their own lives and in their respective communities.

Program Objectives: Students who major in music will demonstrate achievement in the field of music by:

• Demonstrating individual technical proficiency and musical sensitivity, as well as group performance skills, through the performing of solo, small ensemble, and large ensemble music, in their primary areas of performance;
• Successfully completing courses in music theory which develop basic musicianship skills and which study the constructs and compositional techniques of music and its evolution through time;
• Successfully completing courses in music history and literature in which they acquire an in-depth understanding of music and its societal relationships from the earliest recorded time through the present;
• Successfully completing courses in music pedagogy (music education, techniques, methods) and demonstrating the skills obtained in these courses through conducting and performing in colloquium, lab, master classes, student teaching, and other teaching situations.

Westminster College is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music. Lessons, ensembles, and courses are available to all students in the College.

Prospective music majors must fulfill the general admission requirements of the College. They are also required to arrange an audition with the School of Music to demonstrate proficiency in at least one area of performance. A tape recording is acceptable in lieu of an audition on campus.

Degrees

The BACHELOR OF MUSIC degree is offered with majors in (1) Music Education and (2) Performance. The music education major fulfills certification requirements for those preparing to teach music in the public schools (K-12). The performance major is designed for students planning to continue specialized study in preparation for careers as professional performers. The student pursuing a major in music education or performance must complete 95 semester hours’ credit in music plus 36 semester hours of credit outside of music, including the all-college requirements for graduation.

A student under the BACHELOR OF ARTS or the BACHELOR OF SCIENCE degree can pursue Music as a second major, or as a minor. Both are available to those students who have a strong interest in music but who choose another discipline as their primary major. To receive a second major in music, the student must complete 36 semester hours’ credit in music. To receive a minor in music, the student must complete 24 semester hours’ credit in music.

A student may be admitted into the performance major, on a provisional basis only, during the first semester of the first year, during which the student will be allowed to take private lessons at the frequency of one hour of instruction per week. The faculty jury at the end of the first semester of private study will assess whether or not the student qualifies to continue as a performance major. A student who is permitted to remain in the major will subsequently take private lessons at the frequency of two hours of instruction per week.

There are no private music lesson fees for prescribed lessons. However, students will be assessed private music lesson fees for any additional private lessons. Each student is required to regularly attend MUS 600  (Music Colloquium) and MUS 600M  (Master Class) each semester as a part of his/her private lessons, and MUS 600P  (Instrumental Performance Practicum) during the semester he/she is taking instrumental conducting class (MUS 273 ). MUS 602  Capstone Lecture Recital is not an option for the performance major.