Academic Departments and Programs

Music

The educational opportunities in the Music Department are a result of the combination of talents, education and interests of the faculty in the department. It is that dynamic that we tailor to the college's mission of a liberal arts education. We believe that music is essential to a liberal arts curriculum and that it is critical to human development and successful living. The discipline of music is particularly well suited to fostering creativity and critical/analytic thinking skills in students. And finally, we encourage all students in the performing arts to take risks and to understand how creative endeavors relate to a variety of disciplines.

The goals of the Music Department are:

  • To prepare music majors for a career in music, graduate study or teacher certification in music.
  • To provide opportunities for students of all majors to develop an academic and aesthetic understanding of music and to prepare them for a lifetime of music making, listening and concert attendance.
  • To provide concerts, recitals and musical education for the community-at-large as a means to showcase individual students, chamber ensembles, and large vocal and wind/percussion ensembles.
  • To enhance campus life by providing music at College functions and by serving as musical ambassadors for the College.
  • To showcase the music faculty by providing performances for the college and community. In addition, the music faculty is committed to musical/professional endeavors and contributes to the community by performing off-campus, serving as coordinators and adjudicators for music competitions and festivals, and participating in professional organizations, departmental development activities, Caldwell Fine Arts, and in-service training events.

Music courses, ensembles and applied music instruction in voice, strings (violin, viola, and cello), and piano are open to all students if space is available, provided that they can satisfy the course prerequisites and requirements. Music majors may earn a Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in vocal or instrumental music education, applied voice, applied strings, composition/theory, general music or business and the arts.

Students are admitted as music majors or minors on the basis of an audition and placement exams. All transfer students wishing to major or minor in music are subject to the Department's audition and placement policies. Information on the audition and placement process is available in the Music Department office, on the departmental web pages or from Admissions.

The Music Department is housed in the Langroise Center for the Performing and Fine Arts, which features a 188-seat recital hall. Additional classes and concerts take place in Jewett Auditorium, which includes an outstanding concert hall equipped with a 48-rank Casavant Freres pipe organ and two conservatory grand pianos. Nationally prominent concert artists are featured annually here through the Caldwell Fine Arts series.

The Music Department fosters an enhanced appreciation of the performing arts through the many performances in the Langroise Recital Hall, which is also home to a yearly series of concerts by the Langroise Trio, artists-in-residence (a rarity in a college of this size). The three performers, violinist Geoffrey Trabichoff, violist David Wayne Johnson, and cellist Samuel Whitney Smith, form our string faculty and prepare students to the highest levels demanded by the profession. The trio was established in 1991 and bears the name of the late arts patron Gladys Langroise.

Students have ample opportunities to perform in solo recitals, musical theatre, opera, ensemble concerts and in area churches. The annual choir tour has taken students to such locales as Europe, Canada, the Pacific Northwest, California, and Hawaii.

The department offers a unique chamber music experience through the new Cerveny Chamber Music Institute, with intensive training in violin, viola and cello within a traditional liberal arts curriculum. The residency of the Langroise Trio provides very close contact that includes applied lessons, chamber music coaching, orchestral practicum, weekly master classes or recitals and chamber music performances. Advanced students may occasionally be invited to appear as guest artists with the Langroise Trio. In addition, advanced students are encouraged to audition for a Boise Philharmonic Orchestra apprenticeship, which will enable them to perform with a metropolitan level professional orchestra while in school.

Majors

Music Major

Major Requirements

*Students with music scholarships may be required to take additional semesters of applied lessons and ensembles to maintain their scholarships. These additional credits do not count toward the major.

Applied Voice, Violin, Viola and Cello students may wish to continue their pre-professional study by investigating the Music Performance Minor in the Professional Studies & Enhancements PEAK.

Concentration in Teaching

Students desiring to pursue the study of music education should complete the music major core requirements and take additional courses as described below. 

Students desiring a certificate in secondary music education must complete this concentration, a minor in education, and a fifth year internship after graduation. These students should also have an advisor in the Education Department.

For Vocalists

For Instrumentalist, 46 cr

 

*Students with music scholarships may be required to take additional semesters of applied lessons and ensembles to maintain their scholarships. These additional credits do not count toward the major.

Student Learning Outcomes:

  • Critical thinking
  • Analytical reasoning
  • Problem solving
  • Fluency in analyzing tonal music
  • Knowledge of key historical periods in music, including composers, music, styles, and aesthetics
  • Ability to write and research regarding music
  • Advanced performance abilities

Additional Student Learning Outcomes for Teaching Concentration:

  • Conduct a large-scale score
  • Knowledge of methods and management skills for the music classroom

Composition/Music Theory Major

Major Requirements (48 credits):

*Students with music scholarships may be required to take additional semesters of applied lessons and ensembles to maintain their scholarships. These additional credits do not count toward the major.

Student Learning Outcomes:

  • Critical thinking
  • Analytical reasoning
  • Problem solving
  • Fluency in analyzing tonal music
  • Knowledge of key historical periods in music, including composers, music, styles, and aesthetics
  • Ability to write and research regarding music
  • Ability to compose and arrange for all acoustic instruments of the band, orchestra and chorus
  • Ability to use Finale music notation software to generate a master score and individual parts

Minors

Music Minor

Music plays an integral part in the human experience, and the Music Minor encourages students to think deeply about music and to improve their musical abilities. The minor is designed to be flexible and to accommodate a wide range of students with varying musical backgrounds (including the classically trained musician, the garage-band performer, and the non-performing music lover). This minor develops active listening skills and introduces students to a variety of music literature and academic discourse about music. The minor fosters critical and analytical thinking about the ways music is constructed and the way it functions in society, while also encouraging students to solve compositional, historical-cultural, and performance problems. Communication is at the core of music, and students in the Music Studies Minor develop the ability to communicate musically and verbally in writing.

Students should first complete the literature and theory foundations core and then select courses that fit their personal interests.

Minor Requirements (18-19 credits):

Literature and Theory Foundations

Electives

Required

Student with music scholarships may be required to take additional semesters of applied lessons and ensembles to maintain their scholarships. These additional credits do not count toward the minor.

*The requirement to take MUS-111 Intro to Music Literature can be fulfilled by taking MUS-311.1 Music History I and MUS-312.1 Music History II. In this case, the total number of credits for the minor remain the same.

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Critical Thinking
  • Analytical Reasoning
  • Problem Solving
  • Communication through writing and music
  • Identify, through listening and in writing, the six major period-styles in Western music history.
  • Identify, through listening and in writing, prominent pieces of music literature and central composers in Western music.
  • Demonstrate fluency in reading music and in basic music theory.

Music Performance Minor

The Music Performance Minor prepares musicians for careers in music performance. It is designed as the professional component of the Music Major, and is designed to be completed during the junior and senior years. It is intended only for students who perform at the highest caliber, and admittance to the minor is only granted by permission at the end of the sophomore year.

This minor builds upon a foundation of music theory, history, and performance, gained in the major, but focuses primarily on fostering in students high-quality performance skills. Students develop critical thinking skills by learning to critique the performances of others and themselves. They also acquire analytical reasoning skills through training that encourages the creation of performances that possess a strong sense of integrity and musicality. Through in-depth experiences in performance, with the personal guidance of an experienced instructor, students also attain problem solving skills particular to learning literature and performing it. Communication is at the core of music, and students in this minor excel at communicating through music performance.

Prerequisites:

  • Declared Music Major
  • Successful completion of lower-division applied lessons
  • Permission*

* Permission is typically granted following the sophomore spring Jury. Students must complete the Petition to Begin the Music Performance Minor form available through the music office or applied instructor. This form should be given to those administering the spring jury at the beginning of the jury. Permission is granted by those administering the jury.

Minor Requirements:

*This requirement is in addition to the Music Major requirement.

** An independent study or internship course also counts towards the completion of the music major.

 

Recommended Enhancements

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Critical Thinking
  • Analytical Reasoning
  • Problem Solving
  • Communication through writing and music
  • Demonstrate the ability to prepare and present two successful recitals
  • Demonstrate knowledge about and the ability to perform standard performance literature
  • Demonstrate the ability to direct an ensemble