Music for all as a mission, we welcome any students who have a passion for music performance in varied genres from Classical to Jazz to World Music.  Students have options to take private lessons and join ensembles with professional musicians for credit or non-credit regardless of their prior musical experience. 

Performing Ensembles in Music

The Ensembles, all directed by faculty members, are vital extensions of the academic program of the Department of Music. More information about each Ensemble can be found on our Ensembles webpage. 

Private Instruction in Music

The department offers private Classical instruction in voice, piano, fortepiano, organ, harpsichord, harp, violin, Baroque violin, viola, cello, double bass, viola da gamba, guzheng, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, French horn, trombone, tuba, recorder, lute, classical guitar, saxophone, percussion, and marimba. The department also offers private Jazz and World Music instruction in voice, piano, violin, viola, electric and upright bass, saxophone, flute, trumpet, trombone, low brass, guitar, vibraphone, drumset and Caribbean and West African percussion. We make every attempt to accommodate students wanting private instruction in instruments not currently taught.

All students who wish to receive private instruction should take the Music Theory Placement Evaluation (MTPE), offered during Orientation Week, or enroll in MUS 100. Information concerning auditions and course requirements for noncredit and credit study is given under the listings for MUS 99, 149, 199, 249, 299, 344 and 398. With the exception of MUS 344 and 398, auditions and the MTPE are ordinarily given at the start of fall semester.

Arrangements for lessons are made at the department office during Orientation or the first week of the semester. Students may begin private study in MUS 99 at the start of the second semester if space permits, but it is not recommended for MUS 149, 199, 249, and 299. More detailed information about lessons, evaluations & juries, group instruction, and fees can be found on our Lessons webpage. 

Performing Music Instrument Collection

The music department owns 36 pianos (including 28 Steinway grands, two Mason and Hamlin grands, and five Boston/Steinway uprights), a Noack practice organ, a practice carillon, a harp, a marimba, vibraphone, a jazz drum kit, and a wide assortment of modern orchestral, jazz and world music instruments. In addition, an unusually fine collection of instruments appropriate to early music performance is available for use by students. These include a Dolmetsch clavichord, a virginal, three harpsichords, a positive organ, a fortepiano, an 1823 Clementi grand piano, a Gothic harp, a psaltery, a lute, eight violas da gamba, a Baroque violin, and an assortment of Renaissance and Baroque wind instruments.

Of particular interest is the Charles Benton Fisk meantone organ (completed 1981) in Houghton Memorial Chapel, which is America’s first major instrument constructed after seventeenth-century German prototypes. Galen Stone Tower contains a 32-bell carillon. 

More information about the department's resources can be found on on our Music Department Resources webpage.