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School of Music

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What's New in Music
Community Music

Join us for music lessons! All community music courses are open to the public. No academic credit is offered for lessons and classes.

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Concerts & Events

The School of Music produces a wide variety of events featuring faculty, students, ensembles, chamber groups, and guest artists. Visit the university event calendar for details.

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Schneebeck LIVE

For those unable to attend in person, we are pleased to offer a live stream service for many of our music events.

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Program Description

The School of Music at the University of Puget Sound is unique in offering a comprehensive music program within a nationally recognized liberal arts college. Its accomplished faculty is committed to guiding students toward outstanding achievements in performance, scholarship, and teaching. The rigorous curriculum and extensive performance opportunities prepare students for a diverse range of careers and provide all students opportunities to pursue music study.  Through a wide variety of colloquia, workshops, performances, and a vibrant Community Music Department, the School of Music enriches the cultural life of both the Puget Sound campus and the surrounding community.

 

Who You Could Be

  • Music teacher, professor
  • Singer-songwriter
  • Member of a professional ensemble or solo performer
  • Band, orchestra, or choir director
  • Opera or musical theater artist
  • Executive director of a performing arts organization

 

 

 

Drew Shipman '21
Student
Drew Shipman '21

"At Puget Sound, I have the opportunities to make music in so many capacities at a high level; you can't get that diverse and insightful musical experience anywhere else."

 

Sample Courses

This course will introduce students to methods and issues in the discipline of ethnomusicology, wherein music is studied among its complex intersections with daily life. The course introduces pathways for studying music ethnographically, rendering transparent how music can be explored as culture. Students will approach the study of ethnomusicology through a variety of world music case studies, and will have the opportunity to conduct their own ethnographic fieldwork.

Code
Artistic and Humanistic PerspectivesKnowledge, Identity, and Power

This course provides students with knowledge of and hands-on practice with the basics of working in a recording studio, including acquiring knowledge of studio set up and the essentials of recording music digitally.

Code
Artistic and Humanistic Perspectives
Prerequisites
MUS 101 and 103.

An introduction to jazz theory and improvisation through the study of selected compositions with emphasis on musical analysis, transcription, and performance. Laboratory required.

Code
Artistic and Humanistic Perspectives
Prerequisites
MUS 202 and 204 or permission of the instructor.

A study of the singing voice. This includes the structures, mechanics, and acoustics involved in the production of a sung tone, as well as practical methods for developing the voice and correcting vocal faults.

Prerequisites
Permission of the instructor.

Advanced study of choral conducting techniques, emphasizing strategies for choral pedagogy, vocal warm-ups, advanced meters, and recitative. Class time is spent in lecture, discussion, demonstration, and skill refinement. Students conduct an ensemble consisting of class members during regular videotaped conducting labs, with formal and informal evaluation given by the instructor. Once a week, students conduct a lab ensemble consisting of music education majors, providing an opportunity for the exploration of choral repertoire and rehearsal techniques.

A study and practice of general music curriculum and instruction in elementary and middle schools. Students develop teaching goals, strategies, and lessons for singing, playing instruments, listening, composing, improvising, music reading, analyzing, and creative movement. Practicum teaching and observing within elementary school music programs is included throughout the semester.

Code
Artistic and Humanistic PerspectivesExperiential Learning
Prerequisites
MUS 201 and 203.

Experiential Learning

Students gain experience in a number of ways:

  • Cara Castaldi '25, summer research grant, "Japonisme in 19th and 20th Century French Impressionist Art: Dubussy, Van Gogh, and Mallarmé"
  • Grace Playstead ’24, summer research grant, "African-American Concert Singers Before and After the Nazi Racial State"
  • Liana Greger ’24, summer research grant, "A Historical Analysis of Student Experience in the Puget Sound Vocal Performance Program in the 1990s"
  • Alexander Westervelt ’25, summer research grant, "A critical examination of how artistically transformative experiences are created"
  • Helen Woodruff '20 interned at Stanford Jazz Workshop
  • Perform with faculty on professional concerts like Collage and in various ensemble groups and competitions
  • Perform with student groups like Curtain Call (musical theater) or Underground Sound (a capella)

After Puget Sound

A sampling of things our alumni are doing:

  • Metropolitan Opera (performer)
  • Rutgers University (composition professor)
  • Pittsburgh Symphony (principal trumpet)
  • Detroit Symphony (violist)
  • Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Houston (assistant choir director)
  • Portland Symphonic Choir (executive director)
  • Sitka Fine Arts Camp (operations director)
  • Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival (production manager)
  • Ledbetter Entertainment (owner)
  • Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (chief executive)
  • Tuscaloosa City Schools (elementary music specialist)
  • San Francisco Symphony (vocal soloist)
  • Rice University
  • Manhattan School of Music
  • University of Michigan

Facilities

Schneebeck Concert Hall

Schneebeck Concert Hall seats 500 and is the venue for more than 100 student and faculty recitals, guest lectures, and concerts each year.

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Music performance in Kilworth Memorial Chapel

Housing the Bethel Schneebeck pipe organ, the chapel hosts a variety of campus events including vocal and instrumental concerts.

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Recording Studio

The School of Music has a small recording studio that students can use to practice their recording skills.