Music Degree Programs
The Music Department engages students in a variety of artistic, creative, intellectual, and cultural endeavors. Students benefit from a strong, interdisciplinary liberal arts base, small classes that stimulate active learning, and group participation, and service to the greater community. Seminar-style settings take the place of formal lectures; repertory classes, ensemble performances, recitals, opera scenes, master classes, and competitions prepare students for the application of their discipline.
A variety of academic and performance-based courses inspire and challenge the music student. The department provides numerous opportunities for both solo and ensemble performance through concerts, weekly repertoire classes, monthly Midday Musicales, and junior and senior recitals. Lesson scholarship is awarded to music majors who contribute to the department community and remain in good academic standing. Private lessons, class piano and class voice, ensembles, and general music classes are open to the non-major as well.
The College Choir presents several major performances throughout the year focusing on both old and new gems of the choral repertoire. An auditioned ensemble of approximately fifty singers, the College Choir occasionally collaborates with the Greensboro Choral Society and the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra to perform large works such as Carmina Burana. In recent years, the College Choir, along with the Chamber Singers and Guitar Ensemble, has traveled to Washington, D.C., Charleston, S.C., Atlanta, G.A., and will tour Ireland this May. Scholarship funding is available to singers who are elected to the Choir Council.
The Chamber Singers is a select choir of twenty singers who perform primarily a cappella literature spanning a variety of musical periods. The choir performs in a number of venues around the Guilford campus and Greensboro community in addition to the semester concerts. Auditions for both choral ensembles are held at the beginning of each semester.
The Jazz Ensembles provide young musicians the opportunity to rehearse and perform within a small combo setting. Students study and learn the techniques of improvisation as well as the style and tradition of the jazz idiom. The ensembles perform on campus and in the Greater Greensboro area throughout the academic year.
The Guilford College Guitar Ensemble is a performing group open to all classical guitarists. The ensemble’s repertoire spans all musical periods and includes a variety of musical genres. The Guitar Ensemble often tours with the College Choir and performs on-campus for special events and locally with other community and college ensembles. In the past, the Guitar Ensemblehas participated in the Mid-Atlantic (Virginia) and Mid-America (Illinois) Ensemble Festivals.
Other group performance opportunities available to the Guilford student include the String Ensemble, African Drumming Class, and Opera Scenes. Students are also welcome to join the community-based Greensboro Concert Band and the orchestra Philharmonia, both of which rehearse off-campus.
Guilford’s ability to service a variety of musical interests is evidenced through the successes of our alumni. Students will music degrees from Guilford have pursued graduate studies at competitive graduate programs at major institutions such as the Peabody Conservatory, Eastman School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, the College Conservatory of Music at Cincinnati, Florida State, and UNC-Chapel Hill.Some graduates are making a living as working musicians; others have entered the teaching field. Still others have pursued experiences with programs such as Teach for America and Americorps.
Degrees Offered
The Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music degrees are offered in music.
Scholarships
Several scholarships are available through the Music Department. Some of these monies are used to pay for performance studies for qualifying majors. Other scholarships are used to recognize outstanding academic achievement as well as reward students for service in the department.
Auditions
Students wishing to declare a major in music must audition to qualify. They should contact the department chair for information regarding specific repertoire requirements and to schedule an audition. Provisional acceptance can be granted to students submitting taped auditions. The major requires a minimum of 42 credit hours:
Major Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree in music:
1. MUS 101 Music Theory I |
4 credits |
2. MUS 102 Music Theory II |
4 credits |
3. MUS 201 Music Theory III |
4 credits |
4. MUS 202 Music Theory IV |
4 credits |
5. MUS 310 Music History I |
4 credits |
6. MUS 311 Music History II |
4 credits |
2 credits |
|
8 credits |
|
9. 8 credits in ensemble music: MUS 120, 121, 122, 124, 125, 127, 129 |
8 credits |
Total credit hours required for B.A. degree in music |
42 credits |
Major Requirements for the Bachelor of Music degree in music:
1. MUS 101 Music Theory I |
4 credits |
2. MUS 102 Music Theory II |
4 credits |
3. MUS 201 Music Theory III |
4 credits |
4. MUS 202 Music Theory IV |
4 credits |
5. MUS 310 Music History I |
4 credits |
6. MUS 311 Music History II |
4 credits |
4 credits |
|
16 credits |
|
9. MUS 302 Junior Recital |
1 credit |
10. MUS 402 Senior Recital |
1 credit |
11. MUS 210 Conducting |
2 credits |
12. MUS 410 Jazz Theory |
4 credits |
13. 8 credits in ensemble music: MUS 120, 121, 122, 124, 125, 127, 129 |
8 credits |
Total credit hours required for B.M. degree in music General Track |
60 credits |
Additional requirements for Voice Track |
|
14. MUS 103 Diction I |
1 credit |
15. MUS 104 Diction II |
1 credit |
Total credit hours required for B.M. degree in music: Voice Track |
62 credits |
Additional requirements for Guitar Track |
|
14. MUS 205 Guitar Pedagogy and Literature |
4 credits |
Total credit hours required for B.M. degree in music: Guitar Track |
64 credits |