ITHACA COLLEGE
| Ithaca College began as a music conservatory in 1892, helping young musicians hone their talents into professional-caliber skills. In the decades since, IC has grown into a residential liberal arts college with five schools and over 100 degree programs. Our students gain knowledge and confidence through a continuous cycle of learning, trying, and doing—with access to professional labs, studios, equipment, and research opportunities. As a mid-size, nationally-ranked college, IC offers students opportunities for personalized attention in every academic program and engagement in a wide variety of campus activities. Students join a welcoming community of 6,200 undergraduate and 470 graduate students that offers more than 200 student clubs and organizations. The IC experience continues after graduation as alumni become part of a growing network of professionals—mentors and experts around the world who take active roles in helping students succeed. At IC, our faculty and staff are dedicated to student education and growth. They bring a wealth of knowledge and talent to our campus and work to help advance their respective fields. Through research, projects, and involvement in their communities, they also continue to learn and develop as professionals and thought leaders. Ithaca College sits on South Hill and overlooks the heart of Ithaca, a thriving city full of art, culture, and activity all surrounded by the natural beauty of New York’s Finger Lakes region. In addition to the main campus, IC has satellite programs in New York City, Los Angeles, and London. |
DEGREE
| Undergraduate | |
| Composition (B.M.) | As a composition major, you will gain a foundation in traditional Western art music, while having the opportunity to explore jazz, electronic music, film scoring, and other media. In addition to having individual lessons with our award-winning faculty, you will have the opportunity to work with renowned composers through our Karel Husa Visiting Professor of Composition series. While taking courses such as orchestration, counterpoint, and arranging, you will hear your music performed by highly skilled musicians on a regular basis. Each year, composers such as John Corigliano, Christopher Rouse, George Crumb, Chen Yi, and William Bolcom present master classes, critique student works, and give lectures on their own work. |
| Jazz Studies (B.M.) | The jazz studies curriculum is a rigorous one that includes course sequences in arranging, improvisation, jazz piano, and history, as well as traditional music theory, piano, and sight singing. You’ll study your chosen instrument or voice in disciplined weekly lessons with both Ithaca jazz faculty and classical performance professors — which is why all students auditioning for the program are required to take both a standard entrance audition with performance faculty in addition to a jazz audition with the jazz studies director. |
| Music (B.A.) | In this degree program you can pursue liberal arts studies while building a strong background in music. About sixty percent of your coursework will be in the liberal arts in areas outside of music. You will study your major instrument and foundational areas of music—history, theory, aural skills, ensembles, and repertoire—as in other music degree programs |
| Music Education (B.M.) | Ithaca’s commitment to hands-on, field-based learning means you will observe classes in your freshman and sophomore years and teach classes in your junior year — earlier than in most undergraduate programs. Two years of foundational study — teaching techniques and educational psychology, for example — prepares you for the classroom. Then, to help refine your teaching skills, a teaching professional and mentor will provide you with one-to-one advice. You will gain additional professional experience and feedback in your senior year as a student teacher in a local public school. |
| Music in Combination with an Outside Field (B.M.) | This program combines professional education as a musician with focused study in a field of your choice outside of music. This degree is ideal for musicians who want to explore; it is for students with curiosity about connections and intersections. Just like our other Bachelor of Music degrees, this degree has a full core of music requirements and expectations, and at the same time it also provides room for discovery and specialization in another area of interest. |
| Musical Theatre (B.F.A.) | Your studies begin with our rigorous core curriculum in music theory, aural skills, and music history, taken by all Bachelor of Music students. During your junior and senior years you will receive additional in-depth instruction from our nationally recognized music theory faculty in a broad array of areas such as analysis, advanced aural skills, counterpoint, and music theory pedagogy. Your studies will also include extensive private lessons and ensemble experiences, as well as courses that introduce you to composition and develop your keyboard skills. |
| Performance (B.M.) | Your studies begin with our rigorous core curriculum in music theory, aural skills, and music history, taken by all Bachelor of Music students. During your junior and senior years you will receive additional in-depth instruction from our nationally recognized music theory faculty in a broad array of areas such as analysis, advanced aural skills, counterpoint, and music theory pedagogy. Your studies will also include extensive private lessons and ensemble experiences, as well as courses that introduce you to composition and develop your keyboard skills. |
| Performance and Music Education (B.M.) | We believe performance skills are a vital part of your preparation to teach others. You can take advantage of that approach in our four-and-a-half-year, double-degree program. You’ll get the best of both worlds — field-based preparation in music education and intensive study of your instrument or voice. You will also study conducting, take part in one or more of our many ensembles, and learn how to use multimedia in the classroom. |
| Sound Recording Technology (B.M.) | Within our Bachelor of Music program, in addition to core courses that focus on legacy recording techniques, you will be trained in the latest recording and mixing methods in state-of-the-art facilities. To complement your music studies, you will take courses in Audio Production, Theatre Sound, and Physics. Your skills will be honed and developed over the four years as a paid engineer working for Ithaca College’s Recording Services, culminating in an internship in the field during your senior year. You will also create a senior project, acting as producer, recording/mixing engineer, and mastering engineer. This will serve as your portfolio piece, demonstrating that you are both an audio professional and a trained musician. |
| Theory (B.M.) | Your studies begin with our rigorous core curriculum in music theory, aural skills, and music history, taken by all Bachelor of Music students. During your junior and senior years you will receive additional in-depth instruction from our nationally recognized music theory faculty in a broad array of areas such as analysis, advanced aural skills, counterpoint, and music theory pedagogy. Your studies will also include extensive private lessons and ensemble experiences, as well as courses that introduce you to composition and develop your keyboard skills. |
| Graduate | |
| Composition (M.M.) | The School of Music enjoys a rich musical life, with students contributing to more than 300 recitals, concerts, musicals, operas, and other productions each year. As a composer in our graduate program, you will create works to be performed each semester in one of our public concerts. You will also take weekly composition lessons and have the opportunity to participate in master classes as part of our Karel Husa Visiting Professor of Composition series. That series has brought to campus such artists as Christopher Rouse, George Crumb, John Corigliano, John Harbison, Joan Tower, Chen Yi, and Augusta Read Thomas. Toward the end of your residency, you will present a full recital of your works. You will also be required to submit a formal thesis, which must be a composition of large proportion for chamber ensemble, orchestra, wind ensemble, or chorus with instrumental ensemble. We also encourage performance of your thesis. Graduates of this program are admitted to prestigious doctoral programs throughout the country or continue their work in other professional arenas. |
| Conducting (M.M.) | This degree program offers professional training in the four major conducting areas: choral, opera and musical theater, orchestral, and wind. Major-field coursework includes both applied conducting (score reading, score analysis, and conducting with major ensembles) and two literature courses in your major and minor conducting areas. Each student must conduct a complete recital in the major area.As a graduate conducting student you will have the opportunity to work directly with major professors and to conduct the premier ensembles. In addition to studying with a major-area professor, you will have the option of studying privately with a professor in a secondary conducting areas. Please note that this program carries a two-year residency requirement. Graduates of our program continue their studies in prestigious doctoral programs or are employed by professional ensembles. They also become teachers in public and private schools. |
| Music Education (M.M., M.S.) | The School of Music educates excellent teachers through a program that fosters professional success at the highest level. You will have the opportunity to broaden your knowledge of contemporary trends in music education and to refine your teaching skills through research, reflection, and interaction with leaders in the field. Music education students receive one-to-one faculty mentoring, and work to develop their performance and conducting skills with top music professors.The capstone experience for both music education programs includes a teaching demonstration and submission of a process portfolio created during your coursework. Both programs are offered during our five-week summer session, and the programs are typically completed in three or four summers. Both the M.M. and M.S. degrees lead to professional certification in New York State and in all other states that accept this certification. Please note that all applicants must have completed the requirements for initial New York State certification, including successful practice teaching in music, or the equivalent requirements for another state. |
| Performance (M.M.) | An emphasis on performance is at the core of every degree program in the Ithaca College School of Music. As soloists and in ensembles, our students participate in more than 300 recitals, concerts, musicals, operas, and other productions on campus each year. Ithaca ensembles also go on concert tours throughout the northeastern United States and Ireland. Recently, the Ithaca College choral union and Symphony Orchestra performed J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor in venues in Bethesda, Maryland and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Students are also given regular opportunities to hone their performance skills through weekly private lessons and repertory classes. These classes provide occasions for students to perform for one another, review performance techniques, and participate in master classes with guest artists. |
| Suzuki Pedagogy and String Performance (M.M.) | The Suzuki pedagogy programs in the Ithaca College School of Music are designed to produce excellent performers as well as excellent teachers. Our Suzuki pedagogy degree program is open to candidates whose major performance area is violin or viola. There is a two-year residency requirement, and you must attend the Suzuki Teacher Institute during the summer between the two years of residency. All Suzuki course work, as well as the master’s degree, is registered with the Suzuki Association of the Americas.The College offers this exceptionally successful master’s program in combination with Ithaca Talent Education, a nationally recognized Suzuki training center. Upon graduation you will be highly sought after by Suzuki schools and teaching centers throughout the United States. |