FAQs About College Music

If you are soon to be in college and you are a musician, please take 10 minutes to read this excellent article by Dr. Scott Harris. Although it addresses the perspective of a percussionist, it applies to any musician.

1. FAQs About College Music / Percussion

2. Now, I have a few comments to help you understand Concordia's music program...

Should I major in music ed or performance? Another issue to keep in mind is that the typical student working toward a performance career will get a master's degree and often a doctorate in their performance area. Having a broader approach to your undergraduate study will keep more doors open.

But I really want to perform. Do I lose performance opportunities as an education major? At Concordia, most music majors give a senior recital, and many also give a junior recital. It isn't required, but it is rather common regardless of an emphasis in performance, music education, or church music. On top of that, once you achieve the "300 level" on your instrument, you can give a recital - some students get there before their junior year, allowing them to give 3 undergraduate recitals.

How long does the degree take to complete? At Concordia, students should be able to graduate in 4 years. Music Education students might be wise to take an extra semester to accommodate student teaching. This is an advantage of Concordia, since many universities are growingly unable to matriculate music majors in 4 years.

What should I play for an audition? Unlike the scenario explained in Dr. Harris' article, Concordia usually does not have the private teachers sitting in the auditions. However, his point about learning about the teacher you will spend 4 years with is very important. Please get to know Concordia's studio faculty. If you are considering the music major, please contact me about setting up a complimentary lesson with your potential studio teacher.

If I don’t major in music can I still take lessons and play in the band? Concordia is a different environment than what is explained in Dr. Harris' article. Here, many non-majors participate in the top groups and many not only take private lessons, but receive extra scholarship money (in addition to money provided to play in ensembles) to pay for them.

Do you have more questions? Go to www.cui.edu/music for a detailed overview of Concordia's music department. And don't hesitate to contact Concordia music faculty with questions.

Jay Mason and the Grammys

Concordia Adjunct Professor of Saxophone Jay Mason contributed to three Grammy nominated albums/songs this year:

 Category 14: Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album, “The Sinatra Project”, Michael Feinstein.  Jay played lead alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, flute, oboe, and bass clarinet. 

 Category 49: Best Large Jazz Ensemble Recording, “Act Your Age”, Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band.  Jay played baritone saxophone, flute, and bass clarinet. 

 Category 85: Best Instrumental Composition, “Hit the Ground Running”, track from “Act Your Age”, Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band.

 Jay also contributes to two high profile current soundtracks, for the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Jay plays a baritone sax solo in one scene) and several United Airlines commercials for the Olympics and Super Bowl.

Music Career Outlook

The U.S. Dept. of Labor maintains statistics for music careers.  

2008-09 Handbook report for Musicians, Singers, and Related Workers

"Overall employment of musicians, singers, and related workers is expected to grow 11 percent during the 2006-16 decade, about as fast as the average for all occupations. Most new wage-and-salary jobs for musicians will arise in religious organizations." (from the Job Outlook section)

More detailed information for Music Directors and Composers (including Music Educators):

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2007

    

Long-lost Renaissance Mass for up to 60 Parts Found

From Sibelius Notes (May 2008):

One of the highlights of the 2008 Berkeley Festival & Exhibition, presented by Cal Performances and the UC Berkeley Department of Music, is the American premiere of Alessandro Striggio's 16th-century long-lost Missa sopra Ecco sì beato giorno for 40 and 60 voices, the largest known contrapuntal choral work in Western music. UC Berkeley musicologist, renowned harpsichordist, and Sibelius user, Davitt Moroney, discovered the work in 2005 at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France after a two-decade search. Professor Moroney translated the piece into modern notation using Sibelius software and will conduct the musical performance at the First Congregational Church in Berkeley, CA on June 7 & 8.

Some very interesting information about this work can be found at these links:
Video Program Notes
Moroney's Lecture explaining the history of this work and its role in European politics
Striggio bio

• Striggio traveled to major musical centers in Europe and influenced Lassus in Munich and Tallis in England (who likely was inspired to compose his 40-part Spem in Alium after hearing Striggio's work).
• Striggio played a critical diplomatic role on behalf of the Medici family from Florence.
• He collaborated musically with Vicenzo Galilei (father of Galileo Galilei, the astromer), and may have been a part of the Florentine Camerata.
• His son (also named Alessandro Striggio) wrote the libretto for Monteverdi's Orfeo.
• This work has been "lost" since the early 1700s - in a Paris library! To put it simply, it was miscatalogued - but the story is really more complicated than that. Read Moroney's lecture and you'll probably gain a little more respect for the challenges librarians can face!

Music History is far from being settled. Someone like Striggio doesn't make many history textbooks, but we are now finding out that he was a catalyst for large polychoral music throughout Europe. And we learn about the political role he played. With this discovery in place, and it triggering more puzzle pieces of history to be connected, will Striggio become a part of the canon of Western Music in textbooks of the future? He probably deserves to be. Now imagine that some of Indiana Jones' rivals wanted to find this work in the library before him...

Long Beach Press Telegram Previews CWO Concert

The Long Beach Press Telegram published a feature article about Francis Johnson and Steve Charpie's attempt to promote his legacy. The article was timed to help promote Steve's concert with the Concordia Wind Orchestra on Feb. 17. Read the article

Test your musical brain!

www.tonometric.com

This site has 3 tests:

Adaptive Pitch: Determine how well you can discriminate between two separate pitches (it gets progressively tougher)

Rhythm Test: Measures your ability to hear subtle differences in rhythmic patterns

Tonedeaf Test: Measures your ability to hear subtle differences in tone patterns.

Give it a try!

CUI's Flute Teacher, Susan Fries, Publishes Book

Susan Fries recently published a book about legendary flutist Marcel Moyse, titled My Teacher, Remembering Marcel Moyse. The book is a narrative of 54 individual stories about famous flute teacher/performer, Marcel Moyse, who was the most-recorded flutist in France between the 1920s and 1940s.

Book excerpt
Book website