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The Smith College Music
Department is one of the largest departments in the college,
with 17 faculty members who offer a broad array of courses
in music history and literature, ethnomusicology, theory,
composition, and performance. Particular areas of faculty
interest include renaissance and baroque studies, 19th-century
studies, 20th-century studies, world music, music of Southeast
Asia, gender studies, criticism, and feminist studies. Smith
faculty offer performance courses in flute, voice, piano,
fortepiano, organ, harpsichord, violin, viola, cello, conducting,
and chamber music. Performance instruction on other instruments
is offered through the Five Colleges and through selected
adjunct teachers in the area. Members of the department direct
several ensembles which are open to students, including the
Smith Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra, the College Choir
and Chorale, the Glee Club, Chamber Singers, the Jazz Ensemble,
and the Gamelan. In addition, there are instrumental and vocal
ensembles offered by the Five College Early Music Collegium.
Learn
more about music at the Five Colleges >
Ethnomusicology
and World Music at the Five Colleges >
Early
Music at the Five Colleges >
The Smith College Music
Department offers a major and minor in music with a concentration
in Music History, Composition, or Performance.
Music majors and other Smith students who have
taken a significant number of courses in music are eligible to apply for Susan Rose
Internships in Music. The Department of Music also awards annual prizes for excellent
work in the areas of music history, theory, composition, and performance.
Learn
more about internships and prizes >
When Smith College opened
in 1875 the study of music was conducted in a conservatory
located in Pierce Hall, adjacent to College Hall. In 1903,
Music became a department of the college, while the study
of performance for credit continued to be offered within a
liberal arts program, which was unusual for colleges at that
time. In 1924 the Music Department moved to the newly constructed
Sage Hall, and in 1968 the neighboring Werner Josten Library
of the Performing Arts was built to house one of the finest
undergraduate music libraries in the country. Extensive renovations
to Sage Hall in 1989-90 resulted in the construction of Earle
Recital Hall and the reconfiguration of the main auditorium,
rechristened Sweeney Concert Hall, into an acoustically ideal
hall for performances ranging from solo recitals to small
orchestral concerts. Sweeney Concert Hall is the venue for
the department's acclaimed concert series. The department's
facilities include numerous practice rooms with grand pianos,
an electro-acoustic music studio, and a digital classroom
equipped with state-of-the-art computer workstations.
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About
the
Department
Internships & Prizes
The Major
The Minor
Performing
Groups
Faculty & Staff
Facilities
Sage Hall
Calendar
Performance
Calendar
Summer programs:
SmithSINGS
Strings@Smith
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