Students are invited to participate in one or more of the performing ensembles in the Department of Music. Students who participate in the Chorale, Community Chorus, or Brass, Jazz, Classical Guitar, Jazz Guitar, Percussion, String, or Woodwind Ensemble receive one-half course credit per semester.
Chorale
Robert Cowles, director
The Colleges Chorale is a mixed ensemble comprising the finest vocal talent on the campus. The students accepted into this forty-voice ensemble have gone through a careful audition process involving evaluation of both vocal technique and musicianship. The Chorale performs a wide range of a cappella choral repertoire--music from the Middle Ages to the present day. The group rehearses Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:00-6:30pm. In addition to a formal concert at the end of each semester and the annual spring tour, the Colleges Chorale performs at various campus events throughout the year.
Each spring the group takes a four-day tour. Recent tour destinations have included Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C. Spring Tour 2012 will take the Chorale to Philadelphia. Every few years, members of the Colleges Chorale have the opportunity to participate in an international tour. Recent tours abroad have taken students to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland.
Cantori
Robert Cowles, director
The Colleges Cantori is a chamber vocal ensemble comprising members from the larger Colleges Chorale. Since the group's formation in 1993 the sixteen-member Cantori has sought to foster contemporary choral music through the Cantori Commissioning Project - the annual commissioning and performance of a new work by a deserving American composer.
Cantori rehearses Mondays and Wednesdays, 5:00-6:30pm. Like the Chorale, Cantori enjoys great popularity within the Colleges' community and performs throughout the year at numerous special campus events.
Community Chorus
Yunn-Shan Ma, director
The Colleges Community Chorus comprises students, faculty and staff at the Colleges as well as members of the surrounding community. The fifty-voice ensemble performs major works from the standard repertoire as well as lesser-known works deserving wider familiarity. Recent programs have included works by J.S. Bach, Handel, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Britten, and others.
The Colleges Community Chorus rehearses Monday evenings, 7:00-9:00pm, performing two concerts a year, often with orchestral accompaniment.
Brass Ensemble
Jim Trowbridge, director
The Colleges Brass Ensemble is a student group providing a performance opportunity for talented student instrumentalists. In addition, effective arrangements are used on occasion to enable various combinations of instrumentation. The group rehearses Thursdays, 7:30-9:00pm.
Classical Guitar Ensemble
Kenneth Meyer, director
The Colleges Classical Guitar Ensemble provides performance opportunities for talented student guitarists. Original compositions and arrangements featuring two, three, four and/or more guitars are rehearsed weekly, culminating in a performance at the end of each semester. The group rehearses normally on Wednesdays, 8:30-10:00pm.
Jazz Ensemble
Bob Barbuto, director
The Colleges Jazz Ensemble is a student group providing a performance opportunity for talented student jazzers. Effective arrangements are commonly used to enable various combinations of instrumentation. The group rehearses Wednesdays, 7:30-9:30pm.
Jazz Guitar Ensemble
Greg Wachala, director
The Colleges Jazz Guitar Ensemble provides a unique performance opportunity for talented guitarists wishing to explore jazz, blues, funk, and Latin styles. The ensemble is limited to four guitarists focusing on duo, trio, and quartet arrangements, written for the group, as well as compositions by some of today's top jazz guitarists. The group rehearses Mondays, 6:30-8:00pm.
Percussion Ensemble
Anthony Calabrese, director
The Colleges Percussion Ensemble is a chamber group which explores a variety of styles and instrumentation. Students develop ensemble skills such as timing, balance, as well as technique, tone quality, and musical literacy. Members come from a variety of backgrounds and experience levels; local high school students are welcome to contact the director as well.
The Percussion Ensemble seeks opportunities to perform in the local community, in addition to a final on-campus performance at the end of each semester.
String Ensemble
Andrew Zaplatynsky, director
The Colleges String Ensemble is a student chamber group providing a performance opportunity for talented string players. The group rehearses Tuesdays, 6:30-8:30pm.
The String Ensemble repertoire varies, depending on the number of musicians and the instrumentation available. In recent years the group has performed works by Corelli, Vivaldi, Telemann, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Albeniz, and Scott Joplin. The ensemble has also broken down into duos or trios, as the right combination of instruments has become available. There is a performance at the end of each semester at St. John's Chapel, which provides excellent acoustics and an intimate chamber music atmosphere.
Woodwind Ensemble
Mark Olivieri, director
The Colleges Woodwind Ensemble is a student chamber group providing a performance opportunity for talented flutists, oboists, clarinetists, bassoonists, and saxophonists, as well as French horn and string players. Qualified HWS faculty and local high school students are welcome to audition for the ensemble.
The group performs arrangements by composers of past centuries, as well as by contemporary composers. The Woodwind Ensemble typically performs a concert at the conclusion of each semester and rehearses Mondays and Thursdays, 5:30- 6:45pm.
For more information about opportunities for individual instruction in music, please contact the department.
Call - (315) 781-3347
