Music
Mark Burford
Music history.
Leila Falk
Music history, chamber music. On sabbatical spring 2009.
Virginia Hancock
Music history, choral conducting.
David Schiff
Composition, orchestral conducting.
Many Reed students are interested in music. To encourage and develop
these interests, the music department offers courses in music history,
theory, and performance, many without prerequisites. Majors and
nonmajors alike are welcome to take classes in all areas of music
history, theory, and performance. Prospective majors should begin
their course of study with Theory II (211) and the Historical Survey
(221 and 222) in the first two years. Students should make early
inquiry into their preparation for Theory II by taking the placement
examination, which is given at the beginning of each year. We recommend
that majors also take piano lessons if they have never done so. Majors
are expected to participate in performance activities; therefore, fees
for private instruction are waived for junior and senior music majors. Music
majors must complete Theory II, two semesters of Historical Survey, and
at least one other course at the 200 or 300 level in order to make
formal application for junior status; still another course at the 200
or 300 level must be completed before the junior qualifying
examination. The department strongly recommends that one of these
courses be Theory III (312). For the junior qualifying
examination in music, students will write essays about musical
selections from the Medieval to postmodern periods and about selected
prose passages about music from those eras. Topics not ordinarily
included in the regular curriculum may be offered to juniors and
seniors with special interests as independent study courses (481). Requirements for the Major Recommended but not required: piano lessons. Senior Thesis Facilities Performing Opportunities The department also helps organize
and coach chamber and jazz ensembles, which are available by audition
for students interested in playing together in small groups. In
addition, coaching sessions with members of the music performance staff
can sometimes be substituted for private lessons with department
approval. Private Instruction—Bonnie Garrett, director Fees Academic Credit for Music Performance
Students
planning to do theses in music must demonstrate their competence,
before the senior year, in the particular area in which they wish to
work. That is, they may not use the thesis as an occasion to explore an
entirely new area, which may be done in a regular 481 (independent
study) course. The thesis may be an extended historical or analytical
essay or a composition thesis, which must include a printed score and a
tape of a performance. To be considered for a composition thesis, a
student should have already taken composition and at least one semester
of independent study in advanced composition. At the beginning of the
senior year, students prepare short written statements describing the
nature of their theses and meet with the entire department to discuss
their thesis proposals.
Music department
facilities include Kaul Auditorium, where the orchestra, Collegium, and
chorus perform; the chapel, which is used for Collegium and Friday at
Four concerts and other chamber music; a band practice room in the
commons; a library of scores and recordings, housed in the library; an
adjacent music listening room; and 20 instrumental practice rooms
(including 15 pianos and other keyboard instruments) in Prexy, formerly
the president’s house. All students have access to the practice rooms.
Both the library and Prexy house modest computer music laboratories
equipped with computers, synthesizers, and laser printers for students
in theory and composition courses. Prexy is open to students from 7
a.m. until midnight, seven days a week. For additional recreational
use, students may use pianos in the student union and in the social
rooms of several of the residence halls.
Reed
attracts many students who are accomplished musicians. Performance
activities sponsored by the department are open to all members of the
community. A significant percentage of the students participate in
music-making on the campus—as solo players or singers, in chamber music
ensembles, or in the ensembles conducted by faculty members.
Registration procedures for lessons and ensembles are explained in the
class schedule each term. A number of student recitals and concerts by
the ensembles are held each year. The Friday at Four series, consisting
of 8 to 10 concerts each year, usually features students who take
private lessons. The chamber orchestra and chorus perform concerts in
Kaul Auditorium each semester.
Reed
offers individual instruction in guitar, harpsichord, piano, voice, and
all orchestral instruments, as well as jazz and some ethnic
instruments. Our teachers, all of whom are accomplished performers, are
selected from the best available in the Portland community. Some are
members of the Oregon Symphony, the Portland Opera Orchestra, the
Portland Baroque Orchestra, and various chamber, jazz, and ethnic
ensembles in the area, and have appeared as solo artists with these
groups. Our private music instructors include Craig Jones (jazz piano);
Phil Baldino (saxophone); Jeff Homan (saxophone and jazz flute); Marcy
Lohman (flute); Dunja Jennings (clarinet); Pablo Izquierdo (oboe); Lyle
Dockendorff (bassoon); Joe Berger (French horn); Craig Gibson
(trumpet); David Bryan (trombone); Aaron Lavere (euphonium); Bill Hunt
(violin and viola); Vicki Gunn (viola and violin); John Hubbard
(cello); Don Hermanns (double bass); Brongaene Griffin (Celtic
fiddling); Kevin Deitz (jazz bass); Scott Kritzer (classical guitar);
Scott Pemberton (jazz guitar); Deborah Cleaver, Susan Smith, and Denise
Van Leuven (piano); Bonnie Garrett (piano and harpsichord); Jenny
Lindner (harp); Elizabeth Nicholson (Celtic harp); Lee Garrett (pipe
organ); Gayle Neuman (recorder and other Renaissance winds); Timothy
Scott (viola da gamba); Barbara Irvin and John Vergin (voice); Nisha
Joshi (sitar, northern classical Indian singing); Jan deWeese (mandolin
and banjo); Julia Banzi (flamenco guitar); Brett Pascal (percussion);
Joseph Janiga (jazz percussion); and Obo Addy (Ghanaian drumming).
Instructors of other instruments are added to the staff as need arises.
Fees
for private instruction (Music 101) are $432 each semester for twelve
45-minute lessons; some scholarship aid is available. Private
instruction fees are waived for junior and senior music majors, who are
expected to enroll in private instruction for at least two of their
final four semesters.
All
students participating in music performance courses (Music 101, 104,
105, 107, 108, 109) should register; these courses are graded on a
credit/no credit basis. The courses carry variable credit: either
one-half course or zero credit for one semester. To qualify for credit,
students must have taken or be currently enrolled in a one-unit course
at level 110 or above at Reed, for which they can receive two
half-units of credit for a music performance course, one-half unit per
semester (the only exception is Chamber Orchestra, Music 104; see the
description below). No more than one-half credit may be earned per
semester. A second one-unit course at level 110 or above qualifies the
student for another two half-units of credit for music performance. No
more than two units may be received for the same music performance
course. A third one-unit course at level 110 or above qualifies the
student for two more half-units of credit in a different music
performance course. These credits in music performance may be used
toward the quantity requirement of 30 units for graduation, though not
toward the Group A or Group X requirements. If the accompanying
classroom course is dropped, credit for music performance must also be
relinquished.
