Sophomore Review

The Sophomore Review allows the faculty to consider student progress in the initial requirements of the music major and to evaluate whether each student is on track for successful completion of the major in the proposed area of concentration at a satisfactory level.

The review will commence with a short performance in the student’s primary area of studio instruction. This performance is mandatory regardless of whether or not the student plans to be a performance concentrator. Following this performance, the faculty will ask the student about which music classes (s)he has taken and about the student’s progress toward the overall major requirements.

The faculty would then like to hear about the student’s plans for concentration within the major. Students who plan to concentrate in an area other than performance should provide work samples in their primary area of interest as follows:

—for composition, a composed score to Michael Johanson;
—for musicology, a writing sample to Nora Beck;                                                         —for ethnomusicology, a writing sample to Franya Berkman;                                     —for music education, a brief essay about your reasons for choosing music education to Katherine FitzGibbon.

In this formal advising opportunity, the entire music faculty is available to help each student plan to fulfill upper-division degree requirements and complete the senior project. Students who have demonstrated good progress toward the major requirements and have been demonstrating high-level work in the proposed area of concentration will have their music major officially approved at this point. If the faculty has concerns about a student’s ability to meet the standards of the proposed area of concentration, potential alternatives will be discussed, and the music major will either be approved with the alternative concentration or the faculty will ask the student to come back for another review in the future.