Department Overview

Lewis & Clark’s Department of Music provides a high-quality program with a variety of opportunities for students interested in music. Our faculty of active performers, composers, musicologists/music historians and ethnomusicologists/world music scholars offer their expertise to prepare professionally oriented students for careers in music. They also have the breadth of perspective to help majors and nonmajors integrate music studies into a liberal arts education. With courses and activities designed to enhance understanding and appreciation of music, Lewis & Clark’s music faculty strive to establish music as a perpetually enriching element in the lives of their students.

The Music Major

Majors study musicianship, literature, and theory, and take weekly lessons in their performance area. Ensemble participation further develops skills in group music-making and allows students to broaden their knowledge of repertoire and performance styles.

Students find unusual opportunities to integrate musical studies with activities on Lewis & Clark’s overseas or off-campus study programs. The music department leads a spring-semester program to London every other year.

Selecting an area of specialization, each major works closely with a faculty adviser on a senior project. For many students this work culminates in a recital or thesis. For others it involves student teaching as part of a carefully designed music education program leading to teacher licensure.

As an example of a senior project, Ben Levy ‘02 wrote his senior research on Cajun music. Using Lewis & Clark research funds to travel to Louisiana, Levy interviewed musicians and singers, spent time in their homes and produced a thesis recounting his experiences and transcribing tunes. In 2005, students put together the first volume of the Lewis & Clark College Musicology Review, which featured nine theses on subjects ranging from Wagner to Heavy Metal.

Our music program helps students develop their skills and build confidence in their abilities, enabling them to step into a variety of positions when they leave Lewis & Clark. Composer Brede Rorstad ‘03 had two pieces premiered by Third Angle, Portland’s premiere new music ensemble. Composer Sophia Serghi ‘94 is Associate Professor of Music at the College of William and Mary. Musicology student and composer Marianna Ritchey ‘99 received a four-year scholarship to study music history at UCLA. Ethnomusicology student Julia Day ‘05 began her work in the Peace Corps in Mali. A number of Lewis & Clark students are teaching in elementary or secondary schools or have joined the professional music community. Musicians today find that an ability to perform many styles of music, popular and classical, enhances their job opportunities.

Another career field, arts management, is one of the fastest-growing areas in music. Chloe May ‘05 began an internship in the fall of 2005 in New York City with Frank Salomon Associates, an artist management company.

Opportunities for nonmajors

Music courses meet the needs of aspiring professionals as well as students inquiring for the first time into aspects of music. Introductory offerings include Sound and Sense: Understanding Music, Music Fundamentals, Jazz Appreciation, Beginning Composition, and Introduction to World Music. Upper-level courses are open to any interested student with the appropriate background. Course sizes range from five students (at the upper level) to 50 students (at the introductory level). Nonmajors are also encouraged to participate in the many ensembles on campus.  

Examples of student research and independent projects

• “Listen Carefully: Humanism and Political Commentary in the Music of John Adams.”
• A concert of music for orchestra, band, and chamber ensembles.
• A premiere of a student-composed opera. 

Examples of positions obtained by music graduates

• Chairman, Universal Classics Group.
• Education and Community Engagement Manager, Oregon Symphony.
• Assistant Editor, Wieden and Kennedy.
• Intern, Frank Salomon Associates, Artists management.
• Professor of Music, College of William and Mary.
• Graduate fellowship in Musicology, UCLA.
• High school band director. (See Music Education)

Recent guest artists and performers

• James Galway, flute performer and instructor.
• Al-Andalus, Moroccan music group.
• John O’Conor, Edmund Battersby, Evelyn Brancart, pianists.
• George Tsontakis, composer.
• W. Francis McBeth, Frank Ticheli, Guy Woolfenden and 18 other well known band composers.
• Charlie Haden, jazz bassist
• Anonymous 4, medieval vocal quartet.
• Joshua Redman, jazz saxophonist.
• Eroica Trio, chamber ensemble.
• Cyrus Chestnut, jazz pianist.
• John Scofield, jazz guitarist.
• Brave New Works, new music ensemble
• Seattle New Music Ensemble
• Alexander Quartet
• Duo Solo