Casually dressed singers rehearse on stage.

音乐 Opportunities in the 艺术学院 & 科学

When you combine music and the broader liberal arts, amazing things can happen.

Rehearsal of the 威尼斯城所有登入网址学院合唱团.
Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko

College and 音乐学院, One Campus

At Oberlin, the 艺术学院 and 科学 and the 音乐学院 share one campus. College and conservatory students take classes together, 生活在一起, 一起吃饭, 甚至一起表演.

Interdisciplinary coursework and cross-campus experiences are a hallmark of an Oberlin education. Both the 音乐学院 and 艺术学院 and 科学 provide opportunities for students who are interested in pursuits that combine music and the broader liberal arts. Students regularly engage in coursework, 项目, and cocurricular activities around themes such as music and cognition, 艺术与科技, 音乐与文化, 艺术管理, and interdisciplinary 执行ance practices.

 

Taking Classes in the 音乐学院

You can be a serious musician in the 艺术学院 and 科学. 在一个典型的学期里, more than 300 arts and sciences students enroll for credit in conservatory classes. Many of these classes are open to all students; while some, such as music theory and aural skills, 要求进行安置测试.

Students seated in a bright classroom where the professor is standing by a grand piano.

Associate Professor of 音乐理论 Jan Miyake teaches a class in iconic Bibbins Hall.

Photo credit: Tanya Rosen-Jones ’97

Sample 音乐学院 Classes

音乐学

  • Intro to Western Art 音乐
  • Intro to 音乐s of the World
  • Intro to African-American 音乐
  • 民族音乐学入门
  • 音乐作为社交生活

音乐主题

  • 流行音乐与媒体
  • 练习乐评
  • 音乐哲学
  • 创业入门
  • 狱中艺术

理论

  • 内在的节奏
  • 音乐理论
  • 听觉能力
  • 爵士乐听觉技巧
  • 世界音乐分析

实践

  • Voice Class for Non-Majors
  • 非专业钢琴班
  • 开始即兴创作
  • Historical 性能: Gamba class, Baroque violin class
  • Composition for Non-Majors
  • Intro to Technology in 音乐 & 相关的艺术

You Can Major in 音乐 as an A&年代的学生

音乐al studies is a major in the 艺术学院 and 科学. Its requirements span conservatory and college classes, providing a rigorous foundation in music theory, 音乐的历史, 和人种音乐学, with opportunities to 执行 and explore music-related topics in a wide range of fields.

Top students in the major can apply for the Honors Program. 仔细计划, the musical studies major can also be part of a double major for the Bachelor of 艺术 degree.

阅读更多:

Oberlin’s 音乐al Studies Major

音乐-Related Courses in the 艺术学院 and 科学

At Oberlin, you can approach the study of music from almost any direction. Here are a few you can try:

The emphasis of this course is upon the thesis that the Black or `Blues Aesthetic’ is a cultural perspective that emerges from within the experiences of Black people, facing the socio-政治 and 经济 conditions of modern and contemporary America. Our focus will be upon the traditions of African American music, 文学, 戏剧和电影, and specifically the visual arts.

This course explores the relationship between sound and its affect on visual perception in relation to moving images. By practicing the creative application of audio post-production techniques (foley, 美国存托凭证, 声音设计, surround mixing) the class will learn about various conceptual elements of sound (diegetic, non-diegetic, 打开和关闭屏幕, 视觉磁性). Students will learn to approach sound in film with a better understanding in both theory and application.

The class explores the influence of music on the development of mathematics, specifically the sub-discipline of analysis. From Pythagoras’s tuning problem, an early evidence for the existence of irrational numbers, to finding precise descriptions for pitch and musical timbre, questions from music inspired important developments in mathematics, giving rise to the flourishing subfield known as harmonic analysis. By exploring the influence of music on mathematics, the class will provide an introduction to harmonic analysis, reaching from classical results on the convergence of Fourier series to the theory of the Fourier transform and distributions, and their applications to acoustics.

Using different case studies from around the world, this course examines the power of music in social life. We will explore the meanings and uses of music, such as the way music is used to heighten and ensure spiritual efficacy, to comment on and contribute to social movements, or to make sense of “natural” disasters. Rather than diving deep into musical structures, we will explore music in its cultural, 政治, 宗教, 经济, 历史, and/or ecological contexts. Ultimately, the course gives you critical tools and frames to apply to your own case students.

This course explores interactions of sensory experience, time, and place in which music is an integral part, drawing on texts from 执行ance studies, 音乐的历史, 人种音乐学, 文化社会学, 媒体研究, 和人类学, with in-class active listening from music indexed in the texts used to analyze the ways in which music from a variety of genres and time periods structures the intentions and affect of places and the practices they facilitate. (未来)

This course explores the long-standing relationship between verbal art and music in high art, 受欢迎的, 还有民间传统. We will consider: how musical paradigms shape literary 美学, 歌曲和身份, improvisation in music and verbal art, Romanticism and the dissonance of Modernity in 文学 and music, the relationship between 受欢迎的 song and poetry, tradition and innovation in oraliture, models of 执行ance in 文学 and music. Examples drawn from Spanish, Latin American, and U.S. 拉丁美洲/传统. 西班牙语授课.

This course is an introduction to Samba. Deeply enmeshed with Brazil’s colonial 历史 Samba has arisen as a symbol of its cultural and national identity. 以舞蹈为重点, this course will offer an embodied exploration of the racial and cultural mixing at Samba’s root through a study of physical techniques, 美学, 节奏和意识形态. We will also study the music, 历史, traditions and socio-cultural context surrounding the dance through readings, 视频和讨论.

The lyric poem has always had a close but mysterious relationship to music and song. In the domain of 文学, term lyric has designated a type of poem distinct from 戏剧tic or narrative poetry, 但在音乐领域, 尤其是歌剧, the distinction breaks down, 和抒情, 戏剧, and narrative work hand in hand. This course will investigate these relationships by reading and writing the lyrics, both in the poetic and musical sense of the word. Students enrolled in this learning community will work in close collaboration with composers and singers to develop a new opera.

The basic principles of physics (mechanics, 波动, and sound) that influence the design and 执行ance characteristics of musical instruments will be studied. The major groups of modern orchestral and keyboard instruments will be discussed, 还有听觉物理, 唱歌, 和谐, 调优的性格, and room acoustics will be included. Group 项目 will be required.

The German city of Berlin has long been a city of fascination and transformation. During the short years between WWI and the Nazi takeover, it was the center of a cultural efflorescence that has rarely been matched since, including the music of Kurt Weill, the art of Dada and Neue Sachlichkeit, and the designs of the Bauhaus, 等. This course will examine the culture of Weimar Berlin and situate it within the turbulent social life and politics of those years. Required course for the From Berlin to Broadway: The 音乐 of Kurt Weill StudiOC Learning Community.

Pathways to 音乐al 小s

College students who want to structure and organize their studies in the 音乐学院 during their time at Oberlin can pursue the 音乐 . The breadth of options and the flexible requirements allow students to create paths of study that best suit their passions and interest.

除了, students in both the college and the conservatory can deepen and widen their understanding of music by learning about it in a variety of contexts and disciplines through six new interdisciplinary programs

  • 音乐与认知辅修
  • 音乐 and Popular Culture 小
  • Interdisciplinary 性能 小
  • 艺术 and Creative Technologies 小
  • 艺术 政府 and 领导 Concentration
  • 非裔美国音乐

探索这些途径

Oberlin博客音乐

威尼斯官方网站登录身边的音乐

非凡的表现

You might already know about the incredible number of concerts on campus: faculty 执行ances, 学生演出, 乐团音乐会, and visiting artists like opera superstar Joyce DiDonato, jazz legend Terence Blanchard, and Grammy-winning Apollo’s Fire. But did you know that the Office of Student 领导 and Involvement and other groups also bring 执行ers to campus?

Recent 执行ers include Lizzo, Maxo Kream & UNiiQU3, Snail Mail, Haley Heynderickx, Ari Lennox, Madison McFerrin, Mwenso & shake和Lucki.

麦迪逊·麦克费林在台上

Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Madison McFerrin at the Cat in the Cream.

Photo credit: Audrey Tran ’22

齿轮和空间

Before you start rehearsing for Battle of the Bands at the ’Sco, you should check out the Gear Co-op in Wilder 404. This student-run organization aims to provide the space, 设备, and educational resources needed to allow anyone to practice, 执行, and record whatever they please.

If all you really need is a quiet space with good acoustics and perhaps a Steinway piano, any Oberlin student can use the practice rooms in the 音乐学院 – you don't need permission or a key.

A grand piano with an empty chair by a bright window.

A practice room in the 音乐学院’s Bibbins Hall.

Photo credit: William Rieter

Oberlin’s Professional Recording Studio

Clonick Hall is known for its excellent acoustics and high-resolution audio recording systems. It is available for student use by reservation.

Above: 克里斯·埃尔德里奇 ’04 leads a recording session with student group Hotspur Johnny! in Clonick Recording Studio.

Collaboration plays a fundamental role in the community’s constant appetite for great art. This inclusivity is indicative of the communal Oberlin personality that makes it such an incredible place.

Charles Abbott ’14, on Oberlin’s inclusive music scene

阅读查尔斯的故事

乐团

Many arts and sciences students 执行 in credit-bearing ensembles or participate without registering for credit.

音乐乐团

  • 艺术 & 科学 Chamber Collective
  • 艺术 & 科学的管弦乐队
  • 巴洛克乐团
  • 性能 & Improvisation (PI) Ensemble
  • 小型爵士合奏团
  • Oberlin Improvisation and New 音乐 Collective (OINC)
  • American roots music ensemble
  • 威尼斯城所有登入网址钢

声乐乐团

  • 威尼斯城所有登入网址学院合唱团
  • 音乐联盟
  • 执行管理委员会音乐um
  • 福音唱诗班
  • 无伴奏合唱团体

世界乐团

  • 爪哇加麦兰
  • 巴西的合奏
  • 苏门答腊Talempong
  • 奥柏林学院Taiko

More about 性能 乐团 at Oberlin

教训

You’ll have the opportunity to take private music lessons with a conservatory student or faculty member through our secondary lessons program. Placement may be based on audition, skill, and/or availability of teachers within the division. Secondary lessons with students can be taken for credit or for non-credit.

After Oberlin: 校友 in 音乐

和大多数字段一样, Oberlin 校友—from both the college and the conservatory—have done great things in the music business. Performers such as Josh Ritter, 莉斯菲尔, 里安农吉登斯, 阿克伦, 克里斯·埃尔德里奇, 海滨别墅, and Deerhoof once called Oberlin home.

What's more, many of them like to come back and 执行.

Josh Ritter playing acoustic guitar

乔什·里特99年在芬尼.

Photo credit: John Seyfried
里安农吉登斯 playing violin

里安农吉登斯 ’00 at Finney.

Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko
Greg Saunier打鼓

Greg Saunier ’91 of Deerhoof at the ’Sco.

Photo credit: Chris Schmucki ’22
克里斯·埃尔德里奇 holds an acoustic guitar while teaching a class.

克里斯·埃尔德里奇 ’04 of Punch Brothers teaches a master class.

Photo credit: Yevhen Gulenko

Planning for a 音乐 职业生涯

除了 to being immersed in music through academics and campus life, all Oberlin musicians have access to unparalleled career resources through the 职业发展中心 and the conservatory’s arts-focused Office of Professional Development.

These resources include workshops and individual advising on résumés, 求职信, bios, 电子新闻资料袋, graduate school applications, 找工作, and topics involving artist-run organizations. Guidance is available for identifying, 创建, and/or applying for internship and winter-term opportunities. We’ll also connect you to internal and external funding sources such as the XARTS fund and competitive fellowship and award programs including Fulbright and Watson.

The 职业生涯 Communities program for juniors and seniors adds another level of support, offering two communities of interest to musicians: 音乐 领导 and 艺术 & 创造性的职业. These communities are a way for students to connect with other students, 校友, 父母, and faculty who share an interest or expertise. Each community works with a team of designated mentors, and all participants are guaranteed a financially supported summer internship.

Learn More about 音乐 at Oberlin

If you love music and want to embrace it as part of a liberal arts education, there is no better place to be. 来奥柏林吧.

弦乐演奏者排练.