Music
|
Yale's extracurricular musical opportunities are legendary. Though music majors in Yale College receive their degrees through the Department of Music, the College has a long and honored history of undergraduate musical studies as well as a splendid working relationship with the Yale School of Music. Thus, while the music major focuses on history, theory, and composition, approximately three hundred undergraduates—both music majors and non-music majors alike—may receive instruction in performance with the School of Music faculty. Additionally, more than seven hundred students are actively engaged in producing music in a variety of forms. Students have access to concert halls and theaters, rehearsal rooms and practice modules, electronic and digital music studios, and piano-equipped spaces in the residential colleges. Each year students perform nearly one hundred concerts and recitals, all open to the public. |
Additional Resources |
Vocal and instrumental groups abound, ranging from a University-wide orchestra to informal bands. Students play in the Yale Symphony Orchestra , the Bach Society, the Yale Concert Band, the Yale Precision Marching Band, and even the internationally acclaimed New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Thanks to the Duke Ellington Fellowship, jazz is a special part of the music scene at Yale. Smaller groups thrive as well: rock bands, bluegrass groups, chamber orchestras, jazz ensembles, and musical theater groups all play to enthusiastic audiences. Singers have a wide range of choices, including the Yale Glee Club, currently in its 140th year; the Yale College Opera Company; choirs such as the Battell Chapel Choir, the Gospel Choir, the Bach Society, the Collegium Musicum, and the Russian Chorus; the Yale Camerata; and the many student-run a cappella singing groups. The tradition of a cappella groups was born in 1909 with the all-male Whiffenpoofs, who continue to sing today as a senior men's group. They are now complemented by Whim 'n Rhythm, the senior women's group. Since 1909 the singing tradition has grown. More than twenty coed and single-sex groups now perform in concerts, at jamborees, at other colleges, and even as singing telegrams.
