Division of Performing Arts

Chair: Michael G. Kaloyanides, Ph.D.

Professors Emeriti: Elizabeth J. Moffitt, M.A., Hunter College; Ralf E. Carriuolo, Ph.D., Wesleyan University

Professor: Michael G. Kaloyanides, Ph.D., Wesleyan University

Associate Professor: Guillermo E. Mager, Ph.D., New York University

Assistant Professors: Albert G. Celotto, M.A., Indiana University; Christopher Reba, M.A., State University of New York – Buffalo

Lecturers: Jason L. DeGroff, B.M., M.M.E., University of Massachusetts; Victor Markiw, M.F.A., SUNY Purchase; Joseph Smolinski, M.F.A., University of Connecticut

Music

Coordinator: Michael G. Kaloyanides, Ph.D.

Music courses may be used to satisfy the arts core requirements.

The program in music is unique. Music is studied as a worldwide phenomenon, not defined simply in the western European art tradition. Students are encouraged to view music as a creation of all cultures and civilizations on both the folk and art levels, including our own urban and ethnic subcultures. Exposure to various music should lead students to specialization in a particular area as upper-class persons.

Since music is a performing art, students are expected to reach a satisfactory level of proficiency in either a traditional western instrument or one central to the particular culture in which they choose to specialize.

A degree in music qualifies students for professions as performers, composers, music publishers, critics and journalists, teachers, curators, and librarians. Combining music with other fields, graduates may enter the fields of concert and ensemble management and sound engineering areas. There are, of course, countless performance opportunities for instrumentalists, vocalists, and composers. Vocations such as music publishing, recording sales and promotions, and music criticism and journalism are also available to graduates with a degree in music. Students may also pursue careers in music education, not only as teachers in schools and conservatories but also as curators and librarians.

Performance/Practice and Recording Facilities

In addition to traditional performance and practice rooms, the following special areas are equipped for the use of students enrolled in the music industry and sound recording programs.Our recording studios are designed as both teaching and professional recording environments. Both control rooms offer comfortable seating for students as well as providing excellent views of the consoles, computer screens, and associated technology.

Studio A

Advanced recording seminar classes take place in our newest facility, an all-digital computer-based studio running Digidesign's Pro-Tools TDM system, the industry standard for professional recording studios. Additional equipment includes a Yamaha 56-input digital console, Roland music workstation, Yamaha MOTIF synthesizer, and Universal Audio microphone pre-amplifiers.

Studio B

The multitrack recording technology classes take place in a second recording facility. Equipment includes a 24-track analog and two 8-track digital recorders for a total of 40 tracks; a 40-input/32-monitor console for a total of 72 inputs in mix mode; an Apple Macintosh computer running Digidesign's Pro-Tools system; an extensive selection of outboard (signal processing) equipment; and MIDI gear, including synthesizer, drum machine, and an AKAI music production center.

Studio C

Recording fundamentals classes take place in a third recording facility with a 16-input/16-monitor console, a digital multitrack recorder, a computer with digital audio and MIDI sequencing capabilities, assorted signal processing equipment, and MIDI synthesizer and drum machine.

Workstations

Our digital mixing workstation contains Tascam multitrack recorders and a digital mixing board, a Macintosh computer running Digidesign's Pro-Tools, and assorted signal processing gear.

Additional workstations can be rolled into classrooms for the Recording Fundamentals and the Sound Synthesis/MIDI classes.

Theatre

Coordinator: Rachel Anderson-Rabern, Ph.D.

The program seeks both students who wish to pursue careers in the theatre, as well as students who have a more general interest in the theatre and desire a strong undergraduate liberal arts education, which at the same time provides them with practical and marketable skills. Graduates of the program will be prepared to pursue careers and/or graduate school in a wide variety of theatre-related areas, but will also find the creative and practical skills required of a theatre major useful in many other careers including, but not limited to, law, business, political science, communication, and education.

The objectives of the program are to provide students with the opportunity to experience a high quality, well-rounded interdisciplinary education in the craft, art, and business of the theatre. Each student will be exposed to the various components that make up the theatre, and will be given the opportunity, in their junior and senior years, to concentrate on one or more of these areas. These areas include performance, design, and arts administration.

The theatre program participates in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, providing students with many scholarship opportunities as well as workshops and master classes taught by theatre professionals in their areas of expertise. The festival is held annually in the New England region, and the national festival is held in Washington, D.C. The University has been cited by the Kennedy Center as having one of the best emerging new programs in New England.

The theatre is a reflection, an evaluation, and a celebration of life in all of its aspects. Diversity is what makes the theatre vibrant and alive. The theatre thrives on people who bring as many diverse areas of thought and life experience to the process as possible. The more resources students can bring to the theatre, the richer the theatre they create becomes. With that spirit and philosophy in mind, the University seeks to develop well-rounded and informed theatre students, prepared and ready to make positive contributions to the theatre of the twenty-first century by learning the lessons of the past, challenging the perceptions of the present, and embracing the possibilities of the future.
Productions

The University community may take part in all departmental productions. Volunteers may act in productions as well as help with lighting, set, and costume design; set construction; publicity; and stage management. Participants need not be enrolled in theatre classes.