Music

Career Paths

Bucknell’s music majors find success in a number of careers and fields of interest, from the creative and performing arts to the corporate and nonprofit arenas. Recent alumni of the program have secured the following positions:

• Coordinator for Artistic Programming at Carnegie Hall
• Development Assistant at the New York Philharmonic
• Director of Annual Giving at the New England Conservatory
• Professors of Music at several universities
• Public school music teachers
• Singers in professional opera companies

Courses Offered

Advanced Conducting
Advanced Theory
Chamber Music
Choral Methods and Literature
Composition I and II
Computer Music Composition
Conducting
Chromatic Theory
Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Music
Diatonic Theory
History and Literature of Music
Instrumental Methods and Literature
Introduction to Classic Jazz
Introduction to Modern Jazz
Introduction to Music
Introduction to Music Education
Introduction to Music Fundamentals
Introduction to Popular Music in the US
Jazz and Social Justice
Jazz Improvisation
Jazz Theory and Arranging
Music and Culture I: Chant to Beethoven
Music and Culture II: Beethoven to Virtual Music
Music and Culture: Africa & the Diaspora
Music and Culture: Jazz, Rock, & Race
Music and Culture: Music in American Life
Music and Culture: Popular Music
Music and Culture: Silk Road
Music Capstone
Music for Classroom Teachers
Music Projects: Selected Topics
Performance Seminar I & II
Philosophy of Music
Piano Pedagogy
Popular Music in the USA
Principles of Teaching Music
String Methods
Student Teacher Seminar
Studies in Music
Topics in Music History: pre-ca. 1800
Topics in Music History: ca. 1800-1900
Topics in Music History: ca. 1900 to the Present
Voice
World Music

Courses available for the following instruments: baritone horn, bass clarinet, bassoon, brass and percussion, clarinet, contrabassoon, cornet and trumpet, English horn, flute, French horn, keyboard, guitar, harp, harpsichord, Javanese gamelan, oboe, organ, percussion, piano, saxophone, sousaphone, string bass, strings, trombone, tuba, viola, violin, violoncello, woodwinds.

Facilities & Resources

• TheSigfried Weis Music Building and Natalie Davis Rooke Recital Hall provide outstanding teaching and performance facilities.
• The Harold Cook Collection of Musical Instruments holds 150 historic ethnic musical instruments.
• The instruments of the Bucknell Javanese Gamelan were obtained through the generosity of Dorothy Seesholtz Mullestein ’48.

Graduate and Professional School

Many music majors choose to continue their studies in graduate and professional programs. Recently, alumni of the music program have gone on to:

• Eastman School of Music
• Peabody Institute
• University of Pennsylvania
• New England Conservatory
• University of Michigan
• Cincinnati College Conservatory
• Manhattan School of Music
• Boston Conservatory
• Temple University
• Curtis Institute

Internships

Internships provide career experience and networking opportunities for music majors. Recently, students have been interns at:

• The Metropolitan Opera
• The Washington National Opera
• The Philadelphia Orchestra

Quick Facts

Number of full-time faculty: 11

Average number of majors per class year: 15

Study Abroad

Students can complement their on-campus music studies by spending time abroad in major music performance centers such as London, Vienna, Milan and Paris.

Summer Programs

Students have been selected for participation in summer programs around the world such as:

• Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme in England
• The Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida
• Voce e bel canto and the amalfi Coast Music Festival and Institute in Italy
• The Summer Institute and Festival at the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina

Concerts Recitals Performances

• The Department of Music presents approximately 100 concerts, recitals, masterclasses, and lectures each year in the Rooke Recital Hall and the Weis Center
• The Weis Center Series brings renowned musicians to campus. A partial list of recent events includes Bela Fleck, Turtle Island String Quartet, Ursula Oppens, Korean Tea Music, Philip Glass Ensemble, Joshua Bell and Wynton Marsalis.
• The Gallery Series is a nationally recognized performance series focusing on experimental and avant-garde musical events.
• During the past three years, the Department of Music and the Weis Center for the Performing Arts have jointly sponsored residencies by the Cassatt String Quartet, the American Brass Quintet, the New York Wind Soloists and pianist Paavali Jumppanen. In addition, the department has sponsored several masterclasses with world-renowned musicians, including soprano Heidi Grant Murphy and pianist Kevin Murphy, with actor/singer Curt Branom, Middle Eastern musician Bassam Saba and Baroque violinist Jill O’Brien. These events have been supported by the Kushell Music Endowment, established in 1971 by Charles J. and Isabelle Kushell, Class of 1927.
• Participation in all music ensembles is open to qualified students, regardless of major.
• The Rooke Chapel Choir and Rooke Chapel Ringers’ Christmas Candlelight Service has been televised nationally on PBS.
• The Bucknell University Orchestra performs an annual concert featuring student Senior Concerto Competition winners.
• The Bucknell Opera Company has gained recognition for creative performances of a wide-ranging repertoire, including a significant number of premieres.
• The World Music class offers opportunities to participate in workshops and classes in Arabic music, African dance and drumming, and steel band.

Ensembles

• Symphonic Band
• Orchestra
• Concert Chorale
• Jazz Band
• Opera
• Chapel Choir
• Chapel Ringers
• Balinese & Javanese Gamelan

Faculty

An internationally recognized faculty maintains its professional stature through publications and performances worldwide. Students interact closely with these faculty members in the rehearsal hall and on stage. (For more information on faculty members’ credentials, scholarship and national and international achievements, please explore www.bucknell.edu/music.)

Paulo Botelho
Ph.D. Princeton University
Composition, music theory.

Cathal Breslin
D.M.A. University of Michigan
Piano, advanced theory

Bethany J. Collier, director of the Gamelan Ensemble
Ph.D. Cornell University
Ethnomusicology, Indonesian culture, Balinese performance, ritual, politics.

Kimberly Councill
Ph.D. The Ohio State University
Music education.

Barry Hannigan
D.M.A. Eastman School of Music
Studio piano and advanced theory. A concert pianist touring yearly, he has performed in England, Ireland and Norway.

William Kenny, director of Symphonic Band
Ed.D. Illinois
Horn, brass methods, conducting. Instrumental adjudicator and clinician; founder and conductor of the Penn Central Wind Band.

Barry Long, director of Jazz Band
D.M.A. Eastman School of Music
Jazz studies, music theory, music history, race, social justice. Jazz composer and trumpeter.

Christopher Para, director of the Orchestra
M.M. Eastman School of Music
Violin, viola, orchestration, conducting. Frequent guest conductor of European orchestras.

Catherine Fowler Payn, director of the Bucknell Opera Company
D.M.A. West Virginia
Voice, opera, contemporary American art song and American chamber opera. Nationally known clinician and adjudicator.

William Payn, director of choral studies
D.M.A. West Virginia
Nationally known as a clinician and festival conductor, he is also the music director and conductor for the Susquehanna Valley Chorale and Orchestra.

Annie Janeiro Randall
Ph.D. College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati
Music history, musicology, music in social and historical context, women and gender in music, music in crosscultural perspective, historiography, archival methodology.

Sezi Seskir
D.M.A. Cornell University
Piano.

Grants & Awards

The John Philip Sousa Society’s Sudler Silver Scroll Award was given to the Penn Central Wind Band, conducted by William Kenny.

Catherine Payn has been elected to the Board of Directors of the National Opera Association where she chairs the research programs in performance, production, composition and opera education.

Barry Hannigan was selected for the roster of the Pennsylvania Arts on Tour.

Barry Long is the recipient of the Dave Brubeck Collection Research Travel Grant (University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA), a rostered speaker for the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, and the Samuel Williams Professor of Music at Bucknell University.

Bethany Collier is a recipient of Fulbright-Hays and FLAS fellowship grants.

"A Bucknell Candlelight Christmas," featuring the Rooke Chapel Choir and the Rooke Chapel Ringers under the direction of William Payn, airs each year on PBS television and was recently nominated for an Emmy award.

Three members of the music faculty have received Bucknell’s Class of ’56 Lectureship Award for inspirational teaching, and one has received the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Artist Affiliates

• Gregory Alico, M.M. Baylor University. Percussion.
• Susan Beckley, M.M. The Catholic University of America. Voice.
• Rick Benjamin, The Juilliard School. Tuba. Director of the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra.
• Ron Bixler, M.M. Ithaca College. Saxophone.
• Lawrence Cooper, M.M. University of Michigan. Trombone and low brass.
• David Cover, M.M. Peabody Conservatory. Accompanist.
• Leslie Cullen, M.M. The Juilliard School. Flute and piccolo.
• Trina Gallup, M.M. Pennsylvania State University. Bassoon.
• Colleen Hartung, D.M.A. Michigan State University. Clarinet.
• Phil Haynes, B.M. Coe College. Jazz percussion.
• Ryan Malone, Ph.D. Duke University. Organ.
• Karena McCarty. Oboe.
• Dale Orris, M.M. University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Trumpet and cornet.
• Lou Ann Potter, B.S.M.E. Messiah College. Piano.
• Andrew Rammon, M.M. Cleveland Institute of Music. Cello.
• Marcus Smolensky, D.M.A. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Violin and viola.
• Jay Umble, Millersville. Guitar.

Program Details

• Bucknell’s music department offers four major degree programs.
• Bachelor of Arts: A general program of study of music within the liberal arts, designed to equip students with a broad background in music theory, history and performance.
• Bachelor of Music: A highly specialized program with individualized professional programs. Students may choose from three curricula: performance, composition or music education.
• A minor in music is available.
• Merit-based scholarships are available. Prospective students wishing to apply for a scholarship should schedule an audition. See www.bucknell.edu/music for details.
• Applicants for admission to both degree programs are required to audition with the music department. Audition information is available at www.bucknell.edu/music.

Recent Faculty Scholarship, Performances, and Productions:

• Dusty!: Queen of the Postmods (book, Randall)
• The Jazz Handbook (upcoming book, Long)
• "Rachmaninoff to Ragtime" (CD, Hannigan)
• Jazz Educators Journal (article, Long)
• The Instrumentalist (article, Kenny)
• Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd edition (contributing author, Long)
• "Raising Funds, Lifting Spirits: Intersections of Music & Humanitarian Aid in Tsunami Relief Efforts" (chapter in ACEH's book "History, Politics and Culture," Collier)