Hello Everyone! This blog post is going to provide some info about the Joint Music Program! We are going to dive into the choir options offered and also voice lessons both classical and musical theater. Then we will be talking about the piano lessons and the orchestral options. Please enjoy!
Hey Everybody!
My name is Sam and I am going to talk a little about voice lessons today. Scripps is part of the Joint Music Program, made up of Scripps, CMC, Harvey Mudd, and Pitzer. The process of doing voice lessons is pretty easy to do. The first step is to audition for voice lessons, which is less of an audition and more of a way to see where a student is vocally to place them into the best section. It is also an opportunity for the professors to get to know your voice. Once you audition, you will set up a time to have your voice lesson weekly based on your schedule. Along with the individual lessons, there is a performance class where students share their work throughout the semester. In terms of logistics, voice lessons are .5 a credit and can be taken with or without being part of an assembly. It is for a grade, but the grade is more about how much work you put in and your progress while taking voice lessons. Repertoire for voice lessons can range from classical art songs to Broadway songs.
Along with voice lessons The Joint Music program also has a few different ensemble opportunities, The Claremont Concert Orchestra, Claremont Concert Singers, and the Claremont Treble Singers. I am going to expand a little on the choirs. The Claremont Concert Singers is around 60 or 70 people of all voice types both from the colleges and the surrounding community. They tend to sing Major choral works and meet twice a week for just over an hour. This class is worth .5 a credit as well. The Claremont Treble Singers focuses on music for soprano and alto voices from the middle ages to the present and both accompanied and A Cappella. During the pandemic, The Joint Music Program still has the choirs! Obviously, choirs look different remotely and so this year choirs are focusing on individual choir skills while still meeting once a week and having a couple of “virtual choir” opportunities. If you have any specific questions contact: Professor Kamm – [email protected] or Professor Harley – [email protected] or you can contact me directly at [email protected]
Hey lovely people!
My name is Rinny, and I’m going to be talking about the music program at Scripps, and specifically Voice for Musical Theatre (AKA MUS92)! Voice for Musical Theatre is a part of the voice program that Sam described earlier, and it is a part of the Joint Music Program. MUS92 is a very new class — last year was the first year that it was offered as a course more specific than just voice lessons! For a long time, voice lessons were specifically catered towards those with more classical tastes, but the demand for musical theatre became so high that they made it into a distinctive course. Everything that Sam said above applies to how the class functions and how to enter the class. Voice for Musical Theatre also has the added benefit of counting as a course for a theatre major/minor.
Although this course is new and doesn’t have quite as much establishment as the classical voice lessons, there are many cool opportunities already associated with it! I was invited by professor Anne Harley to take a trip to southeast Asia on a musical theatre project focused on environmentalism (postponed due to the pandemic, of course). There is still also a great deal of musical theatre repertoire available free to students through the Scripps music library. The musical theatre voice lessons are also very helpful for me personally, as I am involved in theatre at the 5Cs and use it to practice!
If you’re uncertain if you want to choose between the classical voice lessons or the musical theatre voice lessons, don’t fret too much! If you audition, the professors will be able to give you an opinion on what your voice might be more suited towards. It’s also good to investigate the scope of both classes! Classical voice lessons include a wide range of genres, and Voice for Musical Theatre, although more specialized, has a great deal of leniency. I personally sang a jazz standard as well as a song from the 2019 film Rocketman last semester! Voice for Musical Theatre is also just as welcoming to new vocalists as the standard voice lessons — I would highly encourage that anyone interested check it out!
Hi all!
I’m Serena, and today I’ll be addressing the topic of piano lessons today at Scripps. Naturally, piano classes are available to all students across the 5Cs, but the piano program itself is specifically a part of Scripps College. My experience with the piano department has only been over zoom, but generally speaking, there are two piano classes: group piano (for beginners) and individual lessons (for more advanced students). To preface, you do not need any experience in order to take piano classes. In order to take piano classes, you must first audition prior to class registration. The audition consists of: playing any piece of your choice on the piano and answering a few questions about your interest in piano as well as your background in piano. If you are completely new to piano, however, you do not have to play but you will be expected to complete the latter. After being placed, you may request to take the class that you were placed in. Group lessons generally consist of 4-6 students and classes will meet 1 hour per week. Students will be assigned pieces by their professors and no public performances will be required. Individual lessons are 1 on 1 classes, and students have the liberty to choose whatever piece they’d like to play that the professor sees fit. (I, however, enjoy asking the faculty to choose songs for me because they have really good taste!) Classes are 30 minutes per week and occasionally all students will meet up during performance classes to perform their pieces for one another. Student recitals are encouraged and usually, you will be expected to perform twice per semester. The expected amount of practice time outside of class is typically 1 hour a day. Students may practice in the piano practice rooms, which have 6 Yamaha grand pianos and 7 Steinway studio upright pianos. Personally, I didn’t expect to sign up to take piano classes because I hadn’t played for a really long time, but I decided to test the waters and ended up really enjoying the classes! I’ve had a lovely experience with the piano department at Scripps and highly encourage anyone who is interested to audition. 🙂
Hi all!
I’m Lyanne Dominguez, Scripps alum from the Class of 2013 (I majored in music!) and member of the Scripps Office of Admission team. As a cellist, I spent time in both the Joint Music Department housed at Scripps and Pomona’s Music Department. I’m helping out my fellow musicians with a quick blurb below on instrumental offerings outside of voice & piano. Happy to expand more via email! Feel free to reach out at [email protected] with any questions about music offerings at Scripps or anything else! Large ensemble performance classes also exist for instrumentalists through the Joint Music Program’s Claremont Concert Orchestra. CCO offers the opportunity to play a range of symphonic works, with two performances per semester, alongside students from 4 of the Claremont Colleges. To join CCO, both incoming and returning students are required to audition at the beginning of each year with a 5-7 minute solo piece and a few orchestral excerpts from the repertoire the orchestra will perform over the course of the year. 90-minute rehearsals are scheduled twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays and range from full orchestra rehearsals to sectionals led by local professional musicians. Recent works performed include
Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang Symphony- Cantata, Saint-Saëns’ Danse macabre, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2. The liberal arts background of the Claremont Colleges allows students from a range of majors to engage in opportunities like CCO to continue growing as musicians and scholars. If you have any specific questions as an instrumentalist, contact Professor David Cubek – [email protected]
Each of us has participated in some or all of these programs and really enjoyed them! If you want to learn more about our experiences or hear more details please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us! You can reach us at: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected].