Mission Statement
The music faculty at Union College serves the diverse needs of students pursuing a Liberal Arts education. We seek to open the minds and ears of Union students by teaching an integrated curriculum which includes courses in music theory, music history, jazz, and world music. Students from across the campus experience music through performance workshops, participation in faculty-led ensembles, and private vocal and instrumental instruction. While most of our courses are open to the general student body, we delight in one-on-one interaction with our music majors in various independent study courses and senior projects. We continue to be active in our own fields of performance, composition and research in the belief that our own professional interests keep our classroom and concert hall activities lively and inspiring.
(from left to right) Prof. Tim Olsen, Chair; Prof. Dianne McMullen; Kathie Herrington, Administrative Program Assistant;
Prof. Victor Klimash; Prof. Jennifer Matsue; Prof. Hilary Tann
Union College offers a wide variety of courses in music theory, composition, music history, and jazz studies. The music faculty offers history courses which complement both the European and American sequences of the General Education Program. In addition to the full major and the interdepartmental major, a music minor is available and consists of a sequence of six courses plus one year of practica (ensemble or lessons) credit.
Coursework
Theory courses at Union are special because they are taught by composers; students are encouraged to employ newly acquired theoretical knowledge in compositions of their own almost from the start. An upper-level course devoted entirely to composition is offered on a regular basis. The music history sequence starts with a two-term chronological survey. The topics of upper-level music history courses vary from year to year. Students might study Baroque music one term and Mozart the next, while another year they might focus on Romanticism for a term and Bach and Handel another. Occasional field trips to interesting concert venues such as Tanglewood and the New York City Opera enhance classroom analysis and discussions. Students in twentieth-century music history study and perform everything from Debussy to Steve Reich, often composing short works in a variety of contemporary styles. Courses in American music often feature guest artists as well as trips to New York City to see relevant shows on Broadway. Courses in world music range from a general survey to more specific studies of Latin American and East Asian music cultures. Performance workshops are regularly offered in vocal music, chamber music, and jazz.
Music Practica
The music practica program consists of faculty-led ensembles and individual instrumental or vocal lessons. For each successful term of ensemble participation or lessons, students receive one-third course credit. After three terms of successful participation in the same ensemble or lesson, students can receive one course credit. Students can count up to two course credits (six terms of practica) towards the 36 course credits required for graduation. Practica are also offered in theater, dance, and visual arts. Student should visit the appropriate departmental web sites for further details.
Ensembles
The Union College Choir, conducted by Prof. Victor Klimash, is a mixed choir that rehearses Monday and Wednesday afternoons and has an active concert schedule. The Union College and Community Orchestra, conducted by Professor Klimash, meets Tuesday evenings and presents a full concert each term. The orchestra frequently features student concerto soloists and each year performs student compositions in addition to the standard literature. The choir and orchestra often join together to perform large-scale works from the opera, oratorio, and cantata repertoire. The Union College Jazz Ensemble, conducted by Prof. Tim Olsen, meets Wednesday evenings and performs throughout the academic year at formal and informal occasions on- and off-campus. The Union College Taiko Ensemble, led by Prof. Jennifer Matsue, meets on Thursday evenings. Click here for a pdf document that describes music performance opportunities at Union.
Lessons
Professional musicians are available to teach individual music lessons to Union students in voice, keyboard, wind, string, brass, fretted, and percussion instruments. Students pay separately for lessons; a competetive scholarship program is available to help defray the cost of lessons. Click here for a list of instructors.
Chamber Music Concert Series
The College presents a renowned year-long chamber music series in Memorial Chapel. Admission is free to students. Recent artists have included I Solisti Italiani, the Emerson String Quartet, The Kings Noyse, the Mostly Mozart Orchestra, and the Boston Camerata. Click here for information about the 2007-08 season.
Facilities
Music facilities at Union are located in the Taylor Music Center, which opened in January 2007. The centerpiece of the building is the Fred L. Emerson Foundation Auditorium, an intimate performance space that seats 100. In addition to classrooms, the TMC also contains a music technology studio, faculty offices, and practice rooms. Union College became an All-Steinway School in 2007.
Faculty
Victor Klimash
Visiting Associate Professor of Music and Director of Performance
Phone: (518)388-8326
E-Mail: vklimash@aol.com
Prof. Klimash holds two degrees from the Eastman School of Music and that school's prestigious Performer's Certificate; his doctorate is from the Florida State University School of Music. Widely known as a conductor, teacher, and arts administrator, he has served as director of choral activities at the Louisiana State University School of Music and on the conducting staffs of both the Baton Rouge and New Orleans Symphonies. For eight years he was artistic director and conductor of the Music Society of the Midland Center for the Arts in Michigan, where he also was director of education and outreach. Prof. Klimash is currently Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church in Albany and Music Director of the Albany-based Mendelssohn Club male choir. At Union, he teaches chamber music, music history, and music theory and conducts the Union College and Community Orchestra and the Union College Choir.
Jennifer Milioto Matsue
Assistant Professor of Music
Phone: (518)388-8075
E-Mail: matsuej@union.edu
Website: idol.union.edu/~matsuej
Prof. Matsue recently completed her Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in ethnomusicology with the dissertation titled "Performing Underground Sounds: An Ethnography of Music-Making in Tokyo's Hardcore Clubs." She is researching women in traditional Japanese performing arts as well as further aspects of Japanese popular music. Before coming to Union, she taught at Dartmouth College, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Chicago, and Sophia University in Japan. At Union, she teaches courses in Japanese and East Asian music and culture, ethnomusicology, music theory, and anthropology.
Dianne M. McMullen
Associate Professor of Music
Phone: (518)388-6202
E-Mail: mcmulled@union.edu
Prof. McMullen is a musicologist and concert organist. After receiving an A.B. in music from Smith College, she attended the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, where she earned two master of music degrees (musicology and organ performance) and a Ph.D. in musicology. As a Fulbright Scholar and the recipient of two D.A.A.D. grants, a Max Planck grant, and several other grants, she has conducted research on the German Lutheran chorale at the time of Johann Sebastian Bach and Renaissance dance music, working in archives throughout Germany. As a concert organist, she has performed in the United States, Canada, and Europe. As director of the Union College Chamber Singers, she toured England with the ensemble, appearing at several prestigious cathedrals. Before joining the Union faculty, she taught at the Ann Arbor and Dearborn campuses of the University of Michigan, UCLA, and Adelphi University, where she also served as chair of the department and director of the concert series.
Timothy Olsen
Associate Professor of Music
Phone: (518)388-6563
E-Mail: olsent@union.edu
Website: vfmusic.bizland.com
Prof. Olsen holds degrees from Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Minnesota, and Yale University (D.M.A., 1995). His compositions have been performed throughout North America and Europe. A 1990 Fulbright grant enabled him to study at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. Olsen has also received awards from ASCAP, the American-Scandinavian Foundation, the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, Connecticut, and the Latin American Music Center at Indiana University. Active as a conductor, trumpet-player and keyboardist, Olsen frequently performs in the Capital District and is director of music at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Schenectady. His choral music is published by Lawson-Gould Music Publishers, Inc., New York. He directs the Jazz Ensemble and teaches courses in theory with a specialization in American and Latin American music history and practice. He is Chair of the Music Department.
Hilary Tann
John Howard Payne Professor of Music
Phone: (518)388-6566
E-Mail: tannh@union.edu
Website: www.hilarytann.com
Prof. Tann holds degrees in composition from the University of Wales at Cardiff and Princeton University (Ph.D., 1981). She has been a member of the faculty at Union since 1980, serving as Chair of the Performing Arts Department for 11 years. Her compositions are widely performed and broadcast. Since 1989, she has been exclusively published by Oxford University Press. A member of ASCAP, she has received support from numerous organizations, including Meet the Composer, the Ford Foundation, the Pew Memorial Trust, the Welsh Arts Council, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Reader's Digest/Meet the Composer Consortium Commissioning Program, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She teaches courses in music theory and composition and founded the Union College Orchestra.
Links to Music in the Capital Region
AlbanyJazz
Albany Symphony Orchestra
Palace Theater, Albany
Proctor's Theater, Schenectady
Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), Saratoga Springs
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, Troy
Vox In Camera