Music 2009-2010
Overview
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 that 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.
The department offers full and interdepartmental majors in Music as well as minors in Music or World Musics and Cultures.
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. Upper-level courses devoted to composition and arranging are offered on a regular basis.
The music history sequence starts with a two-term chronological survey. Upper-level music history courses investigate music from the Baroque up through the present day. Occasional field trips to interesting concert venues such as Tanglewood and the New York City Opera enhance classroom analysis and discussions.
Courses in American music often feature guest artists as well as trips to New York City to see relevant shows on Broadway. The jazz ensemble regularly brings in performers who sit in with the group, but also present workshops in jazz composition and improvisation.
Students can experience music from around the globe in such courses as “World Religions and Music”, “Music of Latin America”, “Music and Culture of Africa”, and “Introduction to World Music”. These courses feature frequent guest performers as well as field trips to significant cultural venues.
Ensembles (course credit available): Students are invited to participate in a variety of faculty-led ensembles. Professor Victor Klimash leads three groups: the Union College and Community Chorale, which rehearses once a week and performs large-scale choral works with keyboard and orchestral accompaniment; the Union College Camerata Singers, a small, select group that rehearses twice a week and performs a cappella literature from five centuries of choral tradition; and the Union College and Community Orchestra, which meets once a week and presents one concert at the end of each term. The orchestra frequently features student concerto soloists and each year performs student compositions in addition to the standard repertory. The Union College Jazz Ensemble, led by Professor Tim Olsen, meets weekly and performs throughout the year in both formal and informal settings. The Union College Taiko Ensemble is led by Professor Jennifer Matsue. Interested students should contact the appropriate ensemble director to enquire about auditioning.
Lessons (course credit available): Professional musicians are available to teach individual lessons to Union students in voice, keyboard, string, wind, brass, percussion, and guitar.
Chamber Music Concert Series: The College presents a renowned year-long chamber music series that 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.
Music facilities: Music facilities at Union College are located in the Taylor Music Center, which opened in January 2007. The centerpiece of this building is Emerson 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. Memorial Chapel, seating over 900, is used for orchestra rehearsals and large choral and orchestral performances. In 2007 Union College became an All-Steinway school.
THE FACULTY
Victor Klimash
Visiting Associate Professor of Music and Director of Performance
Doctor of Music, Florida State University
Prof. Klimash holds two degrees from the Eastman School of Music and that school’s prestigious Performer’s Certificate, and 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. He conducts the Union College and Community Chorale, the Union College Camerata Singers, and the Union College and Community Orchestra.
Jennifer Milioto Matsue
Associate Professor of Music and East Asian Studies
Ph.D., University of Chicago
Prof. Matsue completed her Ph.D. in ethnomusicology in 2003. The author of Making Music in Japan’s Underground: The Tokyo Hardcore Scene (Routledge, 2008), her research interests include women in traditional Japanese performing arts as well as 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 music and culture, ethnomusicology, and anthropology, and directs the Union College Taiko Ensemble.
Dianne M. McMullen
Professor of Music
Ph.D., University of Michigan
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 Deutsche Akademische Austausch Dienst 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. She is chair of the Music Department.
Timothy Olsen
Associate Professor of Music
D.M.A., Yale University
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, the Latin American Music Center at Indiana University, and the Amadeus Choir of Toronto. 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, Latin American and African music history and practice. He is also director of the Africana Studies Program.
Hilary Tann
John Howard Payne Professor of Music
Ph.D., Princeton University
Prof. Tann holds degrees in composition from the University of Wales and Princeton University. She has been a member of the faculty at Union College since 1980 and chaired the Performing Arts Department from 1991 to 2003. From 1982 to 1995 she held a number of Executive Committee positions in the International League of Women Composers. A deep interest in the music of Japan led to study of the ancient Japanese vertical bamboo flute (the shakuhachi) from 1985 to 1991. In 1989 she was invited to become a house composer for Oxford University Press. Her work has been commissioned by numerous festivals and performing groups, including the European Women’s Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, North American Welsh Choir, Presteigne Festival, Columbus Pro Musica, and North American Saxophone Alliance. Ensembles which have performed her works include the Louisville Symphony, Ovid Quartet, Radcliffe Choral Society, Women’s Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and KBS Philharmonic in Seoul, Korea. Her orchestral, chamber, and choral works continue to be performed, recorded, and broadcast internationally (www.hilarytann.com). She teaches courses in music theory and composition.
Department of Music Web site:
http://www.union.edu/Music