Bruce Polay
Professor and Chair of Music; Conductor and Artistic Director, Knox-Galesburg Symphony
2 East South Street
Galesburg, IL 61401-4999
309-341-7208
E-mail: bpolay@knox.edu
There are ample opportunities to enhance your studies in music through student research opportunities, College Honors, capstones, performance opportunities, off-campus study, and internships. These programs are integral to a Knox education, teaching you how to apply your skills in real world situations.
Student Research Opportunities and Creative Projects
Knox is a leader in promoting top-notch undergraduate research. In fact, more than 90% of all Knox students complete an independent research or creative project by the time they graduate. Many students' projects are supported by an unusually rich array of Knox College funding programs that together provide students more than $200,000 each year in support of their work. These sources include: Richter Memorial Scholars Program, Ford Foundation Research Fellows Program, Ronald E. McNair Fellows Program and departmentally supported independent studies. In addition, special fellowships awarded to Knox through national competitions and through the research grants of Knox faculty make Knox a leader in promoting top-notch undergraduate research.
College Honors
Outstanding students may elect to undertake College Honors in their senior year, carrying out an advanced research project presented and defended to a faculty committee that includes a distinguished outside examiner. Examples of recent Honors projects include:
Performance Opportunities
Knox offers many informal performances -- from concerts arranged by the campus radio station to impromptu jam sessions -- as well as the programs, listed with the curriculum, that are directed by faculty and carry academic credit. (Photo, right; Doug Smith wrote and performed in "The Ghost of Glastonbury," a murder-mystery, musical comedy presented by the Choir.) Performance opportunities include:
Off-Campus Study
For students interested in music, an off-campus program can provide exceptional experience and insight. Knox offers more than two dozen off-campus study programs. In the past five years, students in Music have studied in Chicago, Scotland, France, Italy, England, Russia, Mali, and China.
Internships
As a music student at Knox, you'll have the opportunity to expand your education -- to get that valuable experience you hear so much about -- by completing an internship. Internships provide an opportunity to explore and test career options, to gain experiences and skills needed to succeed as a professional, to build a resume, to network and make critical connections, and to experience a work environment. More and more employers are looking for college graduates with career-related experience. Knox's Center for Career and Pre-Professional Development specializes in helping you find an internship that best matches your goals and interests. Recent internships by music students include:
"Horizons: A Celebration of Student Inquiry, Imagination, and Creativity" at Knox College in May 2012 included award presentations in art, art history, fiction, poetry and playwriting.
Horizons 2012 featured student work in the performing arts -- dance and music -- including the Knox College Choir's world premiere of "Youth and Pioneers: An Ode" and the formal Spring Dance Concert.
Krista Anne Nordgren, a creative writing major with a minor in dance, shows a flare for entrepreneurship by opening an online company with her sisters that showcases artists' work.
Whether its field work, lab work, or the bio medical end of it, I like it all. I am Amanda, Senior, and...
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