Music

Major and Minor

Bruce Polay, chair
Music Director/Conductor, Knox-Galesburg Symphony; theory, music history, composition
Jeremy Day-O’Connell
Theory
Sarah Day-O’Connell
History, world music
Laura Lane
Director of choral music; voice, conducting, music history
Nicole Malley
Director of jazz program; music history, jazz, world music

Lecturers
Lynn Maxfield
Sarah Moran
Tim Pahel
Dean Petrie

Instructor/Accompanist
Amber Clark, Piano studio

Music study at Knox is set in the liberal arts tradition. Students combine exceptional performance opportunities with rigorous academic class work in history, theory and literature. More than a third of the Knox student body participates in our music program.

A wide range of courses in history is available, designed to give students a strong knowledge of music history within the context of today’s world. Theory courses offer background in the construction of music and analytical techniques, as well as ear-training necessary for comprehensive musical understanding. This combination of intellectual and skill training provides students with a broad base for highly skilled performance practice and informed listening. Although course offerings emphasize the European musical tradition, courses in world music and jazz provide an introduction to diverse musical traditions. Students who complete the music major at Knox are well prepared for entrance into graduate school or for musical related employment.

Knox offers a dynamic, comprehensive jazz experience with weekly performances and yearly tours. The Knox Jazz Ensemble has won collegiate festivals nine years in a row and recently completed a fourth CD. Membership in the KJE and top combo is by audition; other combos are open to all. The Knox Jazz Studies program sponsors the Rootabaga Jazz Festival, bringing highly acclaimed performers and clinicians to Galesburg. Wind and percussion may audition for the Knox-Sandburg Community Band, comprised of Knox students and other area musicians; this ensemble features guest conductors and soloists, who often premiere contemporary works.

The Knox College Choir is the premier choral ensemble of the college. Under the direction of Dr. Laura Lane, the choir performs three different programs each year and tours annually. The choir tours every year during spring break, with a European tour every four years. In the past ten years, the choir has toured Barcelona and the Catalan region of Spain, England, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Domestic tours have included concerts in Chicago, Washington D.C., Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans and New York City. The choir performed in Carnegie Hall in March 2005, under the baton of their own Laura Lane, and in the famed Paraninfo of the University of Barcelona in March 2006. The Knox Chamber Singers is a select 18-voice ensemble auditioned from the Choir, performing everything from Renaissance madrigals or vocal jazz to Debussy or Lauridsen.

Selected instrumentalists have the opportunity to perform in the Knox-Galesburg Symphony, a professional orchestra twice named Illinois Orchestra of the Year and directed by Bruce Polay, Illinois Conductor of the Year in 1997 and 2004. Each year the KGS presents a subscription concert series, an annual pops concert and the "Concert on the Lawn." Guest soloists bring international reputations to Galesburg. The symphony performs in the Orpheum Theater, a stunningly restored 1,000-seat concert hall in downtown Galesburg. The Knox String Ensemble performs at student recitals and at other campus events. It is open, without audition, to any student who plays one of the standard orchestral string instruments. Qualified students may be invited to perform concerto movements.

In addition to the ensembles, Knox students may take private lessons in piano, organ, guitar, all standard string, wind and percussion instruments, and voice, as well as lessons in composition, improvisation, and jazz on all standard jazz instruments.

Music Education Program
Students who want to teach music in elementary or secondary schools may follow the music education program (requirements listed below). This demanding program includes the music major, an educational studies major, and several courses specifically designed for music education. Students who complete this program become certified by the state of Illinois and can begin teaching directly after graduation.

Students interested in music education should talk to Laura Lane as early as possible. In order to complete the program in four years at Knox, students must begin in their first year. Specific courses required by the program are:

• Music: a music major, including MUS 145, 245, 246, 322, 324, 343, 361 and 363
  • MUS 307 Instrumental Techniques I
  • MUS 309 Secondary Choral Methods
  • MUS 311 Fundamentals of Conducting
  • either MUS 308 Instrumental Techniques II, or MUS 310 Vocal Pedagogy
  • proficiency on both piano and the major instrument
• Educational Studies: a major in Educational Studies, Secondary, replacing EDUC 318 by EDUC 319

The departmental curriculum contributes to the College's Key Competency Requirements as follows:

• Writing Key Competency - MUS 322 and 324 serve as a writing intensive courses for majors
• Speaking Key Competency - MUS 254, 260, or the combination of two of: MUS 345, 361, and 363 serve as speaking intensive courses for majors
• Information Literacy and Informed Use of Technology - Today’s technology is in the use of Finale, Sound Forge, Music Practicum, and many other computer software systems housed in the department’s Music Laboratory.

Music Course Descriptions
Requirements for the Major and Minor