World Music Ensembles

World Music Ensemble

This ensemble utilizes students' skills on their main or secondary instruments to learn arrangements from various non-Western musical traditions. There may also be opportunities to play traditional instruments. Some examples of genres that have been performed include Georgian vocal music, Balkan music, Arabic/Turkish/Middle Eastern music, Balinese keçak, South African vocal music, Ukrainian folk music, and Chinese jiangnan sizhu music. Students will learn some basic principles about each musical culture and its aesthetics.

These musical traditions will mostly be taught using Western notation, with occasional learning by ear, and some improvisation. Classes meet twice a week and culminate in a concert at the end of the semester.

Steel Pan Ensemble

The Steel Pan Ensemble introduces students and audience members to the national instrument and music of Trinidad and Tobago. Students gain experience performing on various steel pans (tenor pan, double second, double guitar, and six bass) as well as percussion instruments found in the “engine room,” the ensemble’s rhythm section. Each concert program explores a wide range of musical styles developed over the past century in the Caribbean Islands, and selections range from traditional compositions to new works composed specifically for steel band.

Cambodian Classical Ensemble

The Cambodian Classical Ensemble expands artistic and cultural horizons through the hands-on study of a musical tradition that differs significantly from Western music genres in terms of sound, organization, standards of excellence, and teaching-learning processes.  Students learn to play the instruments of the pin peat, while contributing to the preservation and longevity of a tradition that was nearly decimated during the Khmer Rouge era in Cambodia.  Pin Peat is a Khmer classical music genre that has been performed for centuries as the driving force behind classical dance and for sacred, royal, and religious ceremonies.