ISSUED: 29 January 2015
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — The Shepherd University Department of Music will host an open house on Monday, February 16 that is open to all high school juniors and seniors who are interested in pursuing a degree in music.
Visitation day gives prospective students the opportunity to live a “day in the life” of a Shepherd University music student and learn more about the audition and application process. Interested parents are also welcome to attend. The high school students will attend classes, meet the music faculty and current students, visit with representatives from the admissions office, hear ensemble rehearsals and performances, have lunch in the Dining Hall, and take a guided campus tour.
Shepherd offers offer three music degrees: a bachelor of music in performance, a bachelor of music education, and a bachelor of arts in music with concentrations in composition, music theater, and piano pedagogy. Music majors have myriad performance opportunities, including four choirs, wind ensemble, wind symphony, orchestra, chamber groups, two jazz bands, an opera that is performed every fall, musical theater every spring, and marching band.
Shepherd music students can also take master classes from nationally acclaimed guest artists, and are invited to perform at a number of venues that have included Giant’s Stadium, the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, in cathedrals around the world, and in Carnegie Hall in New York City. The Jazz Ensemble and members of the vocal ensembles toured England in 2007, and the Wind Ensemble and Chamber Choir toured Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic in May 2009 and Spain in 2011. The Wind Ensemble and the Chorus most recently traveled to Paris, the Côte d’Azur, and Monte Carlo in May 2013. Plans are underway for Northern Italy in May.
Information about the music visitation day, including the schedule and registration form, can be found online at www.shepherd.edu/musicweb/documents/VisitationDay.pdf. For more information, contact Esperanza Alzona, music operations manager, at 304-876-5711 or ealzona@shepherd.edu.
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