Professor Rick Faria and student rehearse a piece on the clarinet.
Ithaca’s music education majors aren’t simply great teachers: they’re also top-notch performers.
We believe performance skills are a vital part of your preparation to teach others. You can take advantage of that approach in our four-and-a-half-year, double-degree program. You’ll get the best of both worlds -- field-based preparation in music education and intensive study of your instrument or voice. You’ll also study conducting, take part in one or more of our many ensembles, and learn how to use multimedia in the classroom.
Just as you recognize the crucial importance of a professional-quality instrument to play on, you also understand the need for professional-quality facilities to play in. Our magnificent James J. Whalen Center for Music is the perfect setting for you to study, research, rehearse, and perform.
From the top of a dramatic atrium you can look down on three floors of activity: professors chatting with students about their latest recitals, student teachers comparing notes about yesterday’s classes, instrument lockers being opened and shut as ensembles prepare for rehearsal -- all accompanied by a collage of musical sound.
Next you might take note of the many practice rooms -- some 90 in all -- or admire the excellent acoustics of the faculty studios where you’ll have your weekly private lessons. Perhaps you’ll browse the ensemble collection library or view the spacious instrumental and choral rehearsal rooms as well as the jazz rehearsal room.
In our two cutting-edge recording studios you’ll learn professional recording techniques, including how to mix, edit, and master CDs. A special one-way mirror in our education resource center allows you to watch master teachers at work and to discuss techniques with faculty members without interrupting the class. As part of your music study, you’ll conduct research and choose from 7,000 recordings and other media in the music library; the walkway between Whalen and the Gannett Center makes for easy access to those resources.
Finally, you’ll no doubt want to envision the culmination of all your hours of practice. So take your pick of venues: our majestic, 735-seat concert hall, our 250-seat chamber recital hall, or our intimate, 150-seat recital room. On any of these stages you’ll be ready to give the performance of your life.