IC News

The performing arts at Ithaca College will take center stage as two of its most renowned programs formally join together on July 1, 2022, with the establishment of the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. The current School of Music and the Department of Theatre Arts—presently located within the School of Humanities and Sciences—will comprise a Division of Music and a Division of Theatre and Dance within the new school. Bringing these two together, both of which are consistently ranked among the best in the nation, will further strengthen the distinguished programs that exist within each. 

This is the first new school at IC since the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance was created in 1988 from the School of Allied Health Professions and School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation. 

“In bringing these programs together we highlight and celebrate the performing arts at Ithaca College,” said Melanie Stein, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, who served as dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences from 2019-21. “This new school will serve current and future students by allowing for more cross-disciplinary training and exposure, better preparing them for real-world multidisciplinary artistic careers in the 21st century.” 

She points to the history of the institution as being ready from its earliest days to establish connections between the performing arts.

“Ithaca College began in 1892 as the Ithaca Conservatory of Music. But it was just a short five years later that the affiliated Williams’s School of Expression and Dramatic Art brought a new mode of educating, engaging, and empowering our students through theory, practice, and performance,” Stein noted. 

A School of Music/Department of Theatre Arts Transition Committee, made up of faculty and staff from both disciplines, met weekly throughout the fall semester to consider how the joining of the two areas will be implemented and to determine the best organizational structure. Interim School of Music Dean Ivy Walz and Department of Theatre Arts Chair Steve TenEyck co-chaired the committee, which gathered input from faculty, staff, and students and facilitated conversations within the schools and departments. 

“It was such a pleasure to spend the semester around a table with music and theatre colleagues considering the various possibilities of how music and theatre might align,” said TenEyck. “Both areas have such a wealth of talented faculty, staff, and students. This work involved a deep investigation of both organizational structures and governance processes. It was clear to the committee that uniting under a single school would best position both disciplines for deeper future collaboration and possible synergies as we look to better equip graduates to flourish.” 

“As we seek to amplify and advocate for the importance of arts—specifically, music, theatre, and dance within the context of building thriving communities—it is incredibly exciting to envision how the creation of this new school brings opportunity to build upon strengths while expanding collaborations in areas of education, pedagogy, theory, performance, production, and more,” said Walz, who holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees from the School of Music. “As we pride ourselves as an institution dedicated to educating young artists and future teachers with depth and breadth, it will be truly amazing to increase opportunities for versatility and collaboration across disciplines." 

The new school will be appropriately staffed with an associate dean for each division to support the faculty, staff, and students, and the transition committee will continue to work on planning and logistical details and advise the administration as needed. 

IC will be among an esteemed group of colleges and universities that already have taken this synergistic model to benefit a wide range of performing arts students and faculty. 

“The beauty of the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance is that it speaks to our strategic plan goal of structurally supporting and valuing collaboration, interdisciplinarity, curricular flexibility, and shared governance,” said La Jerne Terry Cornish, interim president of Ithaca College, who served as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs from 2018-21. “I am incredibly appreciative of the conversations and collaborations that transpired among music and theatre faculty to create something new that honors our roots in theory, practice, and performance in service to our students.” 

Madison Hoerbelt ’22, a voice performance major, feels that the combination of the two schools will be beneficial to both music and theatre majors. She points out that there is already collaboration between the two when music majors have opportunities to perform in operas and the pit orchestra, while theatre majors take music classes and voice lessons. 

“I think that this merge will only continue to foster the collaboration between the two, as well as improve relationships between students and build new programs, classes, and majors in turn,” said Hoerbelt. “The reputation of both areas individually is attractive to new students, and I firmly believe that the combination will make Ithaca stand out above the rest for potential students, and only add to the excellence of the programs within the new school.” 

“I’m excited to see theatre arts become a bigger presence on campus with the combination of the School of Music and the Department of Theatre Arts,” said Sydney Terfloth ’25, a theatre studies major. “I think this combination will benefit both areas and make some things simpler for students, like the application process.”