Bryn Mawr College

Haverford and Bryn Mawr
Orchestral and Choral Programs

 

TO:                      First year, transfer and guest students

FROM:                 The Haverford Music Department

                            Heidi Jacob, Director of Orchestra

                            Thomas Lloyd, Director of Choruses

SUBJECT:         Orchestral and Choral programs  

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Welcome to the Haverford-Bryn Mawr musical community!  If you are interested in playing in the orchestra or singing in a choir, this memo has some helpful information.   This year there are over 400 students participating in faculty and student-led ensembles and private lessons between Haverford and Bryn Mawr.  Unlike the situation at a school with a conservatory or large music department, non-majors aren't crowded out of opportunities to sing or play in a fine ensemble, perform as a soloist with one of our choirs or orchestras.

If you are interested in the Orchestral and Choral programs, please complete and submit the “Musical Interest Survey”.

THE HAVERFORD BRYN MAWR ORCHESTRA    

As an instrumentalist there are many opportunities to perform both in the orchestra and in chamber music. The orchestra currently has over 70 members and has performed such works as , Sibelius Second Symphony, Kodaly, Dances of Galanta, Tchaikowsky’s Fifth Symphony and Romeo and Juliet Overture Mahler’s Third Symphony, Dvorak's Symphony in G Major and New World Symphony and Woodwind Serenade in d minor, Beethoven's Fifth  and Seventh Symphony, Prokofieff's Lieutenant Kije  and Romeo and Juliet, overtures by Verdi and Schubert, Bach's Third Brandenberg Concerto and Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony.  The orchestra rehearses once a week, Thursday evenings from 7 to 9:30, with one to two performances each semester.  Sectionals are also on Thursday evenings and run by top professional musicians from the Philadelphia area, including some members of the Philadelphia Orchestra.  Selected players have the opportunity to perform in orchestras made up of professional musicians, Temple University, Curtis Institute of Music students and graduates.  These orchestras have performed for the Haverford/Bryn Mawr College Chorale, performing such works as Requiems  by, Verdi, Brahms, Berlioz, Faure, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Messiah  and Israel and Egypt. 

CHAMBER MUSIC                

The chamber music program is exciting and open to all instrumentalists.  Students have performed works such as Piano Quintets and Quartets by Schumann, Dvorak and Brahms, Mozart Piano Quartets, String Quartets by Mendelssohn, Shostakovich, Schubert, Beethoven and Mozart, Flute and Oboe Quartets by Mozart and Gordon Jacob, as well as Clarinet and Piano Trios by Brahms and Beethoven.  The program reflects a wide range of instrumental styles and instrumentation including a brass quintet, percussion ensemble, piano four-hand, woodwind duos and trios, and flute choir. Every year chamber music ensembles have the opportunity to perform in master classes given by internationally renowned artists.  In the past students have performed in Master Classes given by members of The Orion, Ying, Cavani, Colorado, and Mendelssohn String Quartets, Boston Brass, The American Brass Quintet and Bard Music Festival musicians. This year students will have the opportunity to work in master classes with clarinetist David Kraukauer and the Momenta String Quartet. Chamber music students also may participate in a residency with the new music ensemble, Network for New Music. The program was featured several years ago as part of WHYY's (a Philadelphia TV station) documentary "Creative Campuses."

CHORAL MUSIC AT HAVERFORD AND BRYN MAWR            

Ensemble singing has long been an important part of traditional campus life at Haverford and Bryn Mawr.  The bi-college community is home to an unusually large variety of faculty-led and student-led singing groups embracing a wide range of musical styles.  

The Chamber Singers are a select mixed chamber choir of 34 voices who perform a challenging and varied repertoire ranging from works of the classical masters, to international folk-based styles, to the close harmony of vocal jazz. There are frequent solo opportunities for members of Chamber Singers, both with Chamber Singers and in major works with the Chorale.   Tentative plans for the 2012-2013 academic year include a weekend retreat, performances at the Family Weekend concerts at both colleges, and several off campus performances in Philadelphia and beyond (details still in progress).  The next international tour is planned for 2014.  Students in Chamber Singers are also eligible for enhanced subsidies for private study and major solos with the Chorale and orchestra.

Rehearsals for Chamber Singers are Monday and Tuesday afternoons in MacCrate Hall (Haverford) and Thursday afternoons in the Music Room at Goodhart Hall (Bryn Mawr) from 4:30-5:45.  While there is a steady core of students who continue in Chamber Singers from year to year, graduation and study abroad always create openings in all sections, which are usually filled by freshman.                                                                                                                                       

Many of the students who sing in Chamber Singers are also leaders or members of one of the many student a cappella groups.  Announcements for auditions for these groups will be posted during the first week of classes.  We also work closely with the athletic department to try to enable singer/athletes to be able to take advantage of both sports and music opportunities as much as possible.  Recent singers have been leaders on the fencing, soccer, cricket, and track teams.  If you have any questions about whether you can make your schedule work for a sport and Chamber Singers, please contact Prof. Lloyd (tlloyd@haverford.edu) and/or your coach.

Wednesday night is Chorale night in the bi-college community!  As many as 140 students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members look forward to a mid-week break singing the great masterworks of the oratorio repertoire in performances with full orchestra made up of advanced players from the bi-co orchestra supplemented by professional music students from Temple University and the Curtis Institute of Music.  Repertoire for next year will be Bernstein’s Chichester Psalmsand Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms in the Fall, and Orff’s Carmina Burana in the Spring. Rehearsals are Wednesday evenings from 6:50 - 8:50 in Marshall Auditorium (HC).

For any further questions about the bi-college choral program check out our website at http://www.haverford.edu/music/choral/choralpro.php, or please feel free to email director Thomas Lloyd at mailto:tlloyd@haverford.edu or call him at (610) 896-1006.

AUDITIONS    

Auditions for the Orchestra, Chamber Singers and Chorale, will be held during Customs Week and the first weeks of classes.  Auditions are simple, quick and friendly!  Orchestral instrumentalists will be asked to play a piece of their own choice and/or a selected orchestral excerpt.  Pianists interested in chamber music will be asked to both perform a piece of their own choice and to sight-read. Information and materials for auditions will be available Thursday evening the first week of classes at a meeting in Marshall Auditorium on he Haverford College Campus.

Auditions for Chorale and Chamber Singers include vocalizations for range and pitch matching exercises to test your ear.  In addition, for Chamber Singers, there is sight-reading, and it is to your advantage, but not required, to bring a prepared solo if you have one (no accompanist required).  Check audition boards in Union and Goodhart for more specific information as soon as you arrive on campus.

CREDIT  

Once accepted into any of the above ensembles, you have the option of registering for 1/2 unit credit (pass/fail) (registration for credit is required for Chamber Singers or Chorale).  Graded credit is also awarded for private study.

PRIVATE STUDY  

Partially subsidized lessons with a broad range of some of the fine professional musicians in the Philadelphia area are also available to students at Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges.  We have a list of teachers for approved study, many of whom are graduates of the Curtis Institute of Music, or teach at the Curtis Institute, Temple University, and perform with major musical organizations in the city.   Many, though not all, come to one or the other campus to teach. Students at Haverford and Bryn Mawr who are members of the Orchestra, Chorale, or Chamber Singers are eligible to take private lessons in voice, piano, or orchestral instruments for credit with a partial subsidy.  Students are required to take at least 10 lessons per semester and perform a jury at the end of the semester for members of the music department.

If you are interested in private lessons for credit and/or subsidy, just indicate this at the time of your audition.  Lists of teachers will be made available during the first week of classes.  You can then call to make arrangements for a lesson time, or, in the case of voice teachers, sign up for an exploratory meeting with one or more of the teachers during the first week of classes. (See http://www.haverford.edu/music/choral/privatestudy.php for more information about our voice teachers and registering for voice lessons).

For further information about music at Haverford, go to http://www.haverford.edu/music/ !  See you in the Fall!