Our Department
At Carthage, a tradition of excellence in music dates back many decades. Indeed, the college may well be the first small private liberal arts college in America to offer an undergraduate major in music. Today, with ten full-time and seventeen adjunct music faculty, and serving more than 400 students and 100 music majors and minors, we continue to enrich that tradition. To help more talented students join us every year, we offer generous music scholarships.
Our Program
It is a Music Department goal that all students, regardless of their major, might come to both understand and enjoy music more fully. Toward that end, the College counts four semesters of private music lessons as fulfilling its general ed requirement in Fine Arts. Of course the department also offers them a wide variety of academic courses, performance ensembles, class and private lessons, and on- and off-campus concerts. And for those who would specialize in music, the department provides professional training wholly compatible with the college's liberal arts tradition. With our state-of-the-art electronic keyboard lab, we even offer non-credit class piano workshops for both adults and children.
Performance
We are proud of our numerous faculty and student recitals, our student instrumental and choral ensembles (some of which regularly tour throughout the United States and abroad), our choral and church music events, and of the college's Christmas Festivals, which attract over 4,000 people. We also celebrate our ideal location on the shores of Lake Michigan in the midst of a rich cultural metropolis with easy access to some of the nation's finest concert halls and professional musical performances in nearby Milwaukee and Chicago.
The Future
The department's graduates have long enjoyed substantial success in professional careers and graduate work.
To contact us...
We are anxious to be of help and to respond to your questions. You may send an email to James Ripley (jripley@carthage.edu), Music Department chair, or phone his office at 262-551-5854.
Maggie Hendrick, '04 music and art major, painted this mural in the stairwell of the south end of the Johnson Art Center. more...