Keyboard Studies

It’s an exciting time to study piano or organ at Carthage College. Nestled in an idyllic campus overlooking Lake Michigan, Carthage offers an outstanding learning environment within a relatively short drive of two musical centers: Chicago and Milwaukee. Carthage is becoming a musical innovator in the region with opportunities not available on any other campus.

In 2017 and 2018, Carthage was home to the Brahms Project, a series of 13 recitals of Brahms’ complete solo and chamber music for piano. The series featured Carthage’s own keyboard faculty and world-renowned violinist Ilya Kaler.

In April 2018, Carthage hosted the opening night of a monumental “Beethoven: Five Concertos, One Pianist” concert, which featured Carthage music professor Wael Farouk, director of keyboard studies, and the award-winning New Philharmonic Orchestra. The ensemble performed all five Beethoven concertos in a single concert, three nights in a row. It is believed to be the first time this feat has been undertaken in the United States and internationally.

Guest artists who have performed and given masterclasses with our students have included internationally acclaimed pianist and Sony artist Simone Dinnerstein, the famed Jorge Federico Osorio, and international performer Carmen Vila.

As a liberal arts college, Carthage provides the perfect blend of studies across history, cultures, literature, and the fine arts to give piano students a solid foundation for understanding and performing the glorious complexities of the piano repertoire, and preparing for a music-based vocation. Carthage’s keyboard studies program is designed to be a collaborative, supportive environment in which to sharpen your craft and develop your unique musical voice.

Degrees Offered

Carthage offers Bachelor of Arts degrees for the following piano and organ majors:

• B.A., Music — Emphasis in performance
• B.A. Music — Emphasis in piano pedagogy
• B.A., Music Education
• B.A., Music

Hands-on Experience

Students at Carthage receive hands-on experiences that prepare them to be competitive for the standards and expectations of the professional music world. Built-in learning opportunities include performing in front of audiences, accompanying other musicians, teaching with the Carthage Arts Academy, and playing for chapel services.

Outstanding Opportunities

World-class pianists come to our campus to perform and work with students through masterclasses offered during the annual Lakeside Piano Festival. In 2019-20, the program welcomes Joanne Polk, a leading performer of women composers’ piano music. These opportunities give students priceless experiences and musical insights.

Students also have access to weekly performance opportunities on campus, including keyboard seminars, studio performances, department-wide recitals, and large ensemble performances. Through these experiences, students get to play for their peers and gain insights from expert faculty. Keyboard seminars also feature faculty demonstrations and lectures offering invaluable knowledge on special keyboard-related topics, such as practicing, memorization, repertoire, pedaling and articulation, and collaboration.

Student Outcomes

Carthage piano and organ students have regularly performed with professional and student orchestras and ensembles. Most recently, students have performed as soloists with the Kenosha Symphony Orchestra (winner of their concerto competition) and the Carthage Philharmonic (winner of their annual concerto competition), and as guest artists of “The Morning Show” on WGTD, Kenosha’s local radio station. Students also have performed at numerous local venues and even with guest artists and faculty in collaborative recitals.

Our students have been accepted to prestigious graduate schools, often with generous scholarships, including the Manhattan School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, the Cincinnati Conservatory, the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, Mannes School of Music, Berklee College of Music, Northwestern University, and Rice Music School in Texas. They have been also accepted to continue their graduate studies with some of the world’s top piano teachers and performing artists such as Solomon Mikowsky and Simone Dinnerstein.

Lakeside Piano Festival

Our annual Lakeside Piano Festival stretches over several days. It is comprised of a Carthage Piano Student Showcase, which features several of our piano performance majors. A world-class guest artist takes part, giving a solo recital and a masterclass for Carthage students that is open to the public. Our first-rate piano and keyboard faculty also offer solo and collaborative performances. And the festival concludes with a Keyboard Faculty Extravaganza, featuring the entire keyboard faculty collaborating on two-pianos and four-hands repertoire.

Keyboard Faculty

The piano faculty at Carthage believes in cultivating each student’s own artistic voice while empowering them with a solid, technical foundation. Within a short time, our students routinely demonstrate tremendous artistic and technical growth. Students are able to learn a large repertoire, from early Baroque to contemporary composers.

Our piano faculty members on the artist faculty rosters at the Puigcerdà Music Festival, the InterHarmony International Music Festival, and the Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory.

• Wael Farouk (Program director)
• Deborah Masloski (piano)
• Christopher Berry (organ)
• Fumi Nishikiori-Nakayama (piano)
• Melissa Kelly Cardamone (Staff accompanist)

Audition Requirements

All repertoire is to be performed from memory. Sight reading will be required at all auditions.

B.A. in Music, Piano Performance, and Piano Pedagogy Emphases
Freshman & sophomore transfers:

• A work by J. S. Bach at least of the difficulty of a Three-Part Invention or a Prelude and Fugue from The Well-Tempered Clavier
• The first movement of a sonata by Clementi, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, or Schubert
• A work by a Romantic or 20th-century composer, this can also be a virtuoso etude.

Junior transfers:

• A work by J.S. Bach at least of the difficulty of a Prelude and Fugue from The Well-Tempered Clavier
• A complete sonata by Clementi, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, or Schubert
• An Etude by Chopin, Debussy, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, or Scriabin, or another piece of a virtuosic nature
• A significant work by a Romantic or 20th-century composer, this can also be a virtuoso etude.

Senior transfers:

• A work by J. S. Bach at least of the difficulty of a Prelude and Fugue from The Well-Tempered Clavier
• A complete sonata by Clementi, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven or Schubert
• A significant work by a Romantic composer
• A significant work by a 20th-century composer, this can also be a virtuoso etude.

Music education, Music Minors, and Music Core majors
Freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior transfers

Choose two from the three following categories:

• A Two-Part Invention or another more difficult work by J.S. Bach
• A first or last (Allegro) movement of a Mozart, Haydn or early Beethoven sonata (through Opus 28)
• A shorter piece by a Romantic composer or a composer of the Impressionist School

Audition Requirements for Non-Music Majors

Non-majors should be prepared to play at least one work (three to five minutes) from the standard classical repertoire (Baroque, Classical, or Romantic eras). Applicants are welcome to play additional pieces from the standard classical repertoire, as well as scales and arpeggios as a part of their audition if they so choose. While non-majors may play with the score for the audition, playing from memory is preferred.

All applicants (majors and non-majors) will be asked to sight-read at least a portion from the standard repertoire. The sight-reading excerpts will be selected according to the applicant’s skill level.

Students interested in the February Scholarship Auditions for new, first-year students should visit the Auditions and Scholarships portion of the Music Department page for the application form, contact information, and other details.