Studying Music at Kenyon
Learning how to listen to and study music can expand and enrich students’ interior lives, making music individually enhances creativity, and making music together touches the communal aspects of life. Music classes, including ethnomusicology, musicology, music theory and applied study, emphasize the interconnectedness of listening, creativity and critical thinking by which students become articulate practitioners of the musical arts.
Featured Courses
Introduction to Musical Style
Dive into a chronological overview of music from the Middle Ages through the postmodern period and an introduction to the research methods used in the fields of historical musicology and ethnomusicology. Emphasis is placed on learning to listen analytically to and write about music, and on understanding the role of music within society.
Music and the African American Experience
What do spirituals, ragtime, blues, jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, soul, funk, disco and house, hip-hop and rap have in common? These genres were all developed within the African American community. Explore the genesis and stylistic elements of the various genres and their historical, cultural and political significance.
Songwriting
Learn how to write songs in various forms through hands-on activities, analysis and listening assignments, and how to create and utilize powerful lyrics. Using software programs such as Logic Pro and GarageBand, students are encouraged to explore their original ‘voices’ and approaches to the craft of songwriting and novel uses of technology.
Seminar in Ethnomusicology
Investigate the issues, methods and history of the discipline of ethnomusicology. This course focuses on case studies drawn from different music genres and areas of the world that illustrate the complexities of considering music in its cultural contexts. Student work involves close listening, engagement with cultural theory and practical fieldwork exercises.
Kenyon awards scholarships of $15,000 per year, renewable every year, for exemplary ability in music.
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The recital features students who gave outstanding performances during their most recent music jury.
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This program explores the unique sound of Bohemian chamber music for oboe and strings, with works by Krommer, Druschetzky and Wranitzky as well as Mozart's sublime "Oboe Quartet in F major."
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Yueqi Song '25 will present their senior capstone for the music major.
Faculty Spotlight
"Goong: Sound Through Fire," a new documentary by Professor of Music and Anthropology Maria Mendonça that follows the creation of a gong for Kenyon’s Indonesian gamelan ensemble, was selected for the NAFA International Ethnographic Film Festival and the Ierapetra International Documentary Film Festival where it received the Michel Foucre Award for Best Direction.
Ready to play?
With numerous ensembles to choose from and superb music facilities to perfect their craft, Kenyon music students don’t miss a beat.
Storer Hall
Kenyon College
Gambier, Ohio 43022