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Music Performance: Keyboard

Conservatory of Performing Arts

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OVERVIEW

Explore your artistic expression and achieve instrumental mastery that can help you prepare for a successful career in music.

Baldwin Wallace's keyboard performance major includes studies in piano, organ and harpsichord. It is a rigorous program that combines comprehensive coursework with private lessons and extensive performance experiences.

Small class sizes, individual attention and faculty mentoring are inherent to the program. BW's faculty-student ratio is 7:1 for the Conservatory of Performing Arts.

Baldwin Wallace faculty are established professionals with real-world experience, impressive credentials and networking connections. They're published composers, authors, musicians and researchers dedicated to your personal and professional success.

Both in the classroom and in the studio, they'll help you develop strong technical, artistic, analytical and entrepreneurial skills. You'll receive outstanding preparation for graduate school studies and career opportunities.

BW has an active role in Northeast Ohio's vibrant arts community. The University's 20-minute proximity to Cleveland puts you within easy access to the world-renowned Cleveland Orchestra, Great Lakes Theater Festival, Playhouse Square and more.

  • Nicole Keller with student

    Small classes, personalized attention and faculty mentoring are a key part of performance program. BW's faculty-student ratio is 7:1 for the Conservatory of Performing Arts.

  • photo of Steinway piano

    BW's Conservatory of Performing Arts is honored to be designated as an All-Steinway School, an elite classification that speaks to the quality of the student experience.

  • Photo of Boesel Musical Arts Center

    Striking Boesel Musical Arts Center is a four-building complex that houses 50 soundproofed practice rooms, instructional space, practice studios and impressive rehearsal halls that can accommodate the latest technologies for teaching and performance.

  • Photo showing student playing Steinway

    BW's undergraduate-only Conservatory provides students with valuable opportunities to perform, compose, conduct, teach and manage. Alumni can be found at top graduate schools and employed with renowned organizations.

  • Photo of Sungeun Kim playing Steinway

    BW's Conservatory of Performing Arts faculty are established professionals with real-world experience, impressive credentials and networking connections. They bring decades of experiences to the classroom, studio and clinical settings. Pictured here is Sungeun Kim, who is among BW's renowned pianist faculty members.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

  • Music educator
  • Chamber musician
  • Orchestral musician
  • Conductor
  • Music business executive
  • Arts administrator
  • Private teacher
  • Concert soloist
  • Church or theatre musician or director

ALL-STEINWAY SCHOOL

The Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Performing Arts is one of just 16 conservatories worldwide that has achieved classification as an All-Steinway School. The 88 Steinway pianos in the Conservatory elevate the student learning experience by having lessons and performance opportunities on the same quality instruments that are the standard in concert halls worldwide.

VIBRANT FACILITY ENGAGES STUDENTS

Striking Boesel Musical Arts Center is a picturesque four-building complex that houses the BW Conservatory of Performing Arts. It's a seamless blend of historic architecture and modern design. The facility houses 50 soundproofed practice rooms, instructional space, practice studios and impressive rehearsal halls that can accommodate the latest technologies for teaching and performance.

EXCEPTIONAL LEARNING EXPERIENCES

Innovation, excellence and outstanding hands-on learning and performance opportunities make the BW Conservatory a proven choice for students nationwide. The undergraduate-only Conservatory provides an exceptional learning environment for students to take lead roles in performing, conducting, managing and teaching. Alumni can be found at top graduate schools and working with the best orchestras, operas and theatres. Other alumni are employed in rewarding positions in teaching, arts management and music therapy.

CURRICULUM

Rigorous coursework coupled with intensive and extensive practical experiences provide comprehensive learning.

You'll study music theory, history and literature, form and analysis, tonal harmony, Solfège and more. You'll learn to apply critical thinking, creativity and technical skills to your work.

Outside the classroom, you'll take private lessons and participate in rehearsals and performances with a major ensemble, as well as other performance activities.The culmination of your studies is a full-length recital program held during your senior year.

BW's keyboard performance program offers an outstanding foundation for graduate school. It can be studied as a single major or companion field of study for a double major.

The music performance: keyboard major prepares students to:

  • Demonstrate the ability to learn and perform works independently with musical accuracy (rhythm and pitches), stylistic awareness, musical insight, and technical proficiency appropriate to the student's level and degree program
  • Demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate performances
  • Demonstrate the ability to teach beginning piano/organ students of all ages

Collaborative Piano Music Emphasis

The Baldwin Wallace keyboard program offers the collaborative piano emphasis to piano primary students who might be interested in pursuing collaborative piano as one of their career options.

Course Catalog

Course Descriptions

Course descriptions, requirements for the major and additional information can be found in the University Catalog.

STUDENT EXPERIENCES

Student success is a top priority. Small class sizes, individual attention and faculty mentoring are at the core of BW Conservatory programs.

Experiential learning bridges classroom study with real-world opportunities. As an instrumental performance major, you'll have numerous opportunities to demonstrate your musicianship:

  • Regular studio classes
  • Departmental recitals
  • Conservatory convocations
  • Guest master classes
  • BW concerts
  • BW opera and music theatre pit ensembles
  • Semester juries
  • Required degree recitals
  • Annual concerto competition

With more than 325 events a year, the Conservatory offers an impressive array of performance opportunities.

Competitive auditions are held for positions in BW's Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Motet Choir and University Choir. Other impressive large ensembles include the Symphonic Band, BW Singers and Women's Choir.

IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES

The BW Conservatory has outstanding campus performance traditions and collaborations with regional and national organizations. A few examples include:

  • Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival
    The three-day campus event is the oldest collegiate Bach Festival in the country. It features lectures, BW performance groups, faculty members and renowned professional soloists and musicians. Baldwin Wallace students consider the unusual opportunity of participating, as colleagues, with world-class professionals a high point in their performing experience. The festival is evolving to include year-round events, such as Bach Haus, that explore Bach's influence on a broad spectrum of music.
  • FOCUS Festival of Contemporary Music
    The biennial festival features the music of a contemporary composer who visits Baldwin Wallace for a week-long residency. At the conclusion of the week's rehearsals and symposia, the composer's music is performed in a series of concerts, including large ensembles and chamber groups.

LEARNING RESOURCES

At Baldwin Wallace, student learning experiences are enhanced by exceptional resources that include:

  • Riemenschneider Bach Institute
    The institute houses rare items related to J.S. Bach and his circle, as well as historical reference materials, scores and a collection of classic recordings. It has one of the nation's most impressive holdings of Baroque manuscripts and first editions. It attracts scholars from around the world.
  • Ferne Patterson Jones Memorial Music Library
    A valuable campus resource, the library offers 18,000 scores, 7,000 books, and more than 10,000 sound and video recordings. Online resources to which the library subscribes include over one million tracks of streaming audio and video. Help with research is available by appointment, on a walk-in basis or through email.

ALUMNI SUCCESS

At Baldwin Wallace, you'll experience personal and professional growth in a supportive community that challenges and inspires you to succeed.

BW keyboard performance majors are finding their success.

Ryan GarrettRyan Garrett '11 is associate music director for the Kinky Boots National Tour. He lives in New York City. From conducting shows at BW to working at Playhouse Square, BW afforded him experiences and connections with a strong network of professors and alumni who prepared him for his transition into the professional world.

Shawn DawsonShawn Dawson '10 is director of music ministries and principal organist at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Springfield, Ohio. He is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in organ performance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. At BW, lessons and ensembles raised him to a higher level.

Kirsten HomdromKirsten Homdrom '09 is associate director of music at White Memorial Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, N.C. A dedicated team of BW professors nurtured her inquisitive ear and mind, preparing her for graduate studies. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Alex StefaniakAlexander Stefaniak '06 is assistant professor of musicology at Washington University in St. Louis. He is the author of "Schumann's Virtuosity: Criticism, Composition, and Performance in Nineteenth Century German." The Parma, Ohio, native holds a doctorate from the Eastman School of Music.

FACULTY

Sungeun Kim

Program Coordinator, Music Performance: Keyboard
D.M.A., Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University

Sungeun Kim

Qin Ying Tan

Lecturer of Harpsichord
D.M.A., Harpsichord Performance, Cleveland Institute of Music

Qin Ying Tan

Full-Time Faculty

Sungeun Kim
Program Coordinator, Music Performance: Keyboard
Professor of Keyboard
D.M.A., Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University

Robert Mayerovitch
Professor of Keyboard
D.M., Indiana University

Adjunct Faculty

Michael Burkhardt
Lecturer of Organ
D.M.A, Arizona State University

Qin Ying Tan
Lecturer of Harpsichord
D.M.A., Cleveland Institute of Music