Music

Why choose music at North Central College?

At North Central you’ll find all the performance opportunities you’ve dreamed about. Choose from more than 20 instrumental and vocal groups, including large and small ensembles, jazz combos, musical theatre and opera workshops. You’ll perform in a grand concert hall and in more intimate settings. Working closely with professionally active faculty, you’ll receive plenty of one-on-one attention in class and out.

In other words, you’ll receive all the tools and opportunities you need to carve your own performance niche.

You can also:

Shape your classes, lessons and performances around your particular areas of interest.
Enroll in a variety of music and music-related courses, ranging from conducting to composition to music theory, from a wide spectrum of choral and instrumental faculty.
Audition for ensemble scholarships.

To learn more about experiences and opportunities here at North Central College as a theatre major, click here.

Lucas Steidinger earns 2012 Clarence Juhnke Award for Outstanding Major in Music

Lucas Steidinger of Loves Park, Ill., was awarded the 2012 Clarence Juhnke Award during Honors Day May 15 at North Central College.

Architectural group honors North Central’s Wentz Concert Hall and Fine Arts Center

North Central College’s Wentz Concert Hall and Fine Arts Center has received an award from the Illinois chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

North Central College alumni honored for teaching excellence in Naperville schools

Two alumni of North Central College’s music education program are being recognized by Naperville Community Unit School District 203 for excellence in teaching.

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Graduate Schools

Recent graduates in music have been accepted at:

Indiana University
Boston Conservatory
Northern Illinois University
University of Missouri
Northeastern University
Vandercook College of Music
University of Missouri- Columbia
Old Dominion University

Careers

Recent graduates of music include:

Performance (vocal, instrumental, jazz, musical theatre)
Composition and arranging
Private studio teaching
Music library science
Arts management

Feature

Taylor Martin

Music

Performing, touring, conducting, composing. Taylor has done it all at North Central. He sang in two choirs, played bass in jazz ensembles, helped conduct the pit orchestra for a theatrical production and wrote a musical, which was staged as a student production.

“There are so many opportunities at a small school if you go after them,” says Taylor.

A highlight was a choir tour of Italy, during which he served as assistant conductor for performances in Vatican City, Venice, Siena and Florence. “I conducted a piece for the choir in three cathedrals where we performed. Those were very cool moments.”

Taylor also focused on composing, he co-founded a new ensemble that performs original student compositions. “Composing gives you a whole new perspective,” he says.

But he knows in his heart where his career is headed. “I had an epiphany my junior year that I want to pursue choral conducting as a career,” so he’s looking toward graduate school.

Feature

Sarah Arter

Music major

Sarah's love for diverse musical styles flourished when she came to North Central. She changed her musical pursuits from classical vocal study to jazz violin to classical violin. Nonetheless, she graduated in four years and managed to spend a full year at the University of Limerick's Irish World Academy of Music and Dance.

Sarah was one of the College’s first music majors to focus on violin performance. She created her own course of study emphasizing string and violin and performed with the String Ensemble, Concert Choir, Vocal Jazz Ensemble and Violin Jazz Combo.

She credits North Central’s faculty with helping her take her talent to a new level. "I gained an immense amount of knowledge and skills from my professors," she says. "Since North Central faculty are also professional performers, they have lots of connections and help students build their own networks."

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