How is Haverford’s music department? Are the academic music classes strong? Are there a lot of vocal and instrumental ensembles, and are they good? How easy would it be to take piano lessons, and are good teachers available?
So I’m currently in the Bi-Co orchestra and I enjoy it so far! This semester we played Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony and two concertos and last semester we played Romeo and Juliet Overture (Tchaikovsky), the Overture of Indomeneo (Mozart), some strange modern piece and a piece by JC Bach that I’m totally forgetting the name of right now…
Either way, Haverford has a Bi-Co chorale, Chamber singers, Bi-Co Orchestra and several chamber ensembles that Heidi puts together based on interest. Also, we have a million accapella groups, some of them are Haverford only while a few are Bi-Co/Tri-Co.
There is a piano class you can take for half a credit and/or you can take private lessons for any instrument or voice. The professors can certainly recommend some teachers once your there. Lessons are quite pricey (depends on how much the instructor charges) however you can get the lessons subsidized by the school if you take it for credit!
As for classes, I’ve taken one: Intro to Western Music. It was a basic overview of music from different time periods focusing in on a few composers and important songs. I really enjoyed it because I had a basic knowledge of music history, but I learned a lot in the class. Plus homework was fun because it was mostly listening with a little bit of reading. We had to write a few short essays and take two listening exams. Overall it was a relaxed, fun and informative class. It was my favorite class that semester because I was never stressed about it but I was actually learning (which in my opinion is he best type of class).