Music Handbook

• Start Early if You Want to Study Music
• The Music Curriculum for Majors and Non-Majors
• Degree Requirements
• Teacher Certification / Masters in Teaching
• International and Summer Study
• St. Mary's Project Procedural Guidelines

• Private Lessons
• Friday Recitals
• Graduation, Junior, and Sophomore Recitals
• Juries
• Accompanists for Juries and Recitals
• Online Databases and Using the Library

Introduction

Welcome to St. Mary's College of Maryland, and welcome to the St. Mary's College music program! Your interest in lessons, ensemble performance, or in becoming a music major is of great importance to us, the music faculty. We are here to help you further your life in music, and this handbook is meant as a guide. Along with the College Catalog, it will provide you with important information about your music activities while you are here.

The music concentration of the Performing Arts major at St. Mary's College of Maryland is demanding, and it requires that you get an early start with the core curriculum (Theory, History, Lessons, Ensemble). Please read this handbook carefully, and keep it. You will find it useful throughout your years here. It contains important information on the day-to-day running of the department, including policies about recitals, juries, and class requirements. Don’t forget, though, that the most important and most reliable sources of information on your courses and requirements are the college catalog, your teachers, and your advisor. Another important source of information is the Performing Arts department’s website.

Our goal for students who choose to major in the Performing Arts with a concentration in music is to provide a broad foundation of musical knowledge, coupled with a high level of academic and performance skills. The concentration offers a balance of music theory, history, ethnomusicology, literature, and performance. Courses include private and class instruction as well as a variety of performance ensembles. Graduates of the Performing Arts department have found success not only in graduate school, but also in careers as performers, teachers, instrumental technicians, archivists, and in concert organization and management.

An important advantage in the study of music in this liberal arts setting is that it allows you the flexibility to pursue varied interests and to expand, rather than limit, career options. A student considering the possibility of a career in arts management, for example, might study Economics as part of their General Education program, and then pursue electives in the Economics department dealing with marketing or management. Similarly, a student interested in computer music might find electives in programming and computer science. College faculty members can recommend elective courses for such fields as music therapy, music law, and others.

Start Early if You Want to Study Music (Major, Minor, Double Major, Self-designed Major)

The course of study for music concentrators within the Performing Arts major is highly structured. If you are interested in pursuing a Performing Arts major with a concentration in music, you should plan your program of study for all of the time that you are here, whether that is two, three or four years.

At a liberal arts college, you are a Performing Arts major with a concentration in music––not a voice major, a piano major, etc. This unity of spirit is important to the concept of liberal arts study.

Plan to begin studying music in the first year!

The college curriculum is designed to encourage students to refine basic intellectual skills and to gain knowledge in many areas.

Even so, you must not delay in taking music courses, particularly theory and performance (lessons and ensembles). In the fall of the first year, most students will have begun lessons, ensemble participation, and music theory, adding music history in the following year. Even if you are unsure of your major, it is wise to start the core and performance courses right away. The longer you delay the start of your musical studies, the more difficult it will be to graduate in four years.

If you are leaning towards music, or know for sure that Performing Arts with music concentration will be your major, you should select a music faculty member as an advisor. This person will be responsible for helping guide you through your years at St. Mary’s College, and can be a valuable resource for many things, including career planning.

The focus areas of study are not mentioned on your diploma when you graduate, but they are an important part of your degree program. Choosing a focus area does not preclude you from studying outside of the focus area. In fact, one of the most exciting things about a small college is that you can study many things, not just one. For example, if you are pursuing a vocal focus, you can also play in an instrumental ensemble, study music composition, and so on. The most popular focus areas are:

Vocal Focus

This provides the background necessary for students to begin on the road towards becoming performers or teachers. Students studying music with a vocal focus should study foreign language as much as possible (German, French, Italian, Spanish, as well as a diction class offered in the music department on a regular basis). The vocal student will participate in the choirs and, when offered, Opera Workshop––and, of course, look for any opportunity to sing (recitals, theatrical productions with music, etc.).

Instrumental Focus

This provides the background necessary for students to begin on the road towards becoming performers or teachers. Students studying music with an instrumental focus should participate in all appropriate ensembles (Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, Chamber Music) and seek all opportunities for other performances (recitals, playing for theatrical productions, etc.). Pianists fall under this category, but for an ensemble, they often become members of the Choir or the Chamber Singers. Pianists also seek opportunities to accompany others in performance.

Music Education

Many of our students choose to pursue one of the areas above while also preparing themselves for teaching at the primary or secondary level. We believe that the most important thing prospective grammar school, middle school, or high school teachers can do is to have a solid and thorough basic music education, preparing themselves as if they were planning to pursue performance (vocal or instrumental) as a career. Thus, students working towards teaching certification, while taking all of the prerequisite courses for the M.A.T. program, will also usually pursue a music degree with a vocal or an instrumental focus.

Other Possibilities

Students who have the desire can pursue other paths besides the three most popular ones. In the past, some students have focused on Conducting, Composition, Music History, Ethnomusicology, Music Management, Music Theory, and Music Therapy. If you are interested in one of these areas, or if you have an idea for a different career involving music, you should discuss this in detail with your music advisor, who can help you realize your ambitions.

Double Majors, Minors, Self-designed Majors

Some students have chosen to major in two fields. Some have pursued two fields for a while, but ended up concentrating major efforts outside of music, while continuing music activity through the minor. Some others have found that there is no one major that fits their particular interests, and have chosen to design their own majors. If you plan to pursue one of these options, and if music is to be part of your double or self-designed major, or your minor, it is especially important to work closely withyour advisor(s), and to plan early.

The Music Curriculum

The purpose of the music curriculum is to give you a broad background in all important aspects of music, and it stresses the important connections between academic study and practical artistic applications. All of these courses are described in full in the catalog. This section is to help you make some sense of it all. Thus it is an addition to the information in the catalog, and it is ordered somewhat differently.

When you look over the courses listed below, you will notice that unlike the catalog or schedule, we divide them into:

Teacher Certification/Masters in Teaching (MAT)

If you are interested in pursuing a program of study that leads to teacher certification in music, it is crucial that you consult with the faculty in the Education Department in your FIRST YEAR of study. While our program (which leads, in a fifth year of study to a Master of Arts in Teaching plus, of course, certification), has been designed to allow you to focus primarily on your major during the four traditional years of study, you do need to prepare for admission to the M.A.T. program by taking certain courses.

The material that follows was taken from the 2007-08 catalog. To insure that you comply with the regulations that will apply to you, please make sure you consult the most up-to-date sources of information.

The faculty of St. Mary’s College believes that offering a certification program through an accredited Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.)degree will allow our students to take full advantage of the rich undergraduate curriculum available at our college – to spend a semester abroad, to complete a double major, to take elective courses in many diverse areas, to try interdisciplinary courses – and then to be able to synthesize that richly textured content background with graduate courses in education so they can better serve their future students.

The M.A.T. option builds on students’ solid grounding in a vigorously defined major and in the breadth of their general education requirements while allowing them a seamless transition into the professional coursework. The M.A.T. provides basic instruction in pedagogical strategies, assessment, curriculum development, discipline and management, and other specific elements of the professional educator’s knowledge base.

Music majors may certify in their discipline for grades K – 12.

All of the teacher certification programs available through this MAT degree have full program approval from the Maryland State Department of Education and lead to reciprocity for certification in a majority of other states. Our program completers have a 100% pass rate on the PRAXIS exams, and our hiring rate for those who choose to teach is 100%.

The Master of Arts is a full-time, year-long program requiring participants to be in county public schools from the beginning of the program. The mentor/cooperating teachers at the school sites provide support and expertise that will prepare the student to meet the challenge of the beginning teacher, translating theory into practice.

Complete information about the admissions process can be found in the current college catalog. M.A.T. program participants must take the courses listed below before beginning the program. These undergraduate courses are available every semester at SMCM, and are often available at community colleges and other four-year institutions as well. All prerequisite course work must be completed with a grade of C- or better. The courses listed are those available at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Consult with Educational Studies faculty prior to taking courses at other institutions in order to determine course equivalencies.

GPA Requirements

2.73 cumulative

3.0 major

3.0 education course prerequisites (listed below)

K-12 CANDIDATES (INCLUDING GRADES K–12 IN MUSIC)

• Major in the appropriate content field with appropriate breadth/depth)
• Educational Psychology (EDUC/PSYC 368)
• Exceptionality (EDSP/PSYC 336)
• Child in America (EDUC 206)
• Adolescence (PSYC 333) or Lifespan (PSYC 230)
• Reflective Practice in Human Studies (EDUC 204)
• Language Acquisition & Phonemic Awareness (EDUC 296)
• Course work reflecting non-western perspectives (often taken routinely as part of the major)
• Performing Arts major music concentrators must complete any four one-credit methods courses in strings, brass, percussion, etc.

Program Completion

M.A.T. participants who successfully complete the program course work with a 3.0 average or better, successfully complete all aspects of the internship, submit an acceptable electronic portfolio, and achieve passing scores on the appropriate PRAXIS II tests will be eligible for approved program certification in Maryland. Names of program completers will be sent to the Maryland State Department of Education,after which individuals may apply for their teaching certificate. Individuals who meet criteria are eligible for the Maryland's Meritorious New Teacher Candidate award, which simplifies certification across state borders. Approved program certification allows for reciprocity with minimal additional requirements in approximately 37 other states.

Other Important Information

• The M.A.T. program begins on July 1 and is completed on June 30.
• There are no residential on-campus living options for M.A.T. students during the regular academic year. Housing will be available for the mid-May through June traditional summer session.
• All internship experiences will be fulfilled in St. Mary's County public schools.
• All program participants are charged full-time tuition for the fall and spring terms.
• All program participants pay the per-credit rate for the July (Summer IA – 8 credits) course work and for the May/June (Summer II – 6 credits) course work, as well as the per-credit rate for any courses taken at the undergraduate level through
• Continuing Education” or in the traditional summer session.
• All admitted students will be required to bring a personal laptop computer with them into the program; specifications will be provided in the admissions letter.
• The program will admit approximately 40 students a year, with approximately 25 elementary candidates and 15 secondary/K-12 candidates enrolled.
• The program is a full-time cohort program which means that there are no electives and no options for part-time enrollment.
• Out-of-state students who complete their undergraduate degree at SMCM and then enter the M.A.T. program will be charged in-state tuition for their graduate year.

International and Summer Study

We have a exciting study and performance programs available to you. Some are overseas, some are at SMCM during the summer.

International Alba Music Festival (last two weeks of May)

Alba is the capital of the Italian wine industry. It is to Italy what Bordeaux is to France. Major industries in Alba, including Cerreto Wines and Ferrero Chocolates, make Alba Italy's second wealthiest area. Alba has two concert halls, five major churches (which are wonderful performance venues), several pedestrian/shopping districts, and, since Roman times, has been considered, even in Italy, a place of extraordinarily fine cuisine (Alba is where Italy's finest truffles are harvested).

The International Alba Music Festival is an intensive two-week musical experience, combining study and performing. Our faculty is joined by an international roster of performers from throughout Europe who come to Alba to perform and interact with our faculty and students. Students may study performance (vocal or instrumental) or composition. All students will play vital roles in the performances or other activities of the festival. While this festival is open to the participation of students from around the US and Europe (and we do attract a growing number of such students), SMCM students' participation is made possible by the generous sponsorship of Alice Waldschmitt, whose gifts underwrite a significant percentage of SMCM student costs (air tickets, room, board, instructional costs). For more information, please see any of the full-time music faculty.

Summer Opportunities - The River Concert Series

Every summer, the Chesapeake Orchestra, under the artistic direction of Jeffrey Silberschlag, plays a six-concert series on Friday evenings in June and July. The programs include music from the heart of the standard orchestral repertoire, including, in recent seasons, Mahler's Symphonies No. 1 and 5, Bruch's Violin Concerto (with Lara St. John), Dvorak's Symphony No. 9, Strauss's Thus Spake Zarathustra and Till Eulenspiegel, Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 2 (with Leon Bates) and Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 3 (with Jon Nakamatsu). New music has included Kenji Bunch's Hardware Concerto (with the Ahn Trio) and Jeffrey Mumford's "verdant and shimmering air," and much else, including world premieres of music by William Thomas McKinley written for Ben Bradlee as narrator (What the Presidents Said), David Froom (Songs of a Summer Evening, Striking Silver), Scott Wheeler (Gradualia, a piano concerto for Eliza Garth) and Louis Karchin (Chesapeake Overture).

The principle players in this full-size, professional orchestra are the music faculty of St. Mary's College of Maryland. Student musicians play alongside SMCM faculty and other fine musicians, drawn from among the best players of the Baltimore/Washington region, Our students are involved in every part of this series. Those students whose interest includes arts management are paid for the full range of behind the scenes work. Students who are interested in performance are, as appropriate, hired to play in the orchestra. It is possible to do both of these.

For details about these and other international or domestic opportunities for SMCM music students, please speak with any of the full-time music faculty. For students with special or particular interests involving work or study in the US or abroad, we have been able to help create custom programs of study. Please come to us with your ideas, and we will try to help.

St. Mary's Project Procedural Guidelines

All Performing Arts majors must complete either the Capstone Course in Ensemble Performance Creation (8 credits, 4F, 4S) or the St. Mary's Project. The St. Mary’s Project is regarded by the faculty of the college as the centerpiece of the Honors College Curriculum. It serves as the culmination of (and means of assessing) the whole of a student’s education. By selecting, refining, executing, and presenting a project, students will take ownership of their education and will develop a variety of intellectual and personal skills that are the hallmarks of a liberal arts education.

The project is student-initiated. Though Performing Arts major music concentrators will usually complete it in the Performing Arts department, it may be carried out in another discipline or in an established cross-disciplinary study area, as long as permission is granted by the Performing Arts department chair. The nature of the project can be flexible; it may involve individual research, collaborative work, or contain components of internships, study-abroad programs, etc. The most popular St. Mary’s Project in Music, though, is a public recital with scholarly program notes.

At the time of registration for the fall semester of the Senior year, you will file a proposal and an action plan that describes the nature of the project (see Appendix VI and VII). The contract and action plan are signed by you, a member of the Performing Arts department music faculty designated as the faculty mentor (in most cases this will be the instructor of the St. Mary’s Project Seminar), your academic advisor, and the Performing Arts department chair.

The contract will give a title for the project, along with a description that identifies the nature and type of project, the components of the project, and the form of the public presentation. The action plan will detail what will happen in the first semester.

At the time of registration for the spring semester (when registering for MUSC 494), you will file another action plan. If the project has changed substantially, you will file an amended contract.

At this same time, if the plans for any part of the project require audio-visual equipment (beyond the equipment necessary for recording a concert), you must make these plans concrete, and work with the audio-visual people in the library to insure that such equipment will be available when it is needed. If it is necessary to reserve the equipment, you may reserve a date for performance in an appropriate concert hall with the music office at this time. Please see the information below (Appendix II) about reserving a date and a hall.

Budget

If you expect to incur expenses beyond the use of an accompanist and the recording of a concert, you, together with the mentor, will prepare a budget for these extra expenses. All students are expected to bear some costs, and the college will not reimburse for the first $200 spent. If you expect expenses to exceed this, during the winter break, you will prepare an itemized application for funds, and must deliver this application to the mentor and the department chair by the end of the first week of the spring semester. The department chair will work with the college to determine disbursement of available funds. This usually is limited to $200 (beyond the initial $200 borne by you), but more may be requested and may be granted, depending on the availability of funds that year. Once funds are granted, you may purchase services or goods and apply, with receipts, for reimbursement. You may also use purchase orders to pay for needed items or services (for help with this, see the people in the Music Office). You should not, in any case, assume that all expenses will be reimbursed unless there is prior written approval from the mentor and the department chair. Not all expenses for a project will be reimbursable, even if the total beyond the first $200 comes out to be less than $200. For details on what is eligible for reimbursement, speak with the mentor and the department chair.

Hall Reservation

At the beginning of the spring semester, you may need to schedule a concert date in an appropriate hall if your SMP involves a performance. The Music Office will help with this. The date should be cleared with the music department faculty. The date of the performance must be no later than the last day of classes in the semester of graduation (see information below about deadlines).

Note: It is the student’s responsibility to obtain agreement from other musicians (though the list of musicians used must be worked out with the music faculty––see details above). The student is also responsible for arranging rehearsals and for payment, if necessary. In short, it is the student’s responsibility to arrange all details of the performance––booking the hall, arranging for publicity, requesting the recording of the concert, arranging for ushers, preparing a program, etc. All of these issues must be handled through the music office.

Fourth Assessment (and Archiving)

In the seventh week of the spring semester, you should meet with the faculty mentor to show your progress towards the completion of the whole project. The faculty mentor will submit a midterm report. If your ability to complete the project successfully is in question, an evaluation will state this and recommend what you can do to fix any problems.

The written part of the project is due three weeks before the last day of classes. You can get the actual date for any current academic year from Academic Services (it is posted on their website).

To be turned in at this time is the written part of the project and a no-more-than-250-word description of the whole project (this is called the “Abstract”). This is due at this time whether or not a performance has taken place.

After a performance has taken place, you must archive the whole project. This is from the College Guidelines for St. Mary’s Project:

In order to maintain a record of St. Mary's Projects, students are required by the deadline of December 10 for the fall semester and April 29 for the spring semester to submit to the Office of the Registrar a 3.5" disk, CD-R, or DVD-R of the written project and, if appropriate, an artifact: for example, an audio or video tape. In all cases, the disk labeled with name and project title, and saved as a single comprehensive document in Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint) should include a project abstract of no more than 250 words. Students may not retrieve their archive copy after it has been turned in to the Office of the Registrar.

Final Assessment

The mentor, in consultation with members of the music faculty, will make a final assessment of the project. If the project is accepted, the mentor will submit certification to the Registrar that the project has been completed, and will submit a final grade.

Summary of Information in Preparation for Graduation for all Majors

Junior Year

Spring semester: At the time of pre-registration for the following semester, you must file a Proposal and Action Plan with the Registrar describing the nature of the project (see "Junior Year" above).

Senior Year - Fall Semester (see "Senior Year" above)

• At time of registration for the spring, file Action Plan and, if necessary, updated Proposal. A-V equipment (beyond recording), if needed, should be reserved. If such reservations make it necessary to have a confirmed recital date, that date can be reserved at this time.
• Budget for expenses (beyond accompanist, recording, piano tuning) prepared with the mentor.

Senior Year - Spring Semester

• Before the seventh week of classes, meet with mentor to show progress towards completion of project, and have in hand either a complete outline or significant portions of the completed project. Mentor submits report with copy to you.
• Submit complete program notes to Music Office no later than two weeks before recital.
• Three weeks before the end of the semester, written project and abstract due to mentor.
• Last day of classes, all material – including recording of performance -- due in Registrar’s office. Mentor submits final grade.

Private Lesson General Information

Students taking private lessons from our faculty can expect the following as a minimum commitment from their teacher:

• Eight private lessons of approximately one-hour duration. Some teachers may meet more often for shorter lessons.
• Two 2-hour masterclasses or equivalent, depending on the studio. Some studios may not have masterclasses, but instead two more 1-hour lessons.
• You should expect to see your teacher, in lessons and masterclasses, twelve hours during the semester.

The details of how this is executed, as well as policies about missed lessons, practice, performance and progress expectations, etc., are at the discretion of the individual teacher. Please consult with your teacher and see his/her syllabus for specific information.

Concert Attendance

All students who are taking private lessons are required to attend concerts. To enforce the policy, all private lesson registration has as a co-requisite, registration in MUSA 200. Students who do not sign up for MUSA 200 will automatically be registered for it.

Students taking private lessons are required to attend at least 4 concerts per semester.

Concerts that count towards attendance requirements will have a sign-up sheet at the entry door of the hall. The lists will be maintained in the music office.

Please consult with the people in the music office for details.

Tuesday and Thursday Community Time Recitals

All students who are taking private lessons are encouraged to perform in Tuesday and Thursday Community Time recitals.

Student recitals will be held on designated Tuesday and Thursday Community Time throughout the year. These recitals consist of students performing one (or a few) short works, or movements from longer works. The performances are open to the public, but are a little less formal than a full-length recital.

It is your responsibility to sign up for recital performances, and you sign up with the help of the staff in the music office. Deadlines for signing up are three weeks prior to each recital if you need an assigned accompanist, and one week if you do not need an assigned accompanist – BUT – space on recitals, particularly at the end of semesters, is limited, and if the recital is full, you might not be permitted to be added to it.

When you sign up, you must provide complete information: name, phone number, instrument, work you will be performing––including movement or song titles, and the full name of the composer. Forms for signing up (which include a request for an accompanist) are available from the Music Office. If you will work with an accompanist, please see the "Accompanist" section of this handbook.

Failure to comply with any of the above will result in you being dropped from the recital.

At the recital itself, keep in mind that dress, deportment, and stage presence are an important part of the experience. Be sure you have spoken with your teacher about these matters before the date of the performance!

See the Music Office staff for information about getting a copy of a recording.

Graduation, Junior, and Sophomore Recitals

Graduation Recitals

Any Performing Arts major wishing to do a graduation recital (whether part of a St. Mary’s Project or not) must receive permission of the private instructor and the department chair.

Performing Arts major graduation recitals have program notes. These notes are to be written as part of the preparation for the recital and under the supervision of the St. Mary’s Project mentor.

Robert Hayes will normally accompany graduation recitals, although a student may use someone else. Splitting recitals among different accompanists is a possibility, but you must have the agreement of all the participating accompanists to do this. The accompanist will provide rehearsal time according to a pre-determined schedule. Rehearsals beyond this schedule are to be paid for by you. Students performing graduation recitals should read the guidelines on such recitals in the "third assessment" part of the St. Mary's Project Procedural Guidelines and the section on Accompanists in this handbook.

Non-graduation and Non-Major Recitals

In some cases, with permission and consent of the private instructor and the department chair, pre-senior Performing Arts majors or music minors may be permitted to perform a recital. In most cases, these will be less than full-length recitals without program notes. Expenses for these recitals (accompanists, programs, etc.) will be the students’ responsibility. Consult with your private instructor and the department chair for further details.

After permission to do a recital has been granted, you arrange a date for the recital with the staff in the Music Office. These may not be scheduled before the first week of the semester in which they occur––and must be scheduled no less than six weeks prior to the date requested. Keep in mind that the last month of each semester is a particularly busy time for concerts, and the priority for these dates are given to guest performers, student ensembles, faculty performers, and then, graduating senior music majors. A date on which the hall is vacant may not be granted if the week is deemed to be already too busy. Questions about this should be directed to the department chair.

Students may schedule rehearsal times. Time is limited according to what you will be doing. Rehearsing in the Recital Hall or Auditorium, particularly when you use the pianos there, is NOT to be treated as practice time. It is limited to time necessary to acquaint yourself with the hall (and, for pianists, the instrument). See the Music Office staff for details.

Programs for all recitals must be turned in (complete in all details) to the Music Office no later than a week before the date of the performance.

Dress for recitals will be formal. See the Music Office staff about how to get a copy of a recording.

Juries

At the end of each semester, the music performance faculty will hear students perform in “juries.” The fall semester juries are for Performing Arts majors (music and integrated concentrations) and music minors. Spring juries are for everyone. Private instructors may, in some cases, excuse non-major students from having to play a jury, but this is unusual. Dates and times for juries are sent to students in
advance and are also posted prior to the jury date. If the assigned time is not possible, it is your responsibility to contact the Music Office to reschedule.

Singers are required to have juries accompanied, and usually a staff accompanist will be present at the jury to accompany you, unless you arranged on your own to bring someone else. If you expect to be accompanied and do not have your own accompanist, you MUST make sure that the accompanist has a copy of the music to use (and use the guidelines provided in the Accompanist section of this handbook for information on how to prepare a copy).

Instrumentalists should make their own arrangements for juries if they wish to have an accompanist.

Your private lesson grade is awarded by the private instructor. At the time of your jury, all music faculty present (including the instructor, if present) will complete an online assessment form. The comments by the faculty will be taken into consideration by the instructor in his/her final grading. After the jury day, you may read the comments on the assessment form. The staff in the Music Office will keep these on file.

Accompanists for Juries and Recitals

General Information

The music faculty of the Performing Arts department will provide accompanists for Tuesday and Thursday Community Time recitals, graduation recitals and juries (singers only). Students will have to make their own arrangements for other kinds of recitals (sophomore or junior recitals), although the music department is willing to help students in this process.

A student needing an accompanist for any recital (Tuesday and Thursday Community Time or graduation) will indicate this on the recital form, available from the Music Office.

The deadline for submitting the form is three weeks before the date of the recital.

If you print the form out, it must be submitted to the Music Office.

Working with your Accompanist

Robert Hayes is the staff accompanist. He accompanies the Tuesday and Thursday Community Time student recitals as well as senior recitals, working with singers and instrumentalists. You may speak with also about working with you and your private teacher during a private lesson, as this is sometimes possible.

Here are some hints for working with the accompanist:

Before photocopying your music, please write in the definitions of all musical markings (i.e. legato, marcato, maestoso).
When making a copy of your music, please reduce the size to 93-95% to make sure that the entire page gets copied.
Check to see that the music is straight on the page.

Include the name of the composer and the title of the work if it’s not on the page.
Singers should include a translation for any text that is not in English.
Put your name on the first page of each piece.

If you are unable to keep your rehearsal time, please notify the accompanist.
PLEASE DO NOT go directly to the piano faculty, the staff accompanist, or to other students. Go first to the Music Office, who will be your liaison with your accompanist. If you have an accompanist in mind, and this person has agreed, it is still VERY IMPORTANT that their piano instructors know what they are doing. Therefore, please adhere carefully to the procedure outlined here.

Responsibilities of the Accompanists for Student Recitals:

If your accompanist is a student, you will want to set up a few rehearsals and perhaps arrange to have the student come to a lesson with you. Even so, the student performs this service without payment, and you must not expect more than a few rehearsals. If you need more, you should compensate your accompanist in some way. If your accompanist is a staff accompanist then you will have rehearsals according to a pre-determined schedule. If you need more rehearsals than we provide, you will have to compensate the accompanist.

Please remember that our accompanists are professionals, and they are to be treated with respect. If you treat them disrespectfully––e.g., missing rehearsals, canceling appointments, etc.––you will lose the privilege of using this service.

Note: All accompanists, paid or unpaid, appreciate your thanks for their efforts. A card, flowers, or another small gift is an appropriate gesture of thanks on your part.

Online Databases and Using the Library

There are fabulous things available online for your use, either on campus or off campus.

For working from off campus, or not connected to the SMCM network:

International Music Score Library Project / Petrucci Music Library. This complete free and completely open site has an astounding collection of downloadable scores, including virtually all public domain works by virtually all the major composers.

Access to restricted sites from off campus (including those listed below) can be found here.

When on campus, or connected to the SMCM network, some direct links:

Groves Online This is the standard classical music encyclopedia, and can be a good first place to look for information.

Naxos Music Library This is a huge collection of recordings for online listening -- sorry, no downloading. Anything we don't have a CD or LP of in our library (and most of what we do have) can be found, often in multiple performances, at this site. PLEASE NOTE that when using Naxos, you MUST LOG OUT AFTER YOU ARE FINISHED LISTENING!!!!

You can find many other useful electronic reference materials, including searchable databases of scholarly articles, by clicking HERE.

In the Library

The main library for the college houses a music collection of recordings, scores, periodicals, and reference materials. Scores, recordings (LPs, CDs, and tapes), and video recordings (DVD, VHS, and some laserdics) may be checked out or may be used in the library. Periodicals and reference materials must be used in the library.

The library building has listening and viewing facilities, and quiet study spaces (desks, small rooms, tables with chairs).

The holdings of the library are on a computer catalog. If you have difficulty finding something, you should ask a librarian. You can, of course, search online through the Library's webpage.

If you need something that the library does not have, you can order things from the University of Maryland catalogs, which are searchable online. Delivery of items from U of M campuses to St. Mary’s College is within a matter of days. If these libraries don’t have what you need, you can use Inter-library loan. For more information about either of these, see the research librarian on call (at the desk on your left as you enter) or the people at the main check-out desk (on your right as you enter).

If you are having trouble finding anything, visit the Library and ask a Librarian. These people are professionals and are excellent resources: they know the library, the know how to find things––in the library or on the internet. They are VERY happy to help you. They are there specifically to help you with your searching.