Music at RWU
Roger Williams University offers a diverse, intimate music program which includes a Music Major (B.A. in Music), a Music Minor, and a Concentration in Music as part of the University's Core Curriculum. Our music faculty are dedicated professionals with a deep commitment to excellence in music, helping students explore many different possibilities in our program.
Music Majors and Minors
Music Majors may explore many different aspects of music, including music composition, music technology and production, music performance, music history, and global music. All majors will develop a solid foundation of Western music theory and music history, and will be able to take lessons in voice or an instrument of choice. Among the facilities available for students to use is our state-of-the-art electronic and computer music production facility, The Berquist Music Technology Lab. Our majors frequently augment their education by double-majoring, or minoring, in complimentary programs such as business, marketing, management, public relations, journalism, and graphic design. Students may also combine a music major with major in psychology, aiming at careers in music therapy, music psychology, or music cognition. Other possibilities include adding a minor in film studies, visual art, computer science, education, dance, or theatre.
If music is not your main focus for attending college, but you have a deep passion and interest in music, we have a customizable Music Minor. which will allow you to take lessons in voice or an instrument of your choice, and explore a wide variety of interests including music composition, music production and technology, and global music.
Applying
If you are accepted by the University you are welcome to major in Music; the program does not have a separate audition requirement. Our B.A. degree provides a broader focus than one would find in a conservatory, and our philosophy is to work with students at all levels of skill and knowledge to develop their understanding of music-- in the world, in history, and in performance.
After you have competed the Foundation courses for the major you will have an opportunity to choose one of two tracks for your remaining courses. The “Music & Culture” track highlights performance and world culture through music, and the “Music & Technology” track explores 21st century developments in music, as influenced by new electronic and computer technologies.
In addition to studying Music, we encourage our students to take advantage of their access to world-class professional programs right here on campus. Our Music Majors have gone on to study and work in music performance and recording, music therapy, and arts management.
For information on how to apply to Roger Williams University, go to the Admissions page. If you have already studied music theory, you can get information on taking a test-out for Music 170 Basic Musicianship, the prerequisite to the Music Program's three-course theory sequence, by downloading the Test-Out description, or emailing Assistant Professor Elliott McKinley.
Senior Capstone Project
All Music Majors will complete a Capstone Project in their senior year. To date students have chosen a variety of options, including composition of a string quartet, an internship at a recording studio, a solo senior recital, a research project on the psychology of music in the classroom, and the creation of a library of sound samples for use by Film Studies students.
Students will work closely with a music faculty advisor in designing and completing their projects. The four basic areas of endeavor are music composition, performance, research, or internship. Note: A Capstone Project in composition may not be selected unless the student has completed Music 470 - Music Theory & Composition III by the end of junior year.
Music on Campus
The Alive! Arts Series and the Global Music Cafe bring renown performers to campus to perform free concerts and workshops open to the campus community. The Music Series presents recitals each semester by our outstanding faculty and the Music Program's student ensembles. The student-run Musicians' Guild and A Cappella groups organize regular open mics and concerts throughout the year. Click on the list of music presenters in the left-hand column to see more details on the variety of music on campus at Roger Williams University.
A Cappella Groups
There are currently two student-run a cappella groups on campus, Drastic Measures and Hawkward. Drastic Measures (formerly "Special Delivery"), RWU's oldest a cappella group, is organized as a club and open to all. Hawkward is a newer by-audition group.
Hawkward
Hawkward was started by Ali Isham, Perry Cyr and Katie Marino (alumni - class of 2013) and has been a growing sensation on campus. They have performed at many RWU events, including "Up Til Dawn," to benefit St. Jude's Children's Hospital, and have also made their way into the community performing at Blithewold Mansion, British Beer Company and other University Invitationals in New England. The group recorded their first CD in Spring 2013 containing 14 songs with everything from The Star Spangled Banner to a Mumford and Sons Medley. Visit their Facebook page for more information.
Drastic Measures
Drastic Measures, formerly known as Special Delivery, is Roger Williams' oldest acapella group and open to all students in the Roger Williams community. While Drastic Measures always has one winter concert in early December, and one spring concert in early April, the group often performs at events and places such as Autumn Fest, Midnight Madness, Homecoming sports games, Blithewold, and more. The winter concert consists of Drastic Measures, its smaller auditioned group Vocal Express, and various acoustic performers. The spring concert invites acappella groups from around New England to come and sing. Drastic Measures accepts new singers each semester-- it's never too late to join!
Vocal Express
Vocal Express is the smaller coed auditioned group comprised of members from Drastic Measures, consisting of eight to ten people. Auditions to be in the group are held in September during every fall semester. Vocal Express always performs alongside Drastic Measures.
Alive! Arts Series
The Alive! Arts Series showcases the Performing Arts on campus. The Music concerts in the Series bring classical, jazz, and world-music artists to campus each semester to perform for the University community in the Performing Arts Center and the Global Heritage Hall. The musicians also give workshops, sometimes for the entire audience before or after the concert, and sometimes for one of the music classes the following day. Music events for Alive! Arts are designed to expand the cultural and global scope of University course offerings.
Recent performers have included a Brazilian pianist/composer, a Balinese gamelon orchestra, a string quartet, an Elizabethan consort, a Middle-Eastern duo, a traditional Korean solo artist, an American Music festival, complete with a bluegrass band, Cajun fiddlers, and classical guitar, and the first Mandolin World Summit with performers from Czechoslovakia, Brazil and the USA.
The Alive! Arts Series concerts are open to the University and the local community free of charge. To find out more about the upcoming schedule, call the Performing Arts Center at (401) 254-3626 and request a flyer of the semester’s events.
Global Music Cafe
The Global Music Cafe is an informal setting for international music performances held on Wednesday afternoons in the Global Heritage Hall Atrium. Sipping a cup of coffee or jumping up to dance to the riveting beat of Pakistani rhythms, students and faculty have the opportunity to enjoy a mid-week study break and perhaps discover a new style of music. Recent events have included Latin American, Asian, and Middle Eastern groups.
Sponsored by the Spiegel Center for Global and International Programs, the Global Music Cafe supports the Center's mission to infuse "international content into curricular and co-curricular programming for the purpose of challenging students to recognize the complexity and volatility of today’s world and to reflect upon their role in it."
Musical Theatre
The RWU Theatre program presents a musical every year in the Performing Arts Center as one of its Main Season offerings. Recent performances have included: Avenue Q, Little Shop of Horrors, Lucky Stiff, The Fantasticks, and Return to the Forbidden Planet.
Auditions are open to the entire campus community, and leading roles are not limited to theatre majors. Besides acting, singing, and dancing roles, there is always room for music students to play in the pit band, directed by musical theatre faculty.
Musical theatre students take workshop classes in repertoire and theatrical singing techniques. Many theatre majors also take voice lessons for credit through Music's Applied Music program. Our voice instructors all have experience performing and teaching musical theatre styles as well as concert and pop music.
Musicians' Guild
The RWU Musicians Guild is a group for all student musicians on the RWU campus, regardless of the instrument or style of music they play. The Guild meets weekly, and their stated mission is to support and encourage the musical endeavors of RWU students.
Performances at their weekly Thursday Open-Mic sessions are spontaneous or rehearsed, and always diverse in nature. A session may include singer-songwriters, a solo cello performance of Bach, and a full rock band.
The Guild also organizes a series of concerts and invitational events on campus where in-house acts can perform with groups from other universities. A university-sponsored club that is open to all RWU students, you can check out the Guild's Facebook page for more information and pictures of their recent events.
The Music Series
The Music Series presents recitals by the RWU Music Faculty & Friends, and concerts at the end of every semester by the RWU Chorus and the RWU Instrumental Ensemble.
The full-time and adjunct Music Faculty at Roger Williams University all perform as well as teach, and the Music Series gives them the opportunity to bring the other side of their music careers to campus to give their students a different insight into the life of a professional musician. Recent concerts have featured a variety of ensembles and musical styles, including a trio of harpsichord, viola da gamba, and a Baroque flute performing trio sonatas; a concert of music from the Renaissance to the 20th century featuring solo recorder; a mandolin ensemble performing Baroque, Brazilian and Contemporary music; and a piano-flute-viola trio celebrating the 150th birthday of Claude Debussy.
Concerts in the Music Series are open to the public admission free. To find out more about the upcoming schedule, call the Performing Arts Center at (401) 254-3626 and request a flyer of the semester’s events.