The Music Department
Exceptional music resonates across the Middlesex campus throughout the year and reverberates in the individual and collective memory of the School.
Visit the Chapel for melodic concerts from our Jazz Orchestra, Chamber Ensemble, select Small Chorus, and Chapel Chorus (an “open-to-all” chorus that comprises about a third of the school).
Head over to the basement of the Warburg Library, where you’ll find soundproof studios and professional musicians giving private lessons in almost every instrument imaginable from flute to harmonica, guitar to ukulele. A third of our students likewise take music lessons during the year (and it’s not the same third as the Chapel Chorus).
Walk through our student center, and you may be treated to an impromptu a cappella jam as the nationally recognized Bateman’s Bullfrogs and MXolydians sing tunes from their latest studio album.
The Music Department is devoted to ensuring that every musician, from beginner to expert, finds the resources to develop (and a venue to showcase) their talents. Of course, when it comes to demonstrating the breadth and quality of our department, notes speak louder than letters. Listen in the media tab!
Music Courses
MUSIC 10. Songwriting, Composition, and Music Theory. Fall. Mr. Kross. 4 meetings weekly. Block TBA. Prerequisite: some proficiency on guitar or piano; some ability to read music is a plus. Attention songwriters and aspiring songwriters: if you have musical ideas inside you and want help getting them out, then this course is for you! This class will explore the art and craft of songwriting and music composition, focusing on melody, harmony, and form. The study of music theory will concentrate on understanding chords and chord progressions, transposition (so you can throw away that capo!), and basic notation (using pencils and software) developing the ability to create charts that others can play. Weekly writing assignments will let students compile a portfolio of original songs. For the final project we will record students’ best material for a “compilation CD.”
MUSIC 12. Advanced Studio Music. Spring. Lesson Block and practice times TBA. Open to members of Classes I and II. Prerequisite: Music lessons. This is an advanced course in studio music. Admission to the course is based upon a student’s previous accomplishment in music as evaluated by his or her private teacher and an audition with, and permission from, the Head of the Music Department. The student’s performance in the Winter Music Recital may be considered as an audition for this course. The student is required to attend one lesson per week, practice at least five 40-minute sessions per week (to be scheduled by the Music Department), and perform in the Spring Recital and the Thoreau Music Recital. In addition, each student will be responsible for memorizing and performing at least two pieces of diverse style, learning six major and six minor scales and arpeggios, and completing weekly assignments in etudes or comparable exercises to build technique. Each lesson will be graded, as will recital performances. Private music lessons are not covered by tuition. Students will be charged the School’s usual fee for lessons.
MUSIC 13. Middlesex Jazz Orchestra. Fall, Spring. Mr. Kross. 3 meetings weekly plus 1 private lesson. Block TBA. Open to all instrumentalists with some degree of proficiency on their instruments; no audition necessary. The Jazz Orchestra offers music students the opportunity to play and learn about jazz and jazz improvisation. By working on standard compositions from the jazz repertoire, from lead sheets and written arrangements, students can experience both a small group setting (with emphasis on improvisation) and big band ensemble playing. Students are expected to attend three rehearsals, take one private music lesson (additional lesson fee applied), and practice regularly each week. Students will be charged the School’s usual fee for lessons.
MUSIC 14. Classical Chamber Music Ensemble. Fall, Spring. Dr. Wetzel. 3 meetings weekly plus 1 private lesson. Block TBA. Open to all instrumentalists with some degree of proficiency on their instruments; no audition necessary. Classical Chamber Music Ensemble offers classical music students an opportunity to explore and perform chamber music of the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras and the twentieth century. Groups will be formed according to skill level and traditional instrumental combinations (e.g. string quartets, flute duos, etc.). Students will be charged the School’s usual fee for lessons.
MUSIC 16. History of Pop Music. What a Long, Strange Trip: American Popular Music and the Social History of America in the Twentieth Century. Spring. Mr. Kross. 4 meetings weekly. Block TBA. Distributional credit in the Arts or Social Sciences. Musical styles have always reflected the events, moods, and attitudes of the cultures in which they were created. In America, race, immigration, migration, war, the national economy, and technology have been major factors in the rise and fall of different musical styles. In this course, we will explore the history of American popular music, and use it as a window onto American society in the twentieth century. Beginning after the Civil War and ending in the 1990s, we will look into the numerous styles of music that gained popularity to see how they reflected life in America at the time of their popularity, and how the events of the day affected those styles.
MUSIC 17. Understanding Jazz and Its History. Spring. Mr. Kross. 4 meetings weekly. Block TBA. This course will explore the story of “America’s Classical Music” – Jazz – from its roots in blues and ragtime through its development into the New Orleans, swing, bebop, hard bop, cool, free, and fusion styles, and beyond. By listening to numerous recordings, we will explore the music and learn about the musicians who helped tell the story: Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans, among many others. Another focus of the course will be the fundamentals of jazz performance and analytical listening: that is, discovering and understanding/appreciating what the musicians are actually doing in a tune. Schedules permitting, we will attend performances by jazz greats playing in the Boston area. Students will keep a journal of their out-of-class jazz listening; evaluation will be based on this journal and in-class listening quizzes. As a final project, each student will compile and produce a Jazz History CD, complete with his or her composed liner notes analyzing the pieces and discussing each composition’s place in the history of the music.
MUSIC 20. Advanced Placement Music Theory. Year. Dr. Wetzel. 5 meetings weekly. Block TBA. Prerequisite: Permission of the Department. Distributional credit in the Arts or the Humanities. The broad goals of this course are to develop fundamental music literacy necessary to function effectively among fellow musicians, to develop tools to understand music in new ways, and to prepare for the Advanced Placement Examination in Music Theory. We begin this course with a study of the basic elements of music theory (scales, key signatures, rhythm, etc.) and quickly progress to a study of chord progression and the principles of voice leading. To facilitate this learning, aural skills will be developed incorporating melodic and rhythmic dictation and sight-singing. The course then advances to the study of secondary dominants, chromaticism, and mode mixture. Assessments include nightly workbook assignments and larger, long-term composition and transcription projects.
The following offerings do not receive academic credit, but they may be used to fulfill upper level distributional credit in the arts.
Studio Music. Fall, Spring. The Department. Block TBA. A student in Class I or II can fulfill the Arts distributional requirement by participating in Studio Music for one year. This is a course in applied music which develops the student’s vocal and/or instrumental talent through solo and ensemble performances. Students will have the opportunity to perform in the Winter, Spring, and Thoreau Recitals, and are encouraged to participate in the classical chamber ensemble or in the jazz band, and/or Choral Ensembles. Students will be charged the School’s usual fee for lessons.
Chapel Chorus. Fall, Spring. Dr. Wetzel. Chapel Chorus Block. Students in Class I or II can fulfill the Arts distributional requirement by participating in all required performances for one year. Chapel Chorus is a non-auditioned singing ensemble which performs both a cappella and accompanied choral works. Anyone is invited to join and no previous musical background or experience is necessary. Public performances throughout the year include a candlelight Holiday Concert in early December, and the Spring Concert in April. Other possible performances may include Parents’ Weekend and Baccalaureate. Those members receiving Arts distributional credit who have not previously participated in Chapel Chorus will have a few additional rehearsals.
Small Chorus. Fall, Spring. Dr. Wetzel. Members must be available Monday/Tuesday evening, Thursday morning, and must choose three of four L Block rehearsal times to commit to Small Chorus. Small Chorus members must be members of Chapel Chorus. Audition is required at the beginning of the school year. Small Chorus is the heart of the choral program at Middlesex. It is a select mixed singing ensemble of 24-28 members who perform sophisticated choral works, including madrigals, classical masterworks, and collegiate style a cappella contemporary/popular songs. The Small Chorus performs in the same concerts as the Chapel Chorus and gives additional concerts for other school events including Revisit Days and Stufac performances. The all-female group, the Mxolydians, and the all-male group, Bateman’s Bullfrogs, are chosen from the members of Small Chorus.
Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.
This audio track features our Small Chorus singing, "Jersualem." If you want to hear more music, please visit our music pages.
