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Music Performance Opportunities

Orchestra

Dr. Richard Bell
richardbell@clayton.edu

MUSC 1710/3410 University Orchestra

String players at Clayton State participate in 2 orchestras – a string orchestra and a symphony orchestra – performing one concert with each every semester. Wind, brass and percussion players participate in the symphony orchestra playing two concerts each semester. For symphony orchestra concerts Clayton State music students join with the Southern Crescent Symphony Orchestra.

  • The CSU Orchestra is open by audition to strings, percussion, orchestral winds and orchestral brass.
  • The student’s audition for the CSU music program serves as the orchestra audition.
  • Students in any major may audition for the ensemble and will need to register for course credit.
  • The string orchestra rehearses on Monday and Thursday afternoons from 5:00 to 6:15.
  • The symphony orchestra rehearses on Tuesday evenings from 7:15 to 9:15.

Choral Ensembles

Sean Vogt
seanvogt@clayton.edu

Clayton State University is home to world-renowned Spivey Hall (www.spiveyhall.org). Our students, ensembles, and faculty perform regularly in Spivey Hall, and our music students have access to free tickets to Spivey Hall concerts and master classes.

Opera and Musical Theatre

Dr. Kurt-Alexander Zeller
kurtzeller@clayton.edu

MUSIC DRAMA WORKSHOP

In the Department of Film, Communication and Performing Arts’ Music Drama Workshop, students learn techniques of musical acting appropriate to all forms of Western music drama (including opera, operetta, and musical theatre) and apply them to public productions.  The philosophy of the ensemble is that all these forms of music drama are equally valid expressions of acting through the medium of music.  Spring shows are fully produced and performed in Spivey Hall with orchestral accompaniment.  Fall shows or scenes programs are performed in a variety of venues that may include school tours, Young People’s Concerts, performances for CSU classes, and off-campus performances.

Things to know:

  • Participation is by audition only
  • Some students are placed in the ensemble automatically by virtue of their scholarship or entrance auditions to the Music or Music Education majors.
  • Any student may audition at the FCPA Department General Auditions each spring or by contacting the director before the beginning of each semester.  Auditions must be completed by the end of the add-drop period each semester.
  • Participation in productions requires enrollment in the 1-credit course, MUSC 3570
  • Rehearsals are Fridays, 2:10-4:50 AND Tuesdays 3:35-6:15 (only 5:00-6:15 Fall semesters)
  • Evening rehearsals are required each evening of production week
  • Students in any major may participate.
  • For some roles, music reading ability is required, but students who do not read music notation can participate and have done so in numerous productions.
  • The staffing needs of the ensemble vary more greatly each semester than do those of a choir or orchestra, according to the specific repertoire being performed.  Consequently, it is possible that a student may successfully win a place in the ensemble for one production and then not do so for the next.
  • Students interested in registering for the course and participating in a non-performance capacity (for example, stage management or technical theatre) should contact the director before the beginning of the semester.