Welcome New Students to Music at K!

A vibrant and inspiring environment exists in the Department of Music at Kalamazoo College, where musicians – majors and non-majors alike – may take a range of rigorous academic courses, pursue private lessons with first-rate faculty, and perform in our many ensembles.  Here, you will never take a class or a lesson with a graduate assistant; at “K,” you receive dedicated and focused attention from some of the finest professional musicians in Michigan.

We actively seek artists in our admissions process to help make our campus thrive, and submitting music-related materials with your K application can help your chances of admission and of winning scholarship money, even if you don’t plan on majoring in music.

For information on the requirements for a Music Scholarship (Enlightened Leadership Award) submission, visit the Apply for Music Scholarships, Theatre Scholarships page. These items are reviewed by us, the music faculty, and we report our recommendations to the admissions office. Those who are selected to win these music scholarships — 15 are offered in each incoming class worth $20,000 over four years — are required to participate in a major ensemble related to their submission during their tenure at K. And even those musicians to whom we are not able to award a scholarship will see their chances of admission increase.

If you can visit our campus, we strongly encourage you to meet with our music faculty.  When doing so, you may schedule, through the Office of Admission, either a lesson or an audition.

A lesson is an opportunity for you to get to know the Music Department’s teaching style; bring any repertoire you’d like – even if you’re still learning it – and get musical feedback on it.

An audition – which can count towards your Music Enlightened Award Scholarship submission (see above) – requires two pieces of contrasting, polished repertoire.  A Music Department faculty member will listen to and record your performance.  They may still offer you a lesson afterward if you’re interested!

If you have any questions about the process, please don’t hesitate to contact our event coordinator, Susan Lawrence (susan.lawrence@kzoo.edu). She’ll gladly help you get in touch with the faculty member best positioned to answer your questions. 

What We Offer

The Kalamazoo College Department of Music has many ways for you to remain musically active while engaged in a wide breadth of liberal arts studies.  If you are interested in music as a major or minor (or just in taking a few classes), we have a comprehensive series of academic courses in theory, history, and other subjects. 

And the department is also full of opportunities to practically apply your musical skill.  There are private lessons for almost any instrumental/vocal background and level, as well as in composition and recording technology.  You can see the full list of offerings in the course catalog.  And you can learn more about the faculty that teach these courses, as well as get in touch with them, by visiting the faculty page.

We also have a comprehensive offering of ensembles, which can be found on our ensemble page.