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Goodspeed Notes now available online

The Department of Music's newsletter, Goodspeed Notes, is now available online at goodspeednotes.uchicago.edu. There you will find information about our alumni receptions at the upcoming annual meetings of our various scholarly societies, what students, alumni, and faculty have been up to over the past year, as well as feature articles on CIAO's editions of Rossini and Verdi, the Midwest Graduate Music Consortium's conferences, the Haydn on Tour exhibit now in the Regenstein Library, and the accomplishments of the Performance Program.

Professor Travis A. Jackson leads a course in World Music
Photo: Daniel Collins

Message from the Chair

Welcome to the website of the Department of Music at Chicago. Whether you’re considering applying to a program, browsing for interesting talks or concerts, wondering about curricular requirements, or looking for opportunities to play music, these pages will help you find answers. All of us, faculty and students alike, strive to maintain and renew the tradition of original scholarship and composition that has characterized the Department for many years.

Positioned at the heart of a world-renowned academic institution, the Department of Music offers graduate degrees in Composition, Ethnomusicology, and Music History and Theory. The Department also offers an undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree in Music.

Beyond the classroom, the Music Department boasts a thriving performance program encompassing four choirs, two orchestras, two jazz ensembles, a middle east music ensemble, a gamelan, an early music ensemble, a large wind ensemble, and programs in chamber music and piano. The Department also has in residence several professional groups, including the 44-year-old Contempo (formerly the Contemporary Chamber Players)--a world renowned new music collective whose repertory includes the new compositions of our graduate-level composers--plus four ensembles-in-residence, all of which contribute to the undergraduate and graduate studies: the Pacifica Quartet; the new music ensemble eighth blackbird; the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; and the early music ensemble The Newberry Consort. These varied performance activities at Chicago celebrate the talents of students, faculty, community, and lauded professional musicians, and form a cornerstone of cultural life at the University.

Robert L. Kendrick
Department Chair

© 2008 The University of Chicago
Department of Music
1010 East 59th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637