Department of Music

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Study music with a background in history and theory, and hone your craft through a blend of performance and individualized training.

Balla Kouyaté and World Vision perform at Colgate University in February 2022
Balla Kouyaté and his World Vision ensemble perform an energetic fusion of traditional West African music mixed with Afropop and jazz at the Colgate Memorial Chapel.

Colgate trains musicians in a variety of disciplines with an integrative approach to music theory, history, and practice. The global perspective of the curriculum prepares student musicians for environments ranging from the concert hall to the recording studio.

Whether taking an elective or pursuing a full course of study, Colgate music students benefit from access to numerous opportunities to perform. Students also receive individualized attention from their professors, who teach private lessons and lead major ensembles.

The department expands its diverse curriculum with invitations to visiting artists, performers, and scholars who provide students with unique opportunities to engage musical and cultural influences from all over the world.

The department offers both a major and a minor in music.

About the academic program in music

Students applying as music majors may share supplemental application materials.

Supplemental application materials

Contact Information

Inquiries regarding Music Department majors and minors; course offerings; public performances and events; music groups and ensembles; private lessons; off-campus study; and any questions from prospective, incoming, and currently enrolled students, campus partners and collaborators, community members, and musical presenters should be directed to Lorraine Joseph.

Email: ljoseph@colgate.edu
Phone: 315-228-7642
Office: 102 Dana Arts Center

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Events

The department hosts a number of concerts and other events each semester.

Schedule of Events
Private Lessons

Colgate music department faculty are available for private lessons, for all those interested in individualized instruction.

Schedule a Lesson
Off-Campus Study

The music department encourages students to expand their perspectives and experience by studying and performing off campus.

Learn about Study-Abroad Opportunities
Faculty and Staff

Meet the faculty and staff of the music department, and learn about their ongoing practice and scholarship.

Browse the Faculty & Staff Directory

Visiting Artists

The department is proud to play host each semester to world-renowned visiting artists, groups, and performers. Students benefit not only from the opportunity to observe visitors’ performances, but to engage with them in classroom and workshop settings.

Chucho Valdés

Cuban pianist, composer, and arranger Chucho Valdés visited campus to share his work, which has been influenced by flamenco and the Gnawa music of Morocco, ritual rhythms of the Orishas, the deities of the Afro-Cuban Santeria religion, hard-bop, and danzon.

Harlem Quartet

The genre-defying quartet shared an eclectic mix of music including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's String Quartet No. 17 "The Hunt" in B-flat Major, K. 458 and Antonio Carlos Jobim's "The Girl from Ipanema."

Balla Kouyaté

Visiting musician Balla Kouyaté meets with a music class taught by Seth Coluzzi, Assistant Professor of Music.

Javanese Gamelon

The Department of Music presented an evening of Javanese traditional music, court dance, and shadow puppetry in the Memorial Chapel. Visiting artists enrich the curriculum with sounds and performances drawing on cultures from around the world.