• Seating capacity of the 1910-built Chapin concert hall
• 1,100
• Percent of first-year students who played a musical instrument in high school
• 52
• Theatrical and musical performances staged annually by Williams students, faculty, and visiting artists
• 200+
• Attendance at the spring Choral Society and Berkshire Symphony performance of Brahm's German Requiem
• 1,000+
• Percent of students active in campus music, theatre, and dance groups
• 25
• Number of Williams alums with careers in art, music, theatre, or dance
• 640
• Percent of students who participate in theatrical and musical performances who are not theatre and music majors
• 90
• Number of major performances by Ghanaian and southern African inspired dance and music ensemble, Kusika and Zambezi Marimba Band, put on each year
• 2 to 3
• Number of members in the Elizabethans, Williams College’s only co-educational, non-pop a cappella group that performs in Renaissance garb
• 8 to 16
• Number of albums sold by Taiwanese pop sensation Lee-hom Wang ’99, a Williams music major who wrote an original musical, “The Bite That Burns,” for his senior thesis
• 10 million +

Serious musicians strongly considering a top liberal arts college should note both the size and remarkable diversity of offerings found in Williams’ music department. A dynamic faculty and numerous first-rate performance and composition opportunities for all musicians regardless of intended major set Williams’ program apart from those at most other liberal arts colleges. We are particularly proud of our orchestra, choirs, jazz groups, and Symphonic Winds. In addition we offer a wide variety of courses in music history, ethnomusicology, music theory, music composition, and performance which are available to all qualified students.

Students enjoy the benefits of a supportive faculty and tremendous individual attention. Over 400 students a year participate in performances, take individual lessons, or attend music classes. The Music Department is housed in a centrally located complex which combines the beauty of the grand old concert hall, Chapin Hall, with the more modern facilities of Bernhard Music Center. The complex includes faculty offices/studios, classrooms, three large performance and rehearsal spaces, 25 soundproofed practice rooms, and 128 storage lockers for student instruments.

A Multi-Media Lab and Technology studio contain workstations with Macintosh computers, ProTools and MIDI sequencing software, CD-ROM, and sound modules. Williams libraries hold over 20,000 scores, music books and recordings (including the Paul Whiteman Collection), and offer music listening space with CD, cassette, LP, video, and DVD viewing carrels.

With a music performance calendar of more than 100 concerts and events a year, Williams highlights student and faculty talent, and brings many visiting artists and internationally acclaimed ensembles to Williamstown including the Juilliard and Emerson String Quartets, Bradford Marsalis, Chantacleer, Jan DeGaetani, Empire Brass Quintet, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and the Count Basie Orchestra. The department web calendar lists all concerts for the current and past seasons.

"With a music performance calendar of more than 100 concerts and events a year, Williams highlights student and faculty talent, and brings many visiting artists and internationally acclaimed ensembles to Williamstown..."

Performance Opportunities

The Berkshire Symphony, conducted by Ronald Feldman, former assistant conductor of the Boston Pops, is composed of nearly 70 members, half of which are students performing alongside their teacher/mentor professionals. The Symphony’s Student Soloist Competition provides an annual opportunity for talented students to solo with an orchestra.

The Concert and Chamber Choirs, directed by Brad Wells, present a mix of lesser known music and major choral works and have recently toured Italy, Estonia, Scandinavia, and Bolivia. Other major ensembles are the Jazz Ensemble, Kusika, and Symphonic Winds. Kusika (“to create” in the Shona language of Zimbabwe), a joint project of the Music Department and the Dance Program, performs music and dance from Africa and its diaspora. Brass Ensemble, Williams Handbell Choir, Marching Band, String and Piano Chamber Music, Percussion Ensemble, Clarinet Choir, Flute Choir, Student Symphony, and Woodwind Chamber Music are also offered.

At Williams & Beyond

The catalog lists a wide selection of courses in Music History, Ethnomusicology, Music Theory, and Composition. The two worlds of classroom study and performance merge well for students who play an instrument or sing in one of the department’s musical groups. Music majors must complete at least 10 courses in the department, including the Senior Seminar, as well as participate in departmental performance groups for at least four semesters.

Williams music student performers, composers, and scholars have been admitted in recent years to top graduate programs such as Indiana University, Yale, U.C. Berkeley, and the University of Southern California, Harvard, and Princeton among other fine graduate schools.

The Faculty

The Department has 10 full time faculty and 28 part time artist teachers and ensemble directors. The music faculty are musician-scholars: all have national standing and pursue active careers as scholars, performers, composers, and conductors. More importantly, each faculty member is directly available to his/her students. Access to faculty expertise is especially valuable to those students planning professional music careers.