(SUNY Geneseo/File Photo)
The Department of Music & Musical Theatre at SUNY Geneseo recently added a new minor option for students, as well as a specialty track, or concentration area, of study.
“After diligent research and data analysis, we determined that the areas of music business and jazz and American music are areas that are not only very popular with students but also represent professions with a great deal of career potential as we head into the mid-21st century,” says Gerard Floriano ’84, chair of the department.
As of Fall 2022, students are now able to earn a minor in music business, recording, and production, which is also a track of study in the major. In addition to taking traditional music history and theory classes, students take a sequence of courses in music technology, film and game scoring, music recording and production, and music entrepreneurship. Students record, produce, score, and draft business plans through coursework and a final capstone project.
The new jazz and American music track also launched in Fall 2022, under the direction of Monica Hershberger, assistant professor of music, allows students to explore various American music genres as a “humanistic discipline,” says Floriano. This new area of study includes world history, culture and the examination of American music through a larger, more comprehensive lens. Floriano says “the track is elective-driven; students work with an advisor to tailor their study and personal goals, and draw on their other academic interests, such as Black studies, English and history.”
The department also offers a traditional bachelors of music and enjoys a cooperative agreement with the Eastman School of Music, preparing selected students for entrance into Eastman's master’s program in music education with professional teacher certification in music K-12. In these majors, students may opt to pursue music performance (featuring majors in voice and musical theatre, as well as piano, guitar, and all major orchestral instruments) as well as musicology HiTEC, which includes history, theory, ethnomusicology, and composition.