Music
School
The Faculty
Majors in music enjoy study with faculty members whose degrees come from such prestigious institutions as Indiana University, Florida State University, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the University of North Texas. Faculty members are active performers, writers, and composers. Music faculty members perform with groups such as the Shreveport Opera and Shreveport Symphony, the Houston Ballet Orchestra, the Houston Oratorio Society, the New Orleans Symphony, and many smaller regional symphonies and opera companies. We have three composers on our faculty, and the opportunity to perform new music by faculty or students is very exciting.
About the Majors
Large numbers of Centenary students are active in the School of Music. In addition to students who major in music, many students who are non-majors participate in music ensembles, enjoying an opportunity to continue to develop their music skills.
Bachelor of Music
Students who wish to pursue a full-time career in music will generally enter the bachelor of music degree programs. These students will spend approximately two-thirds of their college curriculum in music and one-third in courses in other departments of the college. All bachelor of music students will have intensive training in music history and literature, music theory, private lessons in their discipline, and performance in a variety of ensembles. Depending upon their area of specialization, bachelor of music majors will also study composition, choral or instrumental conducting, sacred music literature, music education methods, orchestration, advanced analysis, or pedagogy in their instrument area.
Bachelor of Arts in Music
Students who have a great interest in music, but who may wish to pursue a career in a music-related field like music therapy or arts management, generally enter the bachelor of arts in music degree program. Students who wish to combine their interests in two separate departments of the college, like theatre and music, or English and music, also tend to enter this degree program.
Bachelor of arts in music students also have a fine foundation of studies in music history and literature, music theory, private lessons in their discipline, and performance in a variety of ensembles. However, these students will spend approximately one-third of their college curriculum in music and two-thirds in other departments of the College. The upper-level requirements for the bachelor of arts degree have a less intense level of specialization than for bachelor of music degrees, so the total required hours in music are fewer than for bachelor of music degrees. However, bachelor of arts in music students will pursue areas that particularly interest them through six hours of upper-level electives in music.
All students who wish to pursue a bachelor of music or a bachelor of arts in music degree must audition in order to be admitted to the program.
Music Minor
The School of Music also offers a minor in music, and some students may wish to develop individual plans of study with their adviser that include music as one element of an interdisciplinary or liberal arts degree.
Performing Opportunities
Many students look forward to college opportunities to perform in ensembles. The Hurley School of Music has many groups of students enthusiastically performing as a team in ensembles. Our vocal groups range from large choral ensembles such as Camerata and the Centenary Choir to small chamber ensembles to the Opera Workshop. Instrumental students may play in the Wind Ensemble, the Hurley Chamber Orchestra, or the Jazz Ensemble. Pianists may accompany solo vocalists and instrumentalists, or even a chamber group of musicians. The world-famous Centenary Choir makes a major international tour every other year, and has sung multiple times at The White House.
The City of Shreveport has many other opportunities for music students to perform. Many Centenary students have regular jobs singing, playing, or conducting in local churches. Some participate in performances of the Shreveport Opera, some play with the Marshall (Texas) Symphony, and many take advantage of performing opportunities with local theatre organizations, such as the Gilbert and Sullivan Players, the Performing Arts Center musicals, and the Marjorie Lyons Playhouse at Centenary.
Career Opportunities
Alumni of the Hurley School of Music are singing at the San Francisco Opera, the Chicago Lyric Opera, and performing and recording in Germany. We have alumni who manage public radio stations in California, teach public school or private studio music lessons, work as church ministers of music, and accompany professional choruses in New York.
Music graduates from Centenary also go on to graduate study at schools like Florida State University, Boston University, Indiana University, Michigan State University, University of Colorado at Boulder, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Pennsylvania State University, and Cincinnati Conservatory.