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Chamber
Ensembles
 Ensembles
form an integral part of training in all musical disciplines.
MSU offers opportunities for participation and performance
in a wide variety of groups, from the Collegium Musicum,
which performs music from the Middle Ages though the
18th century; up to and including the Contemporary Ensemble,
which performs music of the twentieth century through
newly composed works.
Students
are also encouraged to form their own groups for experiment,
practice or public performance. These
groups may be formed to explore one kind of literature,
such as the string quartet repertoire, to perform a
specific piece, or to meet the needs and interests of
particular students. The faculty offers specialized
coaching for groups made up of many combinations including
strings, piano, flutes, clarinets, percussion and voice.
University
Singers
 The
MSU Singers is a mixed-voice auditioned ensemble
comprising undergraduate & graduate students who
are experienced singers and musicians. Students from
all schools in the university who are in good academic
standing are welcome to audition.
The
University Singers perform a wide variety of sacred
and secular repertoire, encompassing choral genres from
the Renaissance to the 21st century. Building on the
somatically based choral pedagogy of the 140-voice MSU
Chorale, University Singers is a high-level performance
ensemble whose members approach their music-making with
maturity and enthusiasm.
The
University Singers have performed A Cappella contemporary
Finnish repertoire and Dvorák's part-songs for
New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Winter Festivals and appeared
at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, as the featured
East-coast choir for the World Projects New York Choral
Festival Showcase Concert. In May 2005 they toured Central
Europe to great acclaim and sang at the Ferenc Liszt
Zeneakadémia in Budapest.
They perform
on campus at the acoustically superb Alexander Kasser
Theater. Recent campus performances have included the
Bach Magnificat, Duruflé Requiem,
Vaughan Williams' Five Mystical Songs. The University Singers have performed with performance artist Meredith Monk and her vocal ensemble and will collaborate with her on new projects in the future.
Collegium
Musicum
 Collegium
Musicum, directed by Prof. Jeffrey Gall, performs
instrumental and vocal works from the pre-19th century
repertoire. It also performs later works when they
are related to the earlier styles. Students have
the opportunity to perform in solo as well as ensemble
repertoire. Recent programs demonstrate the great
diversity of works performed by this ensemble. In
a performance entitled The Love Feast: Music
from Early American Religious Societies, students
performed works from the Ephrata Cloister, Shakers,
Moravian Brethren, Harmony Society, and from the
American shaped-note tradition. In a program entitled Spain and New Spain 1550-1750: Music of Three
Continents, students performed early repertoire
from Europe and the Americas. In 2006, they performed Monteverdi's Orfeo. In 2007, they presented magic scenes from Purcell’s operas The Fairy Queen and King Arthur. In their most recent performance, they presented “Vanity of Vanities”: Rome 1650, a program of vocal and instrumental works by Carissimi, Storace, Pasquini, Froberger, and Marini, all composers who flourished in mid-17th century Rome. This concert was directed and coached by Prof. Gall and harpsichordist Gwendolyn Toth.
Contemporary
Chamber Ensemble
The
Montclair State University Contemporary Chamber Ensemble
performs classics and new works of the twentieth and
twenty-first centuries from music by Stravinsky, Varèse
and Webern to student compositions. The Contemporary
Chamber Ensemble is directed by Dean Drummond who is
a composer, conductor and recording artist.
Harry
Partch Ensemble
 Montclair
State University is the only institution where students
in its Harry Partch Ensemble have the opportunity to
perform on the famous collection of microtonal instruments
invented by the late composer. Students perform the
works of Harry Partch and other composers who have written
for the Partch Instrumentarium. Students are encouraged
to compose works for these instruments and invent their
own. The ensemble is directed by Dean Drummond who worked
with Partch during the 60's and 70's, co-directs Newband,
and is a composer in his own right. In December 2008, the Ensemble presented the annual Beatrice Crawford Memorial Concert at Kasser Theater, performing Eleven Intrusions and O Frabjous Day! by Harry Partch, MS Genitron by Dean Drummond, and premieres of Seahorse by Elizabeth Brown and Yonah's Dream by Mathew Rosenblum.
Jazz
Band
 The
Montclair State University Jazz Band, under the direction
of Prof. Jeffrey Kunkel, performs music from the contemporary
literature composed for the large jazz ensemble, as
well as music of historical importance to this genre.
Over the last few years, the group has studied originals
and arrangements by classic artists such as Thad Jones,
"Duke" Ellington, and "Count" Basie,
and contemporary writers such as Shelly Berg, Mike Abene,
and Bob Mintzer. The group is open, by audition, to
anyone on campus, but is comprised primarily of music
and music education majors.
The
Jazz Band performs on campus and at a variety of festivals
and educational conferences on a regular basis. The
ensemble has performed at the Villanova Jazz Festival,
regional IAJE and NJMEA conferences, and at Town Hall
in New York City as part of the New York Vocal Jazz
Festival. They recently performed at the University
of the Arts Jazz Festival in Philadelphia, and were
guest performers with the Bloomfield Youth Band and
at the Belleville High School Jazz Band Festival. The
group has collaborated with well known guest artists
in clinics and performances, including Tony Kadleck
(trumpet), Dave Demsey (saxophone), Andy Fusco (saxophone),
Tom "Bones" Malone (trombone), the New York
Voices, Steve Johns (drums), Dave Bixler (saxophone) Terrence Stafford (trumpet) and guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli.
Opera
Workshop
The
Montclair State University Opera Workshop offers vocal
students a wide range of performance opportunities.
Every three years the ensemble presents a fully staged
performance with orchestra. In the other years, the
Workshop performs scenes from operas and one act works
that show the range of talent in MSU's vocal program.
This auditioned ensemble is open to vocalists in all
concentrations, not just performance majors. Some recent
operas have included fully staged performances of Kurt
Weill's Street Scenes,
Gian Carlo Menotti's The
Consul, Handel's oratorio Saul, and scenes from
Handel's Orlando, Britten's A
Midsummer Night's Dream
and works by Mozart and Cimarosa. In the 2007-2008 season, Opera Workshop performed the music of Robert Aldridge in several excerpts from his opera Elmer Gantry and Gaetano Donizetti's Il giovedi grasso (Carnival Thursday) Farsa comica in One Act.
  
Vocal
Jazz
The
Montclair State University Vocal Jazz Ensemble, under
the direction of Prof. Holli Ross, is comprised of
12 vocalists plus rhythm section. Its members are primarily
music majors, but the group
is open by audition to the entire campus. Over the past
few years they have performed arrangements by contemporary
vocal jazz arrangers such as Steve Zegree, Paris Rutherford,
and Michelle Weir. The ensemble has performed at regional
IAJE and NJMEA conferences and at Town Hall in New York
city as part of the New York Vocal Jazz Festival. They have performed recently with New York Voices in a performance
at Kasser Theater as well as in collaboration with the MSU Jazz Band and its featured soloists.
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