Welcome to the Music Department at Keene State College!
MISSION STATEMENT:
The Keene State College Music Department’s mission is to promote comprehensive training in music within a liberal-arts setting, thereby preparing students for a purposeful and fulfilling life. We offer a rigorous high-quality, conservatory-level curriculum that develops every student’s talents and perspectives, and allows them to achieve their fullest potential as musicians and educators.
Keene State College is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), serving as the only liberal arts institution in northern New England with this distinction for academic rigor and musical excellence.
Our 40+ faculty members hail from across the globe and offer a variety of classes, ensembles, and lessons that support our Music degree programs.
We are an active, multi-faceted program offering over 80 events per year, supporting more than 20 ensembles, and offering one-on-one lessons across all vocal and instrumental categories. We serve over 500 students in the College’s Integrative Studies Program, offering an interesting array of topics such as Music Cultures of the World and Avant Rock.
We love teaching in the Cheshire Academy for Lifelong Learning, collaborating with community organizations such as MoCo Arts and Apple Hill, and bringing in guest artists from around the world who work with our students in lessons and master classes.
Many of our faculty, as well as our highest-achieving students, are members of the Kappa Pi chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda, the national music honor society. We also host active student chapters of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and Music Teachers National Association (MTNA).
Students interested in becoming a music major or minor will need to pass an audition. Prospective students interested in the Music program can join us for a Shadow Day! We’ll match you with a current music major student who best matches your areas of expertise. It’s a great way to spend a “day in the life” of a music student – and we think you’ll like what you see!
Keene State College has embarked on a campaign to become an All Steinway School! This designation reflects the high caliber of our Music program and underscores the College’s commitment to offer a superior liberal arts education. With a top notch faculty and a competitive, conservatory-style curriculum, we are committed to achieving musical excellence. Help us reach our goal by contributing to the All Steinway, All Together campaign.
Keene State Music in the news
- Saxophone faculty member, Dr. Megan Dillon, earns the DMA Performance degree from New England Conservatory. Learn more about her work at Keene State.
- KSC Music Department earns 2025 Alfred Nash Patterson Grant to support choral commission project led by Dr. Heather Gilligan and Dr. Sandra Howard.
- KSC choirs present benefit concert for Hundred Nights Incorporated.
- Coordinator of Keyboard Studies Dr. Christina Wright-Ivanova will release a CD recording, “American Vignettes” with cellist Aron Zelkowicz on the Toccata NEXT label in July 2025. Thanks to a KSC Faculty Development Grant for supporting this project – Link here. She will be curating a new Art Song Institute at Vivace Vilnius International Summer Music Festival 2025 in Lithuania alongside German/British bass-baritone Simon Robinson, and will also join the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music Summer Workshop as a piano faculty.
- Collaborative Musical Performance Marks Redfern’s 40th Anniversary Celebration. Read more about PRISM.
- Distinguished Career in Education now includes Hall of Fame Honor for KSC faculty emeritus, Dr. James Chesebrough.
- Music Education Update KSC’s Music Education program holds 100% placement rate.
- KSC’s niche program Music Department is a distinguished program at KSC.
- Isn’t it Grand? The Keene Sentinel announces Keene State College’s initiative to become the first in NH to earn an All Steinway Designation. Read other press about this story: A press release from keene.edu // Grace Kelly reports on KSC TV // Erin McNemar reports from The KSC Equinox.
