Wells School of Music

Wind Ensemble

The WCU Wind Ensemble is composed of 45 of the finest wind and percussion players at WCU. As a premier ensemble, the group represents WCU at conventions and performs in high schools throughout the region. Many news works have been commissioned by the Ensemble in recent years. Member is open to all students and is by audition.

• Ensemble Director: Andrew Yozviak
• Number of Members: 50
• Audition Requirements: audition for conductor; audition consists of a piece(s) demonstrating both lyrical and technical abilities
• Number of Concerts: 1 per semester; Occasional run outs during Spring semester
• Samples of Past Repertoire:
  • Molly On The Shore And Shepherd's Hey, Grainger
  • Visions, Giovannini
  • Jericho, Gould
  • And The Mountains Are Rising, Schwantner
  • Fanfare For Freedom, Gould
  • Emblems, Copland
  • Overture, Creston
  • Symphonic Movement, Nelhybel
  • Alleluia, Reed
  • Fireworks, Youtz
  • American Salute, Gould
  • Second Symphony, Barnes
  • Postlude In F, Ives
  • La Procession Du Rocio, Turina
    
    

Wind Symphony

Membership into the Wind Symphony is open to any West Chester University student. An audition is required in October for participation in the Spring semester. The band rehearses two hours a week, meeting once a week in the Fall term and twice a week in the Spring term. Students are asked to conduct a sectional for one hour each week. Music selections are chosen from the standard band literature, transcriptions, and light concert repertoire.

• Ensemble Director: Greg Martin
• Number of Members: 70-80
• Audition Requirements: Musicians are expected to play major scales and two contrasting solos or sections from a concerto. Grades are given based on participation, attendance, punctuality, and a midterm. The midterm grade includes excerpts from the current repertoire.
• Number of Concerts: 1 per Fall semester; 2 per Spring semester, of which one is the annual pops concert
• Samples of Past Repertoire:
  • American Elegy, Ticheli
  • Heroes, Lost and Fallen, Gillingham
  • Abram's Pursuit, Holsinger
  • America, The Beautiful Ward/ Arr., Dragon
  • Music for a Festival, Philip Sparke
  • October, Eric Whitacre
  • The Star of Dreams, Robert Smith
  • Of Sailors and Whales, W. Francis McBeth
  • Visions of Flight, Robert Sheldon
  • Vesuvius, Ticheli

Concert Band

The concert band is a campus wide organization meeting during the Spring semester. It is open to any University student and provides an outlet for musical expression. Students practice twice a week and perform one concert at the end of the semester. In addition, the students are encouraged to rehearse as a section one hour a week. The ensemble performs modern, multicultural, and standard band literature. This ensemble is the only concert band open to any student regardless of ability level.

• Ensemble Director: Greg Martin
• Number of Members: 100
• Audition Requirements: No audition is required for participation. Auditions are held for seating purposes only. Students are asked to play major scales and perform a prepared selection demonstrating ability in both lyrical and bravura playing styles. Sight-reading will be included as part of the audition for seating.
• Number of Concerts: 1 per Spring semester
• Samples of Past Repertoire:
  • Second Suite in F Gustav Holst
  • Peterloo Overture Arnold/Paynter
  • To the Summit Robert Smith
  • Come, Sweet Death J.S. Bach/arr. Reed
  • Ponte Romano Jan Van der Roost
  • Toward a Northern Star Gary Gilroy
  • Rhosymedre Vaughan Williams
  • When Time Will Be No More James Curnow
  • Washington Grays Claudio S.Grafulla/ arr. Schissel

Chamber Winds

The West Chester University Chamber Winds is a player pool of approximately 25 musicians that performs a diverse repertoire of music for groups as small as eight performers to as large as 23. The Chamber Winds performs two to three concerts a year on campus and regularly tours in the region and abroad. Recent trips have included performances throughout Italy, in Regensburg, Germany, Salzburg, Austria, Prague, Czech Republic, Vienna, Austria, Oxford, United Kingdom and Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.

• Ensemble Director: Andrew Yozviak
• Number of Members: Flexible instrumentation performing pieces of 8-23 musicians
• Audition Requirements: Auditioned group each semester.
• Number of Concerts: 2-3 per academic year
  
  

Golden Rams Marching Band

With a proud and distinguished history that dates back to 1889, the 324-member “INCOMPARABLE” Golden Rams Marching Band continues to delight audiences with its innovative and inspiring performances.

The Golden Rams Marching Band performs regularly at WCU football games, exhibition events throughout the region, and special events for the university and community. In addition to performances at National Football League events and World Series games, the group has also twice performed at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Golden Rams Marching Band is proud to perform regularly at Bands of America Regional and National Events. Most recently, the Golden Rams performed in featured exhibition at the 2018 Bands of America Grand National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana. This November, the “INCOMPARABLE” Golden Rams Marching Band will be a featured act at the 100th Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade sponsored by Dunkin’ Donuts!

The West Chester University INCOMPARABLE Golden Rams Marching Band has been selected as the recipient of the 2019 Sudler Trophy! Presented by the John Philip Sousa Foundation, the Sudler Trophy is awarded biannually to a college or university marching band which has demonstrated the highest musical standards and innovative marching routines and ideas, and which has made important contributions to the advancement of the performance standards of college marching bands over a number of years. WCU is the first Division II School in history to receive this prestigious honor!

For more information regarding the award’s history (and to see a list of past recipients), please visit http://www.sousafoundation.net/default.aspx?ID=39)

• Program Goals:
• Encourage students from all curricula to join the organization in order to sustain and/or increase the quality of the band and color guard.
• Quality performances.
• Increase the organization's visibility and recruiting power through off-campus performances.
• Student involvement to develop leadership skills.
• Increase educational offerings.
• Develop pre-teacher training programs for student instructors.
• Reinforcement of positive communication skills and excellent performance skills.
• Ensemble Director: Adam Gumble
• Number of Members: 325
• Audition Requirements: Membership is open to all interested students.
  • The Wind Musicians can audition for parts during the pre-school band camp.
  • Percussion mini-camps are held on two different Sundays, one in June and one in July to introduce the techniques program and audition for sections. All percussion members are sent an audition packet prior to these mini-camps.
  • The Color Guard holds two introductory mini-camps in July. The purpose of these one day workshops is to acquaint you with our program allow you an opportunity to see firsthand what it takes to participate in our program. After these mini-camps you will know if you really want to be a part of the Golden Rams Marching Band.
• Number of Concerts: The band performs for all home games, 1 or 2 away games, and 4-5 exhibitions each season. These exhibition appearances include the Cavalcade of Bands, Tournament of Bands, and USSBA marching band championships. In addition the band supports the community by participating in the Halloween and Holiday parades.
• Rehearsals: The band rehearses every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 3:15-5:15pm. A pre-school band camp is held the Tuesday - Saturday, before school begins. One credit is available for participation.
• Samples of Past Repertoire: Each season the student leadership selects a theme or themes for the season. Past themes were: New York City Rhythms, Moulin Rouge, The Roman Empire, and Flight.

Learn More About the History of the Incomparable Golden Rams Marching Band

“SIXTH MAN” BASKETBALL BAND

The WCU “Sixth Man” Basketball Band is a non-auditioned group that performs at all WCU Home Basketball Games. Membership is open to all students, regardless of major.

• Ensemble Director: Adam Gumble
• Number of Members: 100
• Audition Requirements: NONE
• Number of Concerts: Performances at all WCU Home Basketball Games
• Samples of Past Repertoire: Popular Music

View All Ensembles

Concert Choir

The West Chester University Concert Choir is the flagship choral ensemble at West Chester. This ensemble is chosen by competitive audition from among the 500 music majors enrolled in the Wells School of Music. They strive to perform, in a historically sensitive manner, music of all styles and epochs from the past five centuries. The choir tours regularly, and recent excursions have sent them to California, Florida, the Desert Southwest and Europe (London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Venice, Florence, and Rome, Italy) as well as concertizing in New York and in Philadelphia.

• Ensemble Director: David P. DeVenney
• Number of Members: 32
• Audition Requirements: Students must audition through the choral audition process held each Fall during the first two days of classes. Students enrolled must accept placement for the entire academic year.
• Number of Concerts: Approximately 6 per year, although often these are repeated on tour off-campus
• Samples of Past Repertoire: J.S. Bach's St. John Passion, the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610, and shorter works like Conrad Susa's Landscapes and Silly Songs and Josef Rheinberger's Mass in E Flat.
  
  

Mastersingers

Mastersingers is a mixed-voice choir selected by competitive audition. The group presents concerts of shorter works and longer masterworks, usually with orchestra or instrumental accompaniment from a wide range of musical styles and epochs. Their goal is to develop vocal and musical skills required for performing choral music in an expressive manner. Each Spring, Mastersingers and Concert Choir combine to perform a large choral/orchestral work with the WCU Symphony Orchestra. Students enrolled in this course must enroll for both semesters of the academic year.

• Ensemble Director: Ryan Kelly
• Number of Members: 50
• Audition Requirements: Open to all students, but must audition through choral audition process.
• Number of Concerts: 2 per semester
  
  

Cantari Donne

Cantari is a select, advanced women's chorus, comprised largely of vocal music majors and other women who have the vocal skills and musicianship to perform more difficult literature. Twice a year, Cantari Donne partners with the Men's Chorus to sing works for mixed voices.

• Ensemble Director: Ryan Kelly
• Number of Members: Approximately 30
• Audition Requirements: Students must audition through the choral audition process held each Fall during the first two days of classes.
• Samples of Past Repertoire: Includes major works by Haydn, Mozart, Handel, Faure, and smaller works by composers from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries.
  
  

Opera Theatre

WCU’s Opera Theatre is an auditioned organization, open to any student. Opera Theatre mounts 2 productions a year, the major production in the Spring and a second reading-type production in the Fall. The Fall 2018 opera will be A Bernstein Celebration and Spring 2019 will be Copland's The Tender Land. Auditions are held at the end of each semester.

 

Men's Chorus

Men's Chorus is comprised of music majors and students from other academic disciplines, who sing a variety of literature for men's voices. Each term, they combine with Cantari Donne, the advanced women's ensemble, to perform one concert that usually features a major choral work.

• Ensemble Director: David P. DeVenney
• Number of Members: 50-60
• Audition Requirements: Enrollment is open to any student, regardless of major. For non-music majors, a short audition will be held the first day of class. Music majors whose degree requirements include choral participation must audition for choral placement each Fall semester. Other music majors may enroll in the course without an audition.
• Number of Concerts: 4 per year

Women's Chorus

Women's Chorus provides opportunities for choral singing to women from throughout the campus community. The choir sings a wide variety of literature, from classical music of all periods to folk songs and spirituals.

• Ensemble Director: David P. DeVenney
• Number of Members: 40-50
• Audition Requirements: Enrollment is open to any student, regardless of major. For non-music majors, a short audition will be held the first day of class. Music majors whose degree requirements include choral participation must audition for choral placement each Fall semester. Other music majors may enroll in the course without an audition.
• Number of Concerts: 2 per semester
  
  

Chamber Choir

Chamber Choir sings repertoire composed for small ensembles, particularly early music, but also including Romantic and later works.

• Ensemble Director: Ryan Kelly
• Number of Members: 8-12
• Audition Requirements: Students must audition through the regular choral auditions, held each Fall during the first two days of classes.
  
  

Recital Choir

Recital Choir is an ensemble of sixteen, including both undergraduates and the master's degree students in choral conducting. The purpose of the choir is to provide a laboratory choir for the graduate conducting students. The choir performs two public performances a year, led by one of the graduate conductors.

• Ensemble Directors: David DeVenney
• Number of Members: 16
• Number of Concerts: 2 per year
  
  

Symphony Orchestra

The WCU Symphony Orchestra presents 5 to 6 concerts each year, performing both on and off campus. The ensemble of 70+ student musicians performs on campus in the Madeleine Wing Adler Theatre and Asplundh Concert Hall. In the spring we offer our annual Concert on the Quad, an outdoor concert so well received that CBS News spontaneously aired a spot on us during its nighttime news. Each year we also accompany concerto winners from WCU’s Wells School of Music. Off campus concerts have led us to such celebrated venues as Verizon Hall in the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Philadelphia. We perform standard symphonic repertoire as well as new compositions, the most recent of which was a world premiere of Symphony No. 1 by alumnus, Joe Harkins. Our collaborations include our faculty and other eminent artists such as Ricardo Morales, Amy Oshiro, and Udi Bar-David and his ensemble, ARTolerance. We are committed to serving the community through civic engagement and with innovative concert presentations that include multi-media, guest artists, and smartphone-friendly features.

• Ensemble Director: Joseph Caminiti
• Number of Members: 70
• Audition Requirements: Auditions for membership and seating take place in August for the Fall semester, and November for the Spring semester. Auditions consist of orchestral excerpts and are played for the conductor and a faculty member.
• Number of Concerts: 5-6 per year
• Samples of Past Repertoire:
  • Beethoven, Symphonies 6 and 7
  • Wagner, Overture to Rienzi
  • Rachmaninoff, Symphonic Dances
  • Stravinsky, Symphony of Psalms
  • Rimsky-Korsakov, Symphony No. 2, “Antar”
  • Dvorak, Symphony No. 9
  • Copland, Four Dances from Rodeo
  • Barber, Adagio for Strings
  • Turina, La Procession du Rocio
  • Smetana, The Moldau
  • Hovhaness, And God Created Great Whales
  • Haydn, Symphony No. 93
  • Verdi, Triumphal March and Ballet from “Aida”
  • Strauss, Tod und Verklärung
    
    

Chamber Orchestra

The WCU Chamber Orchestra performs works for strings and winds, and for strings alone. We often collaborate with faculty soloists, showcase our own students within the ensemble, and perform a wide range of repertoire, standard and new. Our concert presentations are innovative, including concerts in the round, audience questions, and guest speakers. We have newly become the opera orchestra, performing full-scale operas such as Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and Copland’s The Tender Land. This vibrant ensemble attracts an ever-growing audience of all ages!

• Ensemble Director: Joseph Caminiti
• Number of Members: 20-30
• Audition Requirements: Auditions for membership and seating take place in August for the Fall semester, and November for the Spring semester. Auditions consist of orchestral excerpts and are played for the conductor and a faculty member.
• Number of Concerts: 3-4 per year
• Samples of Past Repertoire:
  • Britten, Simple Symphony
  • Bach, Brandenburg Concerto #3
  • Mozart, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
  • Plau, Concerto for Tuba and Strings
  • Grieg, Holberg Suite
  • Puccini, Chrysanthemums
  • Suk, Serenade for Strings
  • Holst, St. Paul Suite
  • Maggio, Bright Elegy
  • Respighi, Ancient Aires and Dances
  • Finzi, Romance in E-Flat
  • Telemann, Concerto for 3 Trumpets and strings
  • Mozart, Die Zauberflöte
    
    

Criterions Jazz Ensemble

The Criterions Jazz Ensemble performs a variety of big band traditional and contemporary jazz literature. Besides concerts at West Chester University, the ensemble often plays at nearby high schools and participates in jazz festivals in the tri-state area. The organization is open to students of all curricula, and admission is through an audition held during the first week of the Fall semester.

• Ensemble Director: Jonathan Ragonese
• Number of Members: 20+
• Audition Requirements: Audition takes place at the beginning of the semester.
• Number of Concerts: 2 per semester; Concerts off campus, including a multi-day tour
  
  

Statesmen Jazz Ensemble

Historically the number two jazz ensemble to the Criterions jazz ensemble, Statesmen Jazz Ensemble gives students a chance to perform in a large jazz ensemble, learn jazz repertoire and playing techniques. The organization is open to students of all curricula, and admission is through an audition held during the first week of the Fall semester.

• Ensemble Director: Dan Cherry
• Number of Members: 20+
• Audition Requirements: Perform the melody of 3 pre-selected pieces in the jazz style. Improvisation on blues chord changes. Sight reading jazz repertoire.
• Number of Concerts: 1 per semester and possible concerts off campus
• Samples of Past Repertoire: The band has played the repertoire of the Count Basie Orchestra, Stan Kenton Orchestra, Buddy Rich Band, Woody Herman Orchestra, Duke Ellington Orchestra, and many others.
  
  

Latin Jazz Ensemble

The Latin Jazz Ensemble is a performance group that plays the styles made popular by musicians such as Mario Bauza, Tito Puente and Eddie Palmieri. Members of this ensemble learn the fundamentals of playing in clavé as well as more advanced concepts of Latin music styles with an emphasis on strong rhythmic interpretation, performance practices, and improvisation. The Latin Jazz Ensemble performs on campus every semester as well as additional performances at area high school jazz festivals and Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations.

• Ensemble Director: Marc Jacoby
• Number of Members: 12+
• Audition Requirements: Auditions take place at the beginning of the semester.
• Number of Concerts: 1 per semester and concerts off campus
  
  

Vocal Jazz Ensemble

The Vocal Jazz Ensemble is a small ensemble who performs vocal jazz, often one on a part. The highly select group of singers is chosen not only for their musical skills, but for their ability to sing close harmony and to blend. Most are given solo opportunities in the group, which is accompanied by a jazz trio.

• Ensemble Director: Ryan Kelly
• Number of Members: 8-10
• Audition Requirements: Students must audition through the regular choral auditions, held each Fall during the first two days of classes.
  
  

Brass Ensemble

Chamber Music

Chamber Music at WCU offers a focused setting for exploring small ensemble literature for mixed instrumentation from duos to quintets. Students enrolled in chamber music at WCU will coach regularly with members of the Dali Quartet and have opportunities to perform in master classes and in concerts on and around campus.

• Ensemble Director(s): Dali Quartet
• Number of Members: Duos, Trios, Quartets, Quintets
• Audition Requirements: Interested students will be placed in a chamber group by members of the Dali Quartet
• Number of Concerts: 2-3 per year
  
  

Collegium Musicum

Membership varies based on interest and ability but there is room for recorder, viol, and broken consorts, as well as singers and keyboardists (continuo playing). Most players have not used historical instruments before and select an instrument similar to something they already play, though singers have become viol players and pianists have become recorder players, etc.

• Ensemble Director: Mark Rimple
• Number of Members: Flexible instrumentation performing pieces of 8-23 musicians
• Audition Requirements: Audition is required as an interview with the director.
• Number of Concerts: 2 per academic year (Fall/Spring)
• Samples of Past Repertoire: Greorian chant and secular monophony (Hildegard of Bingen, Frauenlob, Cantigas de Santa Maria, Troubadour song, etc.), medieval and Renaissance chansons and motets (Guillaume de Machaut, Josquin des Prez, Johannes Ockeghem, Nicholas Gombert, etc.), consort music (Attaignant, Gervaise, and other French consort dances, Antony Holborne viol consorts, Fantasies and Ricercares by various late Renaissance composers including Giovanni Gabrieli), Italian and English Madrigals, lute songs and consort songs (Claudio Monteverdi, Don Carlo Gesualdo, John Dowland, John Danyel, Orlando Gibbons, William Byrd), and solo monody and early opera (Barbara Strozzi, Giulio and Francesca Caccini, Monteverdi, Johann Kapsberger, Henry Purcell, Felice Sances, etc.) and 17th - 18th c. Cantatas and Motets (Heinrich Schutz, G. F. Handel, J. A. Hasse, J. C. Bach, etc.).

Double Reed Ensemble

Flute Ensemble

The WCU Flute Ensemble is a large group that is open to all flute majors with no audition, while the Night Winds Flute Ensemble is a smaller, precision ensemble that accepts members by audition only. Both groups rehearse weekly and perform several times a semester, including at the annual Flutefest. The Night Winds often perform off campus throughout the greater Philadelphia area. The two groups program works from the standard flute choir repertoire as well as pieces by contemporary composers. Students have the opportunity to play the piccolo, alto, and bass flute and gain experience working on tone quality, technique, ensemble blending, and intonation.

Guitar Ensemble

The purpose of this organization is to perform music for one, two, three, four or more classical guitars from the Renaissance to the present day. This experience develops musicianship in a way that solo playing alone does not. Activities include an ensemble concert at the end of each semester in addition to other performances on and off campus.

Harp Ensemble

This energetic harp orchestra is a fifteen member ensemble. The annual WCU Harp festival event hosts up to 25 harps along with alumni and professional musicians.

• Ensemble Director: Professor Gloria Galante founded the West Chester Harp Ensemble and WCU Harp Program in 1987.
• Number of Members: 15
• Audition: Auditions are available and we welcome up to 25 members. Audition requirements are one Bach transcription and La Joyuese- Carlos Salazedo and one piece of your choice.
• Harp Circle: 3rd Monday of each month (all 12 months) - located at SilverLake Nature Center
  
  

New Music Ensemble

The New Music Ensemble is a collection of student and faculty performers coordinated by the Music Theory and Composition department. Concerts feature a wide variety of acoustic and electronic chamber works (many of them world-premieres) by student and faculty composers as well as guest composers.

• Ensemble Directors: Adam Silverman and Van Stiefel
• Number of Members: Open to all undergraduate, graduate, and faculty performers
• Audition Requirements: Interested performers should contact the ensemble directors.
• Number of Concerts: 2-3 per year
• Samples of Recent Repertoire: Works by faculty members Robert Maggio, Larry Nelson, Mark Rimple, and Greg Wilder and students Genevieve Black, Chris Bryan, and Matthew Heim.
  
  

Percussion Ensemble

The West Chester University Percussion Ensemble performs and commissions a wide variety of repertoire. The ensemble performs a full-length concert on campus every semester, we perform annually at the Percussive Arts Society Pennsylvania Day of Percussion, and we have performed at the East Coast Percussion Ensemble Festival (Newark, DE and Glassboro, NJ) and the McCormick Marimba Festival (Tampa, FL). The ensemble also tours local elementary schools and middle schools every May, presenting an assembly titled “A Musical Tour Around the World" for approximately 2,500 students during a five-day tour.

The WCU Percussion Ensemble regularly features world-class guest soloists, including Cynthia Yeh (Principal Percussionist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra), Chris Deviney (Principal Percussionist of The Philadelphia Orchestra), Rolando Morales-Matos (percussionist with Broadway's The Lion King), Angela Nelson (Associate Principal Timpanist of The Philadelphia Orchestra), and Christopher Rose (Assistant Principal Percussionist with "The President’s Own" U.S. Marine Band).

• Ensemble Directors: Ralph Sorrentino
• Number of Members: 15-20
• Audition Requirements: The ensemble is open to percussion majors. Non-percussion majors who are interested in auditioning for Percussion Ensemble should contact Dr. Ralph Sorrentino (rsorrentino@wcupa.edu).
• Number of Concerts: 12-15 (two on-campus concerts, one PA Day of Percussion performance, and 9-12 assemblies during our annual May tour)

Saxophone Ensemble

• Ensemble Directors: Jonathan Ragonese
• Number of Members: 4-18
• Audition Requirements: Interest and acceptance of instructor, based on performance in lessons
• Number of Concerts: 2-3 per year
• Samples of Past Repertoire: Works by Stravinsky, Gesualdo, Monteverdi, and a variety of compositions and transcriptions by instructor, based on needs of the ensemble.
  
  

 

Steel Drum Ensemble

The Steel Drum Ensemble is a newer group on Campus. The ensemble focuses on playing repertoire for Steel Pans and Percussion. No previous knowledge of Steel Pans is needed! Students do not need to be a music major to join this group. The ensemble rehearses Monday nights 7:15-10pm.

• Ensemble Directors: Christopher Hanning and David Nelson
• Number of Members: 18-24
• Number of Concerts: 1-4 concerts per semester
• Audition Requirements: We ask that you can read music. No previous knowledge of playing Steel Pan is needed.
  
  

Trombone Ensemble

The Trombone Ensemble performs original trombone music and transcriptions in a variety of musical styles. The Trombone Ensemble is an umbrella group for trios and quartets as well as a large 12+ member trombone choir. We share 1 concert each semester with the other Brass Chamber Ensembles, and we also seek opportunities to perform off campus at area schools and regional festivals. The group is open to all Trombone Majors and Minors without audition; non-majors are welcomed into the group with instructor permission.

• Ensemble Director: Dan Cherry
• Number of Members: 12+
• Number of Concerts: 2+ per year
  
  

Tuba Ensemble