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OVERVIEW

The School of Music at the University of Puget Sound is unique in offering a comprehensive music program within a nationally recognized liberal arts college. Its accomplished faculty is committed to guiding students toward outstanding achievements in performance, scholarship, and teaching. The rigorous curriculum and extensive performance opportunities prepare students for a diverse range of careers and provide all students opportunities to pursue music study.  Through a wide variety of colloquia, workshops, performances, and a vibrant Community Music Department, the School of Music enriches the cultural life of both the Puget Sound campus and the surrounding community.

 

WHO YOU COULD BE

  • Music teacher, professor
  • Singer-songwriter
  • Member of a professional ensemble or solo performer
  • Band, orchestra, or choir director
  • Opera or musical theater artist
  • Executive director of a performing arts organization

 

 

 

Drew Shipman '21
STUDENT
Drew Shipman '21

"At Puget Sound, I have the opportunities to make music in so many capacities at a high level; you can't get that diverse and insightful musical experience anywhere else."

 

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SAMPLE COURSES
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Meet Our Faculty
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Gwynne Brown
Professor, Music and Director of Interdisciplinary Humanities Emphasis

Prof. Brown teaches music theory and varied musicology courses. Her research on 20th-century American music and African American composers has been widely published and presented at national conferences.

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Tracy Doyle
Professor and Director, Music

A musician and educator, Prof. Doyle is an accomplished performer and advocate of multidisciplinary collaboration, equity, and community engagement.

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Robert Hutchinson
Professor, Music

Prof. Hutchinson teaches a variety of music classes, including theory, orchestration, composition, and analysis. He also routinely composes for and performs with several local music organizations.

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Tina Huynh
Assistant Professor, School of Music

Prof. Huynh centers culturally responsive teaching as an approach to the music education classroom. She teaches music curriculum and pedagogy courses and MAT courses.

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Alistair MacRae
Cordelia Wikarski Meidel Artist in Residence, Music

A chamber musician and recitalist, Prof. MacRae teaches classes in both cello and chamber music, is a member of the Puget Sound Piano Trio, and serves as a member of the artist faculty at Brevard Music Center.

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Gerard Morris
Professor, Music

Active in both nationwide and international music projects and organizations, Prof. Morris conducts the Wind Ensemble and Concert Band, and teaches courses in music education and conducting. 

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Dawn Padula
Professor, Music

Prof. Padula, mezzo-soprano, is a versatile performer of opera, oratorio, art song, jazz, and musical theater, who is Director of Vocal Studies and Opera Theater. 

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Maria Sampen
Professor, Music

Prof. Sampen, violin is a concerto soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. She is deeply committed to teaching and mentoring the next generation of string students and chamber musicians.

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Steven Zopfi
Professor, Music

With extensive service as a conductor, adjudicator, and clinician nationally and abroad, Prof. Zopfi oversees four choirs at Puget Sound, teaches conducting and applied voice, and conducts the Adelphian Concert Choir.

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EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

Students gain experience in a number of ways:

  • Grace Playstead ’24, summer research grant, "frican-American Concert Singers Before and After the Nazi Racial State"
  • Liana Greger ’24, summer research grant, "A Historical Analysis of Student Experience in the Puget Sound Vocal Performance Program in the 1990s"
  • Alexander Westervelt ’25, summer research grant, "A critical examination of how artistically transformative experiences are created"
  • Helen Woodruff '20 interned at Stanford Jazz Workshop
  • Perform with faculty on professional concerts like Collage and in various ensemble groups and competitions
  • Perform with student groups like Curtain Call (musical theater) or Underground Sound (a capella)

AFTER PUGET SOUND

A sampling of things our alumni are doing:

  • Metropolitan Opera (performer)
  • Rutgers University (composition professor)
  • Pittsburgh Symphony (principal trumpet)
  • Detroit Symphony (violist)
  • Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Houston (assistant choir director)
  • Portland Symphonic Choir (executive director)
  • Sitka Fine Arts Camp (operations director)
  • Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival (production manager)
  • Ledbetter Entertainment (owner)
  • Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (chief executive)
  • Tuscaloosa City Schools (elementary music specialist)
  • San Francisco Symphony (vocal soloist)
  • Rice University
  • Manhattan School of Music
  • University of Michigan
  • San Francisco Conservatory of Music
  • Indiana University
Tina Huyhn
Faculty
Arches

Spreading the Joy

In the classroom, in the choir, in a children’s book, in a documentary: Tina Huynh is always finding new ways to preserve and share the importance of music.
Sam Faustine ’13 and Patrick Schneider ’13
Alumni

Beyond Billie

Logger alumni win 2020 Grammys for choral, classical works
Rhiannon Guevin ’12
Alumni
Arches

Building Musical Bridges

When soprano Rhiannon Guevin ’12 boarded an Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Anchorage four years ago, helping a high-school student decide which college to attend wasn’t part of her in-flight itinerary.

FACILITIES

Schneebeck Concert Hall
SCHNEEBECK CONCERT HALL

Schneebeck Concert Hall seats 500 and is the venue for more than 100 student and faculty recitals, guest lectures, and concerts each year.

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Music performance in Kilworth Memorial Chapel
KILWORTH MEMORIAL CHAPEL

Housing the Bethel Schneebeck pipe organ, the chapel hosts a variety of campus events including vocal and instrumental concerts.

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RECORDING STUDIO

The School of Music has a small recording studio that students can use to practice their recording skills.

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