Music

Bachelor of Arts Major & Minor

Music is a language. Like any language, speaking it — understanding its pace, its history, the strains that inspire — connects us to other people, places, and times. Rooted in diverse musical traditions, our Music program excels by connecting people, through music, to one another.

Whether you have career ambitions in music or want to incorporate music into your broader college experience, our Music program is built for you. It stresses regional and cultural contexts through a hybrid of music theory and performance, Appalachian studies, cultural studies, musicology, and ethnomusicology.

Music majors are required to audition, but there is no audition required to participate in most classes. We welcome recordings as part of the standard application process.

Why study Music at Warren Wilson?

Hands-on Learning: With a focus on experiential learning, you’ll participate in a wide variety of musical activities on campus including jam sessions, musical ensembles, one-on-one lessons, group classes, and working with visiting guest artists.
Diverse Focus: Our program puts a special focus on traditional music, jazz studies, and West African music.
Career Prep: The unique work program provides students with the opportunity to organize and host music events, run sound and tech, and make recordings.

Every student will complete community-engaged coursework, an internship, and original research as part of their major

A Sample of Our Partnerships

Black Mountain Center for the Arts – Junior Appalachian Musician Program
The Swannanoa Gathering
Sister Sadie
LEAF Global Arts

Concentration in Traditional Music

Warren Wilson College is inextricably linked to our location in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and our Traditional Music program is firmly tied to the Appalachian region. Our conception of traditional music and dance is one that embraces change and innovation while celebrating the many artistic lifeways and expressions of previous generations.

The program fosters an inclusive, intergenerational artistic community where you’ll acquire a shared musical language and develop your own unique voice.

Learn More

See how Music students put our education into action

Internship

Aidan Saunders taught a weekly banjo class for children and young teens at the JAM program in Black Mountain. The students had a variety of musical backgrounds—some had played banjo for a few years, and some were totally new to it—which meant that he quickly had to learn how to adapt each class to suit everyone’s needs. He learned invaluable skills related to teaching music in a group setting, teaching one-on-one, and working with kids in a general sense, as they would begin every week with a music- or dance-related activity which included everyone in the program.

Community Engaged Course

Students in Appalachian Music Soundscapes partner with regional Junior Appalachian Musician (JAM) programs to learn about music from the region and contemporary musicians in Appalachia. You’ll also work with your peers to host a music and craft festival on campus open to the community.

Study Abroad

Bali and Java remain the most popular centers of artistic expression in Indonesia. Students in Art and Social Change in Java & Bali use traditional Indonesian art forms—including music, dance, and theater—as a lens through which to view social change in Bali and Java.

Locations visited have included Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, cultural destinations in Yogyakarta and Ubud , and village homestays in central Java and Bali. In addition, students worked with local Indonesian artists, college students, professors, and community members.

Work

You can work on any crew as a student but many Music majors choose to be on crews such as:

Music
Sound Lab
Kittredge Arts Center

Senior Capstone

Nat Copeland explored the nuances of bowing and rhythmic articulation that distinguish Texas Style Fiddling from related genres in their senior capstone: “Texas Fiddling: the Language of Rhythmic Bowing.”

Popular Courses

Jazz Ensemble

In the Jazz Ensemble, you’ll explore music from different jazz styles (Swing, Jazz Fusion, Latin Jazz, Bebop, etc.). With your fellow musicians, you’ll collaborate, practice, and grow to give public performances. This ensemble is open to all Warren Wilson College students, staff, and faculty, but you will need to audition to demonstrate command of your chosen instrument or voice.

Music Cultures

In this course, you’ll explore the diversity of music making across time and place. You’ll look at the value and meaning that music contributes to the lives of individuals and communities as they seek to understand the past, fully experience the present, and imagine themselves into the future. Case studies range from Warren Wilson’s music culture to various international contexts. Along the way, you’ll critique the concept of “music culture,” recognizing the ways that all individuals exist at the intersection of multiple spheres of cultural influence.

Traditions of Work and Music in the Southern Mountains

What’s a gandy dancer? Which side are you on? And why did Gastonia Gallop? Such questions beg an examination of the ways work and music are bound together in modern Appalachian culture. In this course, you’ll examine those connections while investigating intersections of musical and social history in this region. You’ll focus on three main themes: work music, music about work, and music as work. You’ll also complete service-learning components at area music events.

See the Catalog

Meet our faculty