Wesleyan University
World Music Program

Type of Program and Degrees Offered

B.A. in Music, M.A. in Music, and Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology. Affiliated with the Music Department.

Program Focus

Wesleyan offers a balanced number of regional specializations in Asian, African, American and European musics. Theoretical interest areas include cultural studies, women and gender studies, migration, political economy, popular music studies, improvisation, and historical ethnomusicology.

Special Resources

Experimental music studio, computer lab for music analysis, The World Music Instrument Collection (for teaching, demonstration, and research), The Wesleyan World Music Archives, special library holdings, occasional conferences, library consortium with Trinity College and Connecticut College, performers in residence and adjunct faculty, and a range of resident ensembles. Approximately twenty-five B.A., as well as seven M.A., and two Ph.D. degrees are awarded annually. Competitive teaching and research assistantships available.

Full-Time Faculty in Ethnomusicology

Eric Charry. (Ph.D., Princeton) Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Music. Africa and the African diaspora; American music; ethnomusicology.

Mark Slobin. (Ph.D., University of Michigan) Professor. Musics of Afghanistan/Central Asia, Europe and Euro-American Subcultures; Jewish music.

Sumarsam. (M.A., Wesleyan; Ph.D., Cornell) Adjunct Professor. Indonesian music; theory and history; teaching and performance of gamelan, and dhalang in wayang kulit.

Su Zheng. (Ph.D., Wesleyan) Associate Professor and Chair of the Music Department. Music of China, Japan, Asian America; music and gender.

Affiliated Faculty

Abraham Kobina Adzenyah. (M.A., Wesleyan) Adjunct Professor. Ghanaian music; teaching and performance of African instrumental ensembles.

Jane Alden. (M.Mus., King's College, London; Ph.D., UNC-Chapel Hill) Associate Professor. Musicology; Theory.

Balraj Balasubrahmaniyan. (B.A., M.A., Ph.D., University of Madras) Adjunct Assistant Professor. South Indian music; teaching and performance of voice.

Anthony Braxton. Professor of Music. Composition; experimental music.

Neely Bruce. (M.M., D.M.A., Illinois) Professor of Music. American music; composition; theory.

Ronald Ebrecht. (D.E.S., Schola Cantorum; M.Mus., Yale; B.Mus., Southern Methodist). University organist. Music of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe; theory.

Angel Gil-Ordóñez. Adjunct Professor, Director of Private Lessons, Chamber Music and Ensembles Program, Conducting, Wesleyan Orchestra, Wesleyan Ensemble of the Americas.

I.M. Harjito. (B.A., S.Kar. [M.F.A.], ASKI Surakarta, Indonesia) Artist-in-Residence. Music of Java; teaching and performance of gamelan.

Jay Hoggard. (B.A., M.A., Wesleyan) Adjunct Associate Professor. African-American music.

Ronald Kuivila. (B.A., Wesleyan; M.F.A., Mills) Adjunct Professor. Electronic music; composition; computer music; sound installations.

Alvin Lucier. (B.A., Yale; M.F.A., Brandeis) Professor of Music. Composition; experimental music.

Yonatan Malin. (Ph.D., University of Chicago) Assistant Professor of Music. Music theory and history.

David Nelson. (Ph.D., Wesleyan) Artist-in-Residence. South Indian music; teaching and performance of mrdangam, kanjira, and solkattu.

General Program Statement

The Wesleyan University Department of Music is home to one of the oldest and most prestigious world music programs in the country. In its integration of scholarship with performance and in its commitment to the inclusion—in principle—of all of the world's musics, the Wesleyan World Music Program has had a significant influence on scholarship, composition, and performance in the United States and abroad.

As an integral part of one of the nation’s leading liberal arts institutions, the department enjoys an international reputation for excellence, attracting students from around the globe. It offers an undergraduate major, and two graduate degree programs: M.A. in Music (with a concentration in scholarship, experimental music/composition, or performance) and Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology. Wesleyan undergraduate and graduate students enjoy the benefits of an intimate, rigorous, and creative liberal arts university experience, marked by individual and small group study. There are many opportunities for individual and ensemble study/performance. Many traditions are represented by both teaching and performing faculty, including African-American, Indonesian, African and African diaspora, East Asian, South Indian (Karnataka), Euro-American, and experimental musics.

Financial Support

All students typically receive full tuition remission plus a stipend.

Further Information

Undergraduate program information: Sandra Brough, Music Department, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06459, USA. Phone: 860-685-2594; Email: sbrough@wesleyan.edu

Graduate program information: Deborah Shore, Music Department, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06459, USA. Phone: 860-685-2598; Email: dshore@wesleyan.edu

Program Website

http://www.wesleyan.edu/music

The content for Wesleyan University was last updated July 13, 2010.