Department of Music & Dance
The Lied Center
The Lied Center of Kansas is a $14.5 million multi-purpose performing arts facility. It opened on September 28, 1993 and was build through the generosity of the Lied Foundation Trust. The Center was named one of the "Top 10 U.S. University Presenters" by the International Arts Manager Magazine (1999). Through the Lied Center, the state of Kansas and the region. Performance Organizations Photo by Aaron Paden The Department of Music and Dance offers an extraordinarily wide array of performance opportunities for the students at the University of Kansas. While most ensembles are composed primarily of majors, membership in everything is open by audition to any KU student. Over 300 public performances are presented each year by the Department, ranging from solo recital and chamber music events to large ensemble and opera productions. If you want to perform, there is a place for you in the Department of Music and Dance.
Performance Organizations
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Photo by Aaron Paden |
The Department of Music and Dance offers an extraordinarily wide array of performance opportunities for the students at the University of Kansas. While most ensembles are composed primarily of majors, membership in everything is open by audition to any KU student.
Over 300 public performances are presented each year by the Department, ranging from solo recital and chamber music events to large ensemble and opera productions. If you want to perform, there is a place for you in the Department of Music and Dance.
Orchestra
There are two primary orchestral organizations in the Department, the Kansas University Symphony Orchestra and the University Camerata. The KUSO studies and performs standard orchestral repertory and 20th century masterworks and combines with the choral ensembles for the annual productions of the Holiday Vespers. It also performs as part of the KU Opera productions. The University Camerata is an organization that combines the finest string students and faculty to study and perform string orchestra and chamber music. Its repertory ranges from the Baroque to the most contemporary. A distinguished and internationally renowned faculty create a rich and varied program for these organizations.
Choirs
If you want to sing, there is a place for you in the KU Choirs. Organizations such as the Chamber Choir, University Singers, Concert Choir, Oread Consort, Women's Chorale, Men's Glee Club, and others provide extraordinary and widely varied opportunities for the choral singer. In addition to the standard choral programs, these groups perform with the KU Symphony Orchestra in the Holiday Vespers program.
Bands
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The KU Bands are a diversified group of performing ensembles. The Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and University Band provide an opportunity to perform the widest possible range of concert wind and band literature from the traditional to the experimental. Nationally recognized and award-winning directors continually provide new challenges for all levels of performers. The band program is also home to the Sudler Award-winning Marching Jayhawks and the bands for both the men's and women's basketball teams.
Jazz
The KU Jazz Studies program offers performance opportunities for both the instrumentalist and the singer. Three large jazz ensembles, eight combos, and two vocal jazz groups form the core of these opportunities. Down Beat award-winning Jazz Ensemble I, Jazz Singers, and Fusion Combo set the standard for jazz performance in Kansas and throughout the country.
Opera
The University of Kansas Opera program is led by a dynamic faculty who maintain active careers as singers, coaches, and directors. Productions range in scope from chamber-sized to full-scale opera with styles covering traditional to experimental, comedy to tragedy; and the varied performance venues include the Black Box Theatre and the Lied Center of Kansas. KU Opera and the KUSO join the University Theatre to create full-scale opera in the Crafton-Preyer Theatre. The distinctive opera productions offer a fresh style, a variety of directorial approaches, and exceptional quality.
Dance
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John Nowak, Kansan |
The University Dance Company is open to all KU students by audition. Resident and visiting choreographers create challenging and stylistically diversified works for Company members. Featuring styles that range from classical ballet to jazz to modern, the UDC performs works that vary in size from solo to large ensemble and presents them in the Lied Center and the Elizabeth Sherbon Dance Theatre.
Specialized Groups
In addition to the many larger ensembles, the Department offers numerous other performance opportunities for its students. The Chamber Music program involves all students ranging from the traditional string quartet, piano trio, brass and woodwind quintets to the more unusual and experimental groupings of instrumentations. The Collegium Musicum offers both singers and instrumentalists the opportunity to study and perform Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music. The New Music Ensemble performs 20th century classics as well as the newest compositions. The Trombone Choir, Horn Ensemble, Sax Quartet, Tuba-Euphonium Consort, Percussion Ensemble, and other groups explore a wide range of literature written for these specialized groups.
Touring
Performing organizations at KU often receive invitations to perform at conventions, festivals, and special events throughout the nation and overseas. On numerous occasions these groups have performed at state, national, or international meetings of the International Association of Jazz Educators, College Band Directors National Association, Music Educators National Conference, Music Teachers National Association, American Bandmasters Association, Kansas Music Educators Association, Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, National Bandmasters Association, the Montreaux and North Sea Jazz Festivals in Europe, Mid-America Dance Network, and many others.