Music, AA (Gateway, Naugatuck Valley, Norwalk) (MUSX-AA)

The Music, A.A. degree is appropriate for students who wish to study music within the broader context of a liberal arts education. College-level study is an opportunity to combine art with intellect. In addition to practicing and performing, students in the Music A.A. program will learn to analyze and interpret musical compositions and performances with an awareness of craft, skill, and discipline. Classes in music theory and technique give students a foundation for pursuing a wide variety of upper-level baccalaureate degree programs in music, and a variety of specializations within those programs.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon successful completion of Music program requirements, graduates will:

• Utilize theoretical principles in the analysis and composition of music, demonstrating both an awareness of the craft, skill and discipline employed, and the intuitive values expressed.
• Demonstrate the ability to hear, internally, the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic elements of music, and display the musicianship skills necessary to participate successfully in various musical endeavors, including performance and composition.
• Present successful solo performances using appropriate repertoire for their chosen instrument/voice with technical proficiency, musicality, and stylistic awareness. Perform musical compositions that demonstrate an intuitive awareness of the symbolic meanings inherent in that work as well as a degree of craft appropriate to the student’s level of development.
• Perform and/or participate successfully in small and large ensembles, using time management and
• interpersonal skills to assist in the production of a collaborative musical work.
• Create original music utilizing the knowledge and skills acquired in the music courses and applied lessons taken by incipient composers, songwriters, and arrangers.
• Demonstrate intermediate keyboard competency through the performance of level-appropriate piano literature.
• Synthesize standard music references and resources (reference works, periodicals, software, etc.) while writing analytical, historical, critical, biographical, and research-oriented projects on topics in music.

Goals for the Music A.A. degree also include the following:

• To prepare students for careers in music and arts-related professions.
• To increase students’ understanding and appreciation of the arts in relation to society, thus encouraging their lifelong advocacy of the arts.
• To allow students to maintain an emphasis on music while further exploring other academic interests.
• To foster intellectual curiosity.
• To encourage students to seek breadth and variety in their educational pursuits to aid them in securing employment in the ever-changing global economy.

The Music A.A. program enables students to develop musical proficiency in Music Theory, Musicianship, Keyboard, Harmony, and Performance in preparation for transfer to Bachelor of Music degree programs at the university level or for their career goals in the field of music. Courses for non-performance music majors are available for composers, arrangers, songwriters, and conductors. The program also features several music ensembles open to both non-majors and music majors. In addition to applied lessons and ensemble, the curriculum offers music theory, ear training, keyboard skills, and music literature, courses that all music majors must complete during their freshman and sophomore years.

Note: This is an open-admission program. CT State also offers an audition-based admission program, accredited by the National Association of the Schools of Music, on the Manchester campus.