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, Flute, French Horn, Guitar (Classical or Jazz), Harp, Oboe, Organ, Piano, Percussion (Band/Orchestra), Saxophone, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba, Viola, Violin Voice Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass Other Areas of Interest Composition, Jazz, Music Education I want to audition to be a Music major. Can my scholarship audition count for this? The Music Department requires an Entrance Audition to be admitted into the degree. This audition normally occurs at the end of the semester in which you declare your degree

Think faster, work harder, feel more deeply Posted by: Mandi LeCompte / November 21, 2010 Image: PLU Associate Professor of Music, Violin, Svend Ronning,in his office. November 21, 2010 By Barbara Clements Looking back, Svend Rønning ’89 can’t remember when music wasn’t  part of his life. His mother was a piano teacher; his grandfather played the violin. In fact, he still occasionally uses a bow that his grandfather bought from a Sears and Roebuck catalogue in the 1920s. “Actually, it still

. Clearly, music has profound meaning to Whatley. “It represents all the things we experience and feel in life,” Whatley said. Whatley chose orchestra over band in middle school and started playing the double bass in sixth grade. Whatley said there was only one other double bass player in the orchestra when he started at PLU. Which is kind of why he chose it in the first place. “As a kid, it was, ‘This looks the most unique, so it is going to make me stand out,’” Whatley said. Whatley also plays piano

. “I’m going to do whatever I need to do to make this work,” she said. “I’d never had the courage to audition before now, but I’ve awakened this talent, and I’m going to keep going.” Read Previous New piano chair looks forward to a new chapter at PLU Read Next WATCH: Drum Taps: Nine Poems on Themes of War LATEST POSTS PLU’s Director of Jazz Studies, Cassio Vianna, receives grant from the City of Tacoma to write and perform genre-bending composition April 18, 2024 PLU Music Announces Inaugural Paul

Faculty Feature: Dr. Jeffrey Bell-Hanson, Professor of Music and Director of Orchestral Activities Posted by: Reesa Nelson / June 22, 2020 June 22, 2020 Why did you decide to study music? What sparked your interest in music and how did your academic path and career develop from there? It was a family business for me, so to speak. My father was my first teacher in both piano and trombone, and my first band director. I learned to read music before I learned to read English. The die was cast at an

loved playing the Suzuki songs, but I also loved to sing and sang in a group like the Tacoma Youth Chorus (the Northwest Boychoir) as well. I also took piano lessons from my mother, and later from a local high school student named Rick Steves (yes, he grew up to be THE Rick Steves!). I loved all of these things (and continue to), but by the time I was finishing grade school I knew I had to make a choice. I gave violin my all, but learned a bit of guitar, and occasionally sang in choirs. When I was

orchestral pieces start playing in their heads. Inspiration can come from just about anything, from another song, the revving of an engine or wind howling through the trees.  It’s also a rather odd craft to explain. When pushed, many composers stall as they try to translate how an initial idea becomes an orchestral or a jazz piece. “It’s a lot of staring out the window for hours before you finally start writing something,” said David Joyner, PLU’s director of jazz studies. “Then you just have to reach

October 6, 2008 PLU music major decides to jazz up his life For Bryan McEntire, choosing to be a jazz player wasn’t much of a choice. In fact, the Pacific Lutheran University junior feels the craft chose him. He remembers his grandfather had an old saxophone in his Marysville, Washington home. So at 9 years old, he picked it up and started to play it. “I think my grandfather played it in high school, and then my uncle, and then they both stopped, so I picked up where they left off,” McEntire

, happy family. We completed the 3,000-mile journey by returning along the Pacific Coast Highway, singing in Lutheran churches, visiting towns and having picnic lunches on warm beaches. All too soon, we were back in Washington. Home again at PLC, all we could say was, “Wow. What a trip!” Read Previous Lute Plays Piano ‘Up Close with the Masters’ Read Next Cosmosis: combining the art of music with the inquiry of science LATEST POSTS PLU’s Director of Jazz Studies, Cassio Vianna, receives grant from the

Sound and decided to compete in Miss Pierce County after transferring to PLU. After winning that, Leibold went on to take second place at the Miss Washington pageant and won the award for Talent. Leibold graduated from PLU with a Bachelor’s of Music with a concentration in Vocal Performance and now teaches private voice and piano lessons at the Washington Academy of Music and sings with the jazz combo The Pit Crew in Tacoma. “I don’t think there is that appreciation of classical music; one thing I