Students who come to the Ithaca College School of Music are already dedicated to the idea of mastering voice or any of the standard orchestral musical instruments. At Ithaca they continue their training under a faculty of performing professionals. Students prepare for their musical performances through weekly private lessons and 1-hour repertory classes with their major teachers and fellow students. Repertory classes provide opportunities for students to perform for each other, review performance techniques, and meet guest artists such as Elly Ameling, James Galway, Yefim Bronfman, the Ying Quartet, and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. As soloists and with ensembles, students become part of the rich musical life of the school, where more than 300 recitals, concerts, musicals, and operas are given each year.
All degree programs emphasize performance.
The city of Ithaca is one of the country's premier college towns, with nearly 25,000 students at Ithaca College and Cornell University. Surrounded by magnificent gorges, lakes, and countryside in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, Ithaca is a thriving cultural center. The community supports an impressive array of concerts, art galleries, movies, and theater productions. Among the artists who have performed in town recently are Itzhak Perlman, Richard Goode, Wynton Marsalis, James Galway, and Thomas Hampson. Ithaca College's combination of a resident faculty, an emphasis on undergraduate performance, and access to a wide spectrum of liberal arts courses makes it an excellent choice among the major music schools in the nation.