The Salem School of Music offers a healthful, stimulating environment in which you will obtain a unique blend of excellent professional and liberal-arts training. Through this training, you will develop your talent to its fullest potential and prepare yourselves for the world beyond Salem: professional internships, graduate school, study abroad and/or the job market.
The School of Music also provides cultural leadership and educational opportunities for Salem Academy and College and for Winston-Salem and the surrounding area. Through concerts, workshops, audience-building and general music education, the School of Music seeks to contribute to the cultural vitality of our region and to secure a healthy future for the study and performance of music.
Degrees
Opportunities to study in the School of Music include pursuing the Bachelor of Music degree in performance (with a concentration in flute, organ, piano, or voice), the Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in music and a Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major consisting of the degree requirements in music together with those of another major. You may also earn a Bachelor of Arts with a minor in music or a minor in Music Theater.
Non-Major Classes
For students who are interested in studying music, but do not plan to become music majors, there is a range of courses that fulfill the Basic Distribution Requirement in the Fine Arts. These include Women in Music, American Musical Theater, Introduction to Music, and Introduction to Music of the World.
Individual Lessons
Music lessons in flute, organ, piano and voice, as well as the standard orchestral instruments and guitar, are available to both music majors and non-music majors.
Your Program
For a detailed list of course offerings and requirements, please click on the link to the right.
In addition to the academic pursuit of music, you will also have opportunities to learn and add breadth and depth to your music education. Some of these opportunities are:
Alexander Technique -The Alexander Technique teaches instrumentalists and singers to identify and prevent unnecessary patterns of tension during practice and performance. Salem was one of the first schools in the United States to teach this approach.
Arts Management – Music students are highly encouraged to study arts management, offered through a separate department at Salem College.
Women in Music - Salem has been an innovative leader in the musical education of women. A course entitled “Women in Music” explores the contributions and roles of women in music as performers, teachers, conductors and patrons.
Community Music School - The Salem College Community Music School offers private instruction in music to children and adults. Through the Early Childhood Music program, Salem offers music instruction to very young children, from infants through age 7. Music majors have the benefit of observing and participating in Community Music School programs as part of their training.
Your Faculty
A music school is only as good as its faculty; the most important aspect to your education is the teachers who guide your development. At Salem, you will study with the best performers and composers with the highest level of recognition not only in this part of the United States, but throughout the country and even worldwide.
Salem’s music professors are not only superb as teachers; they also are active professionally, some as performers, others as composers or in other ways. But of most importance to you will be the fact that they know how to teach and take teaching seriously.
Faculty members are:
Reeves Shulstad, Assistant Professor and Director, School of Music
Doug Borwick, Professor of Arts Management and Music
Barbara Lister-Sink, Professor of Piano, Artist in Residence
Barbara Caprilli, Assistant Professor of Music
Dr. Thomas Swenson, Assistant Professor of Music, Director of the the Salem College Community Music School
David Wells, Choral Conductor/Coordinator of Music Education
Debra Reuter Pivetta, Instructor
Your Experience
When you major or minor in music, you will of course have excellent individual classes, group classes, workshops and ensembles to help you improve your skills and prepare for the future. Other opportunities open to you in the music program are:
January Term - This special time each year in the academic calendar gives you the chance to travel; investigate new areas of study; refine independent thinking skills, integrate theoretical knowledge with practical experience, explore career options or pursue research interests.
Global Awareness - There are nearly 60 students from other countries on the Salem campus, providing students a wonderful opportunity to get to know more about other cultures. Study abroad opportunities and a course called Introduction to Music of the World opens windows of understanding to non-Western music.
Interdisciplinary Studies - You may choose to work with an adviser to create your own program of study. This may include music, either as a principal or secondary focus.
Access to the Arts
Being located in Winston-Salem, known as the “City of the Arts” in North Carolina, means you’ll have access to not only on-campus performances - through Salem’s Cultural Events committee - but also events offered through the North Carolina School of the Arts, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem State University and the Winston-Salem Arts Council.
Regional professional orchestras, opera companies, theaters and choral ensembles offer a wide range of excellent music. In addition, world-class recitalists and ensembles regularly visit Winston-Salem. These include the Bel Canto Company; Piedmont Chamber Singers, Opera Company and Classic Guitar Society; and the Piedmont Triad Symphony.
The national American Singers Opera Project (ASOP) recently held a two-week workshop on the Salem campus attracting aspiring opera singers from all over the country.
Your Results
Salem places a great deal of emphasis on learning outside the classroom, in real-world settings. Internships are an important part of that process. An internship offers you the opportunity to apply knowledge and skills learned in class and to explore career possibilities. Internships in music may include studio teaching, Suzuki teaching, church music, or work with performing organizations.
The quality of a music degree is determined by what doors it opens for advanced study and career opportunities. When you graduate with a major or minor in music, you will be prepared to continue your music studies at the best graduate schools or go on to teach music in an educational setting; perform onstage; join orchestras or ensembles; and other career paths.