A Word from the Director...
In the School of Performing Arts at Sonoma State University, we develop artists. Complete artists for a changing time. Inspired collaborators engaged in their work as much with one another as with the larger world they inhabit. Vital human beings devoted to a process of discovery, seeking its ultimate expression in performance.
The School of Performing Arts offers valuable and rewarding opportunities for serious, motivated students to develop their artistry in a stimulating and congenial environment at a campus located in a beautiful and culturally rich area. We aim to develop artists and educators who are vitally engaged with each other and the world through the performing arts.
Philosophy
At Sonoma State University, developing artists cultivate their individuality in a humane environment that emphasizes personalized instruction. Classes are small, averaging twelve students per faculty member. Studio instruction for musicians is one to one. Most ensembles and stage productions are “chamber” scaled, reflecting our belief that intimacy is the best guarantee of quality. Even our larger productions strive for this intimacy. The faculty know their students by name and are accessible to their needs and concerns.
Acknowledging that an artist’s life can be a difficult one to navigate, we ground our students in a broad range of real-world skills and perspectives and encourage innovative career planning as the best path to productive, fulfilled lives as working artists.
Curriculum
In the Music Department, several degree programs are offered. The Applied Music program provides a broad basis for pursuing many interests and specialties including Chamber Music, Choral Music, Composition and Music Technology, Opera/Music Theatre, University Bands, World Music; many consider it an ideal preparation for graduate study. The Jazz Studies concentration offers hands-on, professional training in contemporary jazz performance and composition. The Music Education concentration prepares students to enter the teaching credential program in the School of Education.
In Theatre Arts, majors choose between four programs. Performance concentrations are offered in three areas. The Acting Concentration offers a conservatory style approach to prepare the student actor for the professional theatre world. The Dance Concentration offers contemporary approaches to dance with special attention to the integration of mind, body and spirit.
In addition, the Technical Theatre track focuses on the development of technical theatre, stage management and design skills. These concentrations provide training for student actors, dancers, and designers through career-track, intensive curriculum. The fourth area of concentration is called General Theatre which offers a liberal arts curriculum intended for students interested in studying theatre in education, writing for and about theatre, arts management, and other theatre-based careers.
Customized and interdisciplinary programs in music theatre, composition, playwriting, choreography, recording and multi-media technology are available for interested students.
Enrollment in all our major programs is open to all students, regardless of age or background. Some courses require auditions that demonstrate students’ ongoing growth in their chosen discipline.
Opportunity
The School of Performing Arts presents an active season of student recitals, plays, and music theatre productions, as well as a guest artist series through the generous funding of the Evert B. Person endowment fund. The departments annually award student scholarships ranging from $500-$2500 through the Person endowment, as well as support of the Performing Arts Departments. Additional grants are made in the form of private voice instruction and technical theatre scholarships,
Our performance venues include the Evert B. Person Theatre--a 475-seat state-of-the-art proscenium theatre, Warren Auditorium--a 200 seat mixed-use hall where our Jazz Ensembles rehearse and perform, the Ives Concert Hall, Studio 76 black box theatre for experimental theatre and acting and directing classes, and a large dance studio in the P.E Building. In 2008, Sonoma State inaugurated the $75 million Donald and Maureen Green Music Center, which will feature two glorious performance halls—a 1400 seat symphonic concert hall, and a 350 seat recital hall. These venues position Sonoma State to become a premiere western destination for the study of the performing arts.
We invite you to explore our programs through our website and welcome your interest.
Jeff Langley
Director, School of Performing Arts
