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Department of Music

Instrumental Music

There are many ways in which Haverford is an ideal place to pursue your musical interests in the context of a challenging liberal arts curriculum. The instrumental music program includes opportunities for music majors and non-majors to perform in Orchestra and Chamber Music ensembles.

Orchestra
Chamber Music
Instrumental Admissions

Orchestra

Assoc. Prof. Heidi Jacob conducts the Bi-Co Orchestra (Fall 2012)

Prof. Heidi Jacob conducts the Bi-Co Orchestra (Fall 2012)

The Orchestra currently has over seventy members and performs a wide range of repertoire. The group performs twice a year and also performs with the Haverford-Bryn Mawr Chorale.

Rehearsals are held on Thursday evenings from 7:00–9:30 p.m. in Jaharis Recital Hall. Students in Orchestra are guided in sectionals by top professional musicians, including some members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, throughout the academic year. Sectionals are also held on Thursday evenings.

Instrumental Auditions

  • Sample Repertoire
    • Arauco - Symphony (premiere; 2013)
    • Bach, J.C. - Sinfonia in B flat major, Op. 18, No. 2 (Overture to Lucio Silla) (2014)
    • Barber - Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (2010)
    • Barber - Violin Concerto, movt. 1 (2007)
    • Beethoven - Symphony No. 6 (“Pastoral”) (2009)
    • Beethoven – Leonore Overture No. 3 (2007)
    • Berio – Folksongs (2009) 
    • Berlioz - Roman Carnival Overture (2013)
    • Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique (2006)
    • Bernstein - Overture to Candide (2011)
    • Brahms - Academic Festival Overture (2011)
    • Brahms - Tragic Overture (2008)
    • Brahms - Symphony No. 4 (2004) 
    • Bruch – Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor (2009) 
    • Cacioppo, Charles - Music for Solo Trumpet, Solo Percussion and Orchestra (2014)
    • Cacioppo, Curt - Crying for Justice from Scenes from Indian Country (2010)
    • Chabrier - España (2014)
    • Creston - Concerto for Alto Saxophone, Op. 26 (2012)
    • Dvorak - Symphony No. 7 (2005)
    • Dvorak - Symphony No. 8 (2011)  
    • Dvorak - Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World") (2010)
    • Fauré - Suite from Pelléas et Mélisande (2010)
    • Françaix - L'horloge de flore for Oboe and Orchestra (2008)
    • Gershwin - Piano Concerto in F (2013)
    • Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue (2005)
    • Granados - Intermezzo from Goyescas (2006)
    • Grieg - Piano Concerto in A Minor (2015)
    • Haydn - Symphony No. 6 (“Le Matin”) (2008) 
    • Haydn - Symphony No. 104 ("London") (2012)
    • Ives - The Unanswered Question (2012)
    • Kodály – Dances of Galánta (2010)
    • Lalo – Cello Concerto in D Minor, movt. 1 (2010)
    • Liszt - Les Préludes (2005)
    • Liszt - Orpheus (2007)
    • Martin - Ballade for Flute, String Orchestra and Piano (2012)
    • Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 3 (2005)
    • Mozart – “Deh vieni, non tardar" from The Marriage of Figaro (2005)
    • Mozart - Overture to Idomeneo (2014)
    • Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition (2007)
    • Prokofiev – Suite from Romeo and Juliet (2014)
    • Prokofiev - Suite from Lieutenant Kijé (2009) 
    • Rachmaninoff – Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor (2013)
    • Respighi - Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome, 2008)
    • Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade (2012)
    • Rossini - Overture to L'Italiana in Algeri (2010)
    • Saint Saens - Danse Macabre (2012)
    • Schubert - Die Zauberharfe Overture, from Rosamunde (2006)
    • Schubert - Symphony No. 9 (“Great”) (2013)
    • Schumann - Cello Concerto, movts. 2 and 3 (2015)
    • Shostakovich - Symphony No. 5 (2008, 2015)
    • Sibelius - Symphony No. 2 (2011) 
    • Strauss - Lieder: Allerseelen and Zueignung (2014)
    • Stravinsky – Firebird Suite (2006)
    • Stravinsky - Violin Concerto in D, movt. 1 (2006)
    • Tchaikovsky - Overture-Fantasy Romeo and Juliet (2007, 2014)
    • Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 5 (2009)
    • Vieuxtemps - Violin Concerto No. 5 (2014)
    • Wagner – Overture to Die Meistersinger (2004)
    • Wagner - Overture to Rienzi (2012)
    • Wieniawski - Violin Concerto No. 2, movt. 3 (2011)
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  • Extended Ensembles

    The Orchestra and Chorale have performed the Brahms Requiem, in joint performances with the University of Pennsylvania Orchestra and Chorus.

    Select players have the opportunity to perform in orchestras that include professional musicians and both students and graduates of Temple University and the Curtis Institute of Music. These orchestras have performed for the Haverford-Bryn Mawr Chorale, as well as for special programs such as a Native American Music symposium held at Haverford College. The Orchestra has performed 19th- and 20th-century works influenced by Native American music, including the premiere of Curt Cacioppo's powerful "Scenes from Indian Country." The program was broadcast on WRTI, Philadelphia's classical and jazz music radio station.

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  • Additional Ensembles

    Bi-College Flute Ensemble
    Directed by Rebecca Simon
    Contact: beckiflute [at] yahoo.com

    Bi-College Jazz Ensemble
    Directed by Leonardo Dugan
    Contact: ldugan [at] haverford.edu

    Swarthmore College Woodwind Ensemble 
    Directed by Andrew Hauze
    Contact: ahauze1 [at] swarthmore.edu or andrewhauze [at] gmail.com

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  • Videos and Audio Recordings
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Chamber Music

Prof. Heidi Jacob and students rehearse

Prof. Heidi Jacob and students rehearse

Chamber Music scheduling form

Check-Out Form

The chamber music program is open to all instrumentalists who have auditioned for Orchestra. Pianists must pass a separate audition, held at the beginning of each semester.

For all students there are various avenues for performances of chamber music and solo repertoire both on and off campus including on-campus "Coffee House" concerts held at Bryn Mawr College.

  • Sample Repertoire

    Students have performed works such as Piano Quintets and Quartets by Schumann and Brahms, Piano Quartets by Mozart, String Quartets by Mendelssohn, Schubert, Beethoven and Mozart, Flute and Oboe Quartets by Mozart and Gordon Jacob, as well as Clarinet Trios by Brahms and Beethoven.

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  • Visiting Ensembles

    Every year internationally renowned ensembles come to campus to perform and give master classes in chamber music. Past ensembles have included the Moscow, Ying, Colorado, Cavani, American and Mendelsohn String Quartets, the Dorian Woodwind Quintet, Music from Bard Festival, and the Boston and Empire Brass.

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  • Responsibilities for Chamber Music

    Students are expected to attend a weekly, one-hour lesson with their chamber music coach, and participate in at least one student-led rehearsal per week.

    Everyone involved in chamber music, whether taking for credit or not, is responsible for attending all rehearsals and coachings. Exceptions are made in the case of illness or serious situations. Those who are taking chamber music for credit risk failing the class and everyone will risk expulsion from their group if these responsibilities are not met on a regular basis.

    Students are also required to attend all performances and master classes given by chamber music groups visiting Haverford and Bryn Mawr.

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  • Sylvia Glickman Chamber Music Prize

    The Sylvia Glickman Chamber Music Prize is awarded to the top graduating senior or seniors enrolled every semester (excluding semester/year abroad) in the Bi-College Chamber Music Program during their tenure at Haverford College. Preference will be shown for those students who have demonstrated leadership, commitment, innovation, and improvement during the course of their tenure in the program.

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  • Audio Recordings
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Instrumental Music Admissions

Any instrumentalist applying to either Haverford or Bryn Mawr College should include a recording of their playing. The recording should be no longer than 15 minutes and include contrasting selections of music that best show the student's ability.

she/her/hers
Professor of Music

Director, Haverford/Bryn Mawr College Orchestra Director Instrumental Music

Roberts 213
(610) 896-1010
hjacob [at] haverford.edu
Profile

Setting Up Private Study Lessons

Students must audition for and be accepted into Orchestra or Piano Study to be eligible for taking lessons for credit and partial subsidy.

  1. If you already know the teacher you wish to study with, contact them at the number provided on the Private Study page to arrange lessons as soon as possible.
  2. If you’re not sure which teacher to study with, you may speak with Prof. Jacob, or call the teachers on the list to arrange to meet with one or more teachers with whom you think you might want to study.
  3. Fill out the form for lessons and subsidy and submit it to the Music Office by the end of the second week of classes in each semester.
  4. Register for private study (instrumental: H 208 C/F 01 or piano: H 210 C/F 01) through the normal registration process. The Music Department cannot register for you.