Welcome to the Music Department
The Music Department equips students for the serious study, composition and performance of great music within the scope of the liberal arts tradition and the context of the Christian faith and worship. The primary objective of the Music Department is to develop skilled musicians with Christian insight into their art and craft at an advanced level. The Music Department works toward that objective in many ways unique to the arts, and always as part of and in harmony with the total College community.
Major: The music major is designed to develop musical skills, knowledge, and attitudes. Professors place special emphasis on encouraging and developing creativity. Students majoring in music may complete a liberal arts music program or may elect to complete a track in music performance, or music composition.
Minor: The music minor is designed to enable students who concentrate in other disciplines to receive training in music theory, history, and performance.
Department News
New Ensemble to Perform World Premier 
The Westmont College Collegium Musicum, a new faculty-student musical ensemble, presents historic church cantatas and the world premiere of a new work by Steve Butler, Westmont professor of music, Sunday, Feb. 5, at 3 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Santa Barbara; Saturday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Arroyo Grande; and Sunday, March 4 at 6 p.m. at St. Bede’s Episcopal church in Los Angeles. The performances are open to the public and free with a free-will offering taken during the program.
The ensemble consists of a string quartet, oboe, flute, keyboard (organ, piano and harpsichord), soprano soloist and baritone soloist. The repertoire includes works by German composers Franz Tunder, Dietrich Buxtehude, Georg Philipp Telemann and J.S Bach. Butler’s new composition, “Hymns of Divine Love,” is a cantata based on poetry from Symeon the New Theologian, a 10th century Orthodox monk and poet.
“These are all beautiful and powerful works of the historic faith and will bring much joy and a deep spiritual experience to listeners,” says Michael Shasberger, Adams professor of music and worship.
Shasberger says Butler’s compositions for voice, which are in English, are accessible to modern audiences. “His compositional voice is a fresh blend of expanded tonal and minimalist approaches that retain an alluring melodic character while clearly evoking the spiritual qualities of the text,” he says.
The Collegium Musicum performers are: Nichole Dechaine, soprano; Shasberger, baritone; Steven Hodson, keyboard; Chan Ho Yun, violin; Madison Martin, violin; Sarah Shasberger, viola; Rebecca Shasberger, cello; Anne Anderson, oboe; and Madeline Selby, flute.
Dr. Michael Shasberger Presents Film Music Resource
Dr. Michael Shasberger, Adams Chair of Music and Worship and conductor of the Westmont Orchestra and College Choir, offered a new resource for those interested in film music in conjunction with his talk at the National Conference of the College Orchestra Directors Association in Chicago, IL on January 27, 2012. For more information about this presentation, please see visit www.westmont.edu/filmmusic.
Christmas Festival to Celebrate ‘Messiah’
The seventh annual Westmont Christmas Festival, “Messiah,” featured dramatic readings as well as the college orchestra and choirs performing selections of Handel’s “Messiah” and other seasonal musical arrangements Dec. 2-3 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 4, at 3 p.m. all in First Presbyterian Church, 21 E. Constance Ave. The Westmont Christmas Festival 2011 CD is now available for purchase at the Westmont Bookstore! The CD "Messiah,” includes 90 minutes of Christmas music performed by the Westmont College Orchestra, Choir, Men’s Chorale and Women’s Chorale.
2012 Brassmen Calendars For Sale!
Calendar of the Year! Featuring Mark Skovorodko, trumpet; Chris Lamoreaux, trombone; Jeremy Kubiak, trombone; Evan Ewert, tuba; Dallas Thueringer, tuba; Dean LaBarba, trombone; Nick Robertson, French horn; Ryan Vande Wydeven, trumpet; John Garrison, Trumpet. All proceeds from calendar sales help the Westmont Orchestra go to China in May! They are now available for purchase at from the Westmont Bookstore .
Department News
Orchestra's Newest Program: Adopt-A-Musician!
The Music Department is excited to announce its newest program called Adopt-A-Musician! Through this program, you will have the unique opportunity to be paired with an orchestra musician for the 2011-12 Season!
Westmont concert-goers and music supporters may "adopt" a musician from the Westmont Orchestra for $100. Adopters will also have the option to support their student further in sponsoring him or her for the orchestra's summer tour to China. Please spread the word to your friends and other orchestra enthusiasts!
All funds received through this program will go toward supporting these students' performances and their tour expenses. Our goal is for every musician to have a season adopter by the end of the fall semester.
It is our hope that this program will cultivate new support for the orchestra and provide a unique relationship opportunity for you with our orchestra musicians. As a musical "parent" you will have the chance to mingle and get to know your adoptee at each concert, where you can meet and greet him or her the during intermission orafter the concert.
Each adopter will receive an Adopt-A-Musician card that will include a sparkling photo and some basic information about your student musician. You will be able to wear your musician's card on a Westmont lanyard at each concert, so you will be clearly identified as their musical adopter.
Check out our Adopt-A-Musician Facebook photo album at this link!
Please email music@westmont.edu for more information on how to join in the fun!
Thank-You to Donors!
We deeply appreciate the 240 individuals and 15 corporations who made gifts to the music department last year. These generous contributions, which ranged from $3 to $250,000, provided music scholarships to 120 students, supported the Christmas Festival, and helped fund the renovation of the new music building, choir tour scholarships, the orchestra tour, and the acquisition of new equipment and instruments.
To support Westmont musicians and the music program, please visit the "Make a Gift" link. You may also mail a check payable to Westmont and addressed to Westmont College, Office of College Advancement, 955 La Paz Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108; write "Music" in the memo line. Or you may donate by phone by calling 800-998-5652 or 805-565-7053.
Photos of Westmont's New Music Building!
On July 15 renovation of the historic Art Center was completed for the opening of Westmont's new music building. The center, which housed Reynolds Gallery, will be a hub for Westmont’s burgeoning music department. The art department moved to Adams Center for the Visual Arts last fall, freeing up the two-story structure to provide office and practice space for the music department’s five full-time professors and 26 adjunct instructors. Various gifts to the college are funding the project as part of the Bright Hope for Tomorrow campaign.
Randy Jones, director of campus planning, coordinated the restoration of the historic exterior while bringing the structure up to current code. Integrating the acoustic requirements in an existing structure proved challenging. Jones says new interior walls constructed within the existing walls were framed with steel studs and filled with insulation. Steel channels connected to the studs hold isolation brackets, which have two layers of sheetrock attached to them. “This allows the walls to literally vibrate to absorb sound,” Jones says.
The acoustic requirements raised the second floor several inches higher by installing isolation brackets to hold wood supports and a plywood surface that’s topped with acoustic Marmoleum or carpet. “On the lower floor, we poured lightweight concrete to create an acoustic buffer,” Jones says. “On the walls and ceilings, acoustic panels absorb and deflect sound to enhance the experience of practicing.”
The new music building will feature eight office studios, 12 practice rooms, a recording studio, a composition lab and a reception area.
The Art Center opened in January 1986 after architects restored the historic Deane School building to preserve its original exterior appearance. The former junior dormitory is one of several buildings on the lower part of campus that originally belonged to the Deane School for Boys, which operated from 1912 to 1933.
Modernizing the unique structure, a Santa Barbara County historic landmark, proved to be an exciting challenge for Jones and his crew. “The old building gave the project team new puzzles to work through and solve each day,” Jones says.
Photos taken by Brad Elliott.