FROM: Mindy Thomas, Chair

TO: Beth Dobkin, Provost

FROM: Mindy Thomas, Chair

Academic Senate

DATE: February 16, 2017

RE: Senate Action S-16/17-31CA

Perfa 120 Conducting,

Permanent Approval

At the February 15, 2017 meeting of the Academic Senate, the proposal for permanent approval of Perfa 120, Conducting was accepted on the Consent Agenda. This item was approved by the Undergraduate Educational Policies Committee at its January 17, 2016 meeting by a vote of 8-0-0.

This action was assigned Senate Action # S-16/17-31CA.

Attachment

Cc: President James A. Donahue

Dean Sheila Hassell Hughes

Application for Permanent Course Approval PERFA 120-01

January 17, 2017

1. School/Dept/Course Number & Title School: SOLA Department: Performing Arts Course Number: PERFA 120

Course Title: Conducting

Submitted by: Dr. Julie Ford, Performing Arts Dept.; Music Program Director

This course is being proposed as an upper division course because it has college-level prerequisites (Perfa 11 and 19), is an indepth study and analysis of musical scores and the conducting gestures that functionally and interpretively guide ensembles to bring music to life. It also demands rigorous music reading skills as well as an intellectual readiness and personal maturity of a serious musician.

2. Justification for the Course: Central to music study is the research, preparation, and performance of ensemble literature from multiple style-periods and cultures. Conducting focuses on the study and analysis of musical scores and the conducting gestures that functionally and interpretively guide ensembles to bring the music to life. Within the discipline of collegiate undergraduate music study, conducting is considered an essential course for all music majors and to offer it permanently at St. Mary’s would better align our music curriculum with those at peer colleges and universities.

3. Student Population: Students will be music majors and minors who are either concurrently enrolled, or have previously completed, Perfa 11 Music Fundamentals, and one semester of Perfa 19 (performing ensemble, any section) or students from the general population who meet the pre-requisites through audition. We have offered this course once, and 6 students were enrolled. When proposed for spring 2017, seven students signed a petition for it to be offered. We anticipate 10-12 students if granted permanent status and included as a core requirement for all music majors, and one of the options of required courses for the music minor.

4. Relationship to Present College Curriculum: Knowledge of conducting strengthens and augments theoretical analysis and performance ability, enabling the student to better comprehend direction from a conductor, and to gesturally lead ensembles as a conductor. It will be offered every other year so that there will not be an increase in the total number of units required for our majors.

5. Any extraordinary implementation costs: No costs or additional equipment is anticipated at this time. Syufy 110 is where it has been taught thus far which works well and poses no negative impact on facility use.

6. Library Resources: None are needed at this time.

7. Course Credit and Grading Options: Students who complete the course will earn 1.0 course credit. Students and the professor meet in class for three hours and ten minutes weekly for an entire academic semester. A minimum of two hours of student work will be expected for every hour of instruction. We believe in the future, if accepted as a permanent course we may elect to offer a .5 option for students of dance and theater who wish to understand and learn the basics of the gestural language as would relate directly to musical theater, but would not have the same burden of sheet music analysis so essential for music students.

8. Pre-requisites: Perfa 11 Music Fundamentals; one semester of PERFA 19 (performing ensemble; any section)

9. Course Description for College Catalog: The study of conducting includes learning the basic gestural beat- patterns for various meters, tempi, cues, phrasing, cut-offs, and dynamic variance. The course also involves learning to analyze musical scores to determine the structural elements and related musical characteristics (melody, harmony, form, texture, and rhythm) that inform performance decisions and one’s artistic interpretive vision. Pre-requisites: Perfa 11 Music Fundamentals; one semester of PERFA 19 (performing ensemble; any section).

10. Course Content: See attached syllabus

11. Review of Experimental Offering: This course was offered by lead faculty with expertise in the field conducting, and the course content was designed to parallel offerings at peer colleges and conservatories. The music program director reviewed and approved the content and the execution of the course, and there was periodic class observation by peer faculty. The students participated in an informal feedback session at six weeks into the semester and to solicit feedback on the organization and content of this course to discern the perceived helpfulness of the assignments and assessments. Slight modifications were made along the way as a result and the end of semester student evaluations were highly positive.

Conducting: Perfa 120; TTH, 3:00-4:35pm

Instructor: Dr. Julie Ford, Associate Professor in Performing Arts: or .

Office: LeFevre Theater, Room 5 (shared with Dance Faculty)

Office hours: Tuesday & Thursday, 2:00-3:00pm; also available by appointment most Mondays, 1:00-4:00pm

Required Materials

Two textbooks: The Art of Conducting, 2nd Edition, Donald Hunsberger & Roy Ernst and Music for Beginning Conductors, Dennis Shrock, editor and arranger.

A tuning fork (A=440); A baton (no more than 12” in length; small grip recommended)

Course Description

Conducting is a gestural expression of musical interpretation conveyed for the purpose of leading an ensemble. Therefore, there are two major components to learn: the ability to analyze and extrapolate music into an interpretive vision and the ability to communicate this vison with functional and artistic gestural dexterity. Many conducting classes focus on the gestural components and approach analysis and interpretation separately due to constraints of time and class size. At Saint Mary’s College we are fortunate that we have both the flexibility of a smaller class size and the gravitas of a full unit credit which will allow us to more fully integrate score study with gestural instruction. Topics will include standard and asymmetrical beat patterns, cueing, cut-offs; conveying dynamics, phrasing, and other details of expression; standard forms and musical terms, and overview of style-period performance practices, and baton technique.

Learning Outcomes

General: The goal of this course is to build skills that allow you to take on the role of conductor in a variety of settings. To accomplish this, you will gain a strategy for interpreting musical scores toward the end of creating an artistic vision, and expressing this interpretation into functional and artistic conducting gestures. Analytical skills to be acquired include deciphering melody, harmony, form, timbre/articulation, tempo/character, and phrasing with the intention of making interpretative decisions. Gestural skills to acquire include beat patterns, cueing, ambidextrous conducting, and the means to express dynamics, phrasing, and cut-offs.

Specific: Upon successful completion of this course will be able to:

- Produce score study analysis that leads to a style-period/cultural contextualized interpretive vision

- Determine a specific gestural approach to directing an ensemble to realize your interpretive vision

- Demonstrate an understanding of terminology required to make directorial decisions

- Demonstrate all basic patterns utilized as the foundations of conducting

- Demonstrate how to provide cues, increase/decrease volume and tempo, promote specific accents and articulations, and begin pieces in a wide variety of tempi

Grading

Each week will include one quiz that is gestural, and there will be periodic written exams regarding terminology. Students will also need to produce 3-4 one page analysis of provided pieces, as well as a 2-page analysis for a final conducting project. Attendance, punctuality, and consistent preparedness are important factors in grading:

Attendance & Quality of Participation 40%

Start with an “A”; you are allowed two absences without penalty; grade lowered 1/3 for each additional absence. Arriving late can occur twice without penalty; each instance of tardiness thereafter is ½ of an absence.

Preparedness 30% Evaluated by quizzes and homework. There are no make-ups for missed quizzes. Late homework

is accepted for half-credit if provided by the following class period.

Mid-term 15% Will be gestural and written Final 15% Will be gestural and written

Perfa 120: Conducting

Review of Library Resources Fall 2016

This is a review of library resources for the course “Conducting”, which has been offered as an experimental course in the past and is now being submitted for permanent course status. The library will be able to support this course using the existing collections and collection budget allocated for the Performing Arts.

Collections

The Performing Arts allocation for library resources is shared between music, dance, theatre, the MFA in Dance, and also includes support for the LEAP program. Prof. Ford indicates that no new acquisitions are needed at this time in support of this course. Both required textbooks are available in the library’s textbook collection on reserve for students.

A brief selection of books and ebooks in our collection is available, including: Library of Congress Subject Heading: Conducting

1. The art of conducting / Donald Hunsberger. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1992. (Required textbook)

2. Berlioz’s orchestration treatise: A translation and commentary / Hector Berlioz. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. (ebook)

3. The compleat conductor / Gunther Schuller. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. (ebook)

4. Conducting technique for beginners and professionals / Brock McElheran. New York: Oxford University Press, 1966.

Library of Congress Subject Heading: C horal Conducting

1. Music for beginning conductors: An anthology for c horal conducting classes / Dennis Shrock. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2011. (Required textbook)

2. Prescriptions for choral excellence tone , text, dynamic leadership, Shirlee Emmons. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. (ebook)

3 . The Robert Shaw reader / Robert Blocker. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. (ebook)

Library Instruction

Library research instruction is available upon request. Library research assistance for students is available during regularly scheduled reference and research help hours and by appointment.

Respectfully submitted,

Josh Rose Librarian, Performing Arts October 7, 2016

Approval of the Dean of SOLA, Sheila Hassel Hughes

Begin forwarded message:

From: Sheila Hughes <

Subject: Re: updated permanent status proposals for Perfa 120, Perfa 114L, Perf 117L, and Perfa 018

Date: November 17, 2016 at 3:19:47 PM PST To: Julie Ford <

Cc: Dana Lawton <>

Hi Julie,

I have reviewed the proposals for permanent course status for Perfa 120: Conducting, Perfa 018-01: Lyric Diction, Perfa 114L-01: Sightsinging I and Perfa 117L-01: Sightsinging II. I have also circulated them among SOLA chairs and directors for feedback, but received none. All of the concerns I raised earlier have been addressed in these final versions, and I am happy to lend my support to these proposals.

Thanks & cheers, Sheila