The University Chorus is an auditioned choir open to all MSU students. It is intended for people who simply share a passion for singing and hope to build upon their vocal strengths. It rehearses three times per week and performs in concert two times per semester. Its repertoire includes representative works from all historical periods.
Auditions for the University Chorus are held during the first week of classes for fall semester and during the last week of fall classes for participation during the spring semester. Purchase of concert gowns ($65) and tuxedos ($99) is required.
The MSU 1 O'Clock Jazz Band has an extensive performance schedule over the state of Montana to promote and support jazz education. The band performs concerts, offers clinics and hosts workshops for all levels of jazz bands. The Jazz Band has traveled to the University of Northern Colorado/Greeley Jazz Festival to be adjudicated by the leading jazz educators from around the country. Many band members have received outstanding soloist awards from the International Association of Jazz Educators, and the band has also been awarded prizes and superior ratings from the adjudicators.
This ensemble is a big band construction [20-30 musicians comprised of saxophones, trumpets, trombones, guitars, bass, and drums/percussion] that uses the repertoire as a lens through which to study effective & meaningful approaches to improvisation in the context of arranged big band funk/fusion jazz charts [i.e. "Tower of Power", "Average White Band", Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, et al]. Members of the 2:30 band are music majors and musicians at Montana State University who are majoring in other areas of specialization. Auditions for the two jazz bands [1 O'Clock Jazz Band and the 2:30 Band] are held during the first two weeks of the fall semester.
The Bobcat Pep Band is a high-energy, enthusiastic, and animated ensemble that performs at various community and sporting events. Members of The Bobcat Pep Band take great pride in representing the essence of Montana State University through spirit, passion, and powerful performances. The Bobcat Pep Band is open to all MSU students. An informal audition is required.
The MSU world music ensemble called Gamelan Sekar Gunung [Mountain Flower Gamelan] is a percussion orchestra made up of over 20 instruments, including metalophones (xylophone-like), gongs, suling flutes, drums, cymbals, and angklung (bamboo shakers). These instruments are native to Bali, Indonesia, and in fact, this orchestra was built especially for Montana State by the master gamelan builder on the island, Pandé Madé Gableran. The orchestra is of the type called Gamelan Angklung, used originally in temple music. Prof. Alan Leech studied the music and its instruments during a sabbatical trip to Bali in 1997, and later arranged for MSU to commission the instruments.
Prerequisite for enrollment for credit: MUSI 105, or MUSI 307, and/or consent of instructor.
