Boyer College of Music & Dance

Founded 1962

Dr. Robert T. Stroker, Dean
2001 N. 13th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122
215-204-8301
music@temple.edu

www.temple.edu/boyer

Mission
Accreditation
Music Admissions
Financial Aid
Special Programs
Facilities

Mission

The Boyer College of Music and Dance is committed to nurturing and advancing music as a form of human expression, as an art, and as a subject for intellectual inquiry. Recognizing that music possesses unique powers -- to move the spirit, to excite the mind, to reveal the past, to chart the future, to instruct, to heal, and to foster communication -- the college seeks to perpetuate music in its myriad forms through creative and scholarly work, teaching, and service, according to the highest artistic and academic standards.

As an integral part of Temple University, the Boyer College shares the ideals of Russell Conwell upon which Temple was founded: to recognize talent and personal potential wherever they may be found; to provide educational opportunities for meritorious students of limited financial means; and to serve as a constructive presence in the wider Philadelphia community.

In carrying out its mission, the Boyer College seeks both to continue the long tradition of artistry and scholarship that we have inherited and to develop new insights, perspectives, and practices. This dual objective -- to explore both past and future, old and new -- should be broadly reflected in the life of the college: in curricula and instruction; institutional policy; professional activities of faculty; advisement of students; and musical performances.

For the art of music to remain vital, our culture must develop both highly-trained, professional musicians and informed, perceptive listeners. Accordingly, the college recognizes its responsibility to administer professional education to the student seeking a career in music, provide opportunities for the general university student to study and experience music, and share its musical life with the public.

The Boyer College provides a distinctive union of the best conservatory-type training with intense academically-oriented classroom teaching.  Coupled with the performance opportunities of the university and the culturally-rich Philadelphia area, the Boyer College offers students the competitive edge in complete, comprehensive musical preparation.  Many programs throughout the university offer minors.  Students who wish to pursue a minor outside of music should contact the appropriate department.

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Accreditation

National Association of Schools of Music, National Association of Schools of Dance, Middle States Association, National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, Pennsylvania Department of Education, and American Music Therapy Association.

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Music Admission

The following requirements for admission to the college are to be considered minimal. Applicants who pass the following examinations may be recommended to the Director of Admissions as eligible for admission to the college. In addition, candidates must meet general requirements set by the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

• An audition in the major performing medium and a series of tests must be completed before an applicant can be accepted into the Boyer College of Music and Dance.

• After submitting the completed application, the applicant is responsible for scheduling his/her audition and the theory test date that is most convenient. Call 215-204-6810 or e-mail music@temple.edu to schedule your audition.

• Entrance examinations are given in the Boyer College, Presser Hall, which is located on the northeast corner of 13th and Norris Streets.  The examinations are given to all entering freshmen and transfer students planning to pursue any of the various music curricula at Temple University. The primary objective of the tests is to determine potential and achievement in music. Students will be tested on fundamentals (scales, key signatures, intervals, triads, etc.) and ability to read and notate music; these exams are used primarily for placement but are sometimes considered in the admission process.

• The freshman and transfer application deadline is March 1. Applicants for admission to the spring semester must take the tests in December, and applications must be received no later than November 1. Call 215-204-6810, e-mail music@temple.edu or visit the Boyer web site for specific audition dates.

• If the applicant is unable to be present because of distance, a national or a recorded audition may be acceptable. National auditions are scheduled in several U.S. cities. Please refer to the Boyer College web site for specific cities and dates. Please clearly mark the recording (CD, VHS, or other format) with your name, instrument, contact information, degree program, and repertoire.  Students must have an application on file before audition recordings are reviewed. Tapes should be sent to:

    Mr. James Short, Director of Music Admissions

    Temple University, Boyer College of Music and Dance

    Presser Hall

    2001 N. 13th Street

    Philadelphia, PA 19122

• Prospective composition majors should submit three (3) representative scores at the time of their audition.

• Prospective theory majors should arrange for an interview with the Chair of the Theory Department.

Transfer Credits

In addition to the university's statement regarding transfer credit (see Undergraduate Admissions), the Boyer College of Music and Dance will, during New Student Orientation, determine all transferred music credits through placement exams. Where deemed necessary, students may be tested in music theory, music history, and secondary piano. Tests in other music areas may be arranged through individual departments.

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Financial Aid

Financial aid is available to full-time undergraduates in the form of music grants, academic scholarships, loans, grants, music grants-in-aid, and work-study programs. Also see Financial Aid in this Bulletin.

Financial aid awards are made after the student has been admitted as a fully-matriculated student. Students are to be enrolled full-time, unless prior permission is granted to do otherwise by the Associate Dean.

Music Grants are awarded based on merit. No separate application is required. The Boyer College has application and audition deadlines for priority music scholarship consideration. Contact the Boyer College at 215-204-6810, or consult the Boyer College web site for current deadlines.

Music scholarships and awards for currently enrolled and graduating undergraduate and graduate students include, but are not limited, to the following:

- Esther Boyer Music Endowment Fund
- Esther B. Griswold Voice Scholarship
- Peter Vennett Piano Scholarship
- Garrigues Foundation
- Presser Foundation Scholarship
- Dr. Arthur Bennett Lipkin Memorial String Scholarship
- Dr. Millard Gladfelter Tribute Scholarship
- Dr. David Stone Tribute Scholarship Award
- Irving Berlin Scholarships
- Else Fink Voice Scholarship
- Howard Chivian Memorial Award
- E. M. Yarnell Scholarship
- Elizabeth K. Frescoln Award
- Jeffrey Yagoda Memorial Award
- Dr. John Henry Heller, Jr. Memorial Award
- Dr. Milton J. Sutter, Jr. Memorial Award
- Elizabeth Smith String Scholarship
- Arronson Student Aid Fund
- Ruth Lafferty Award
- J. Earl Ness Scholarship
- Clifford Taylor Scholarship
- Florence Berggren Voice Grant
- David M. Katz Scholarship
- Bruce Archibald Scholarship
- Dr. Elaine Brown Tribute Award
- Max Aronoff Prize
- J.H. and E.L.M. Beach Book Award
- Dr. B. Stimson Carrow Award
- Emily and Arthur Crosby Award
- Douty Scholarship
- Roscoe Gill Scholarship
- Jacobs Music Company Steinway Award
- Williams and Carmen Middleberg Scholarship
- Jack Moore Memorial Percussion Scholarship
- Helen Laird Tribute Award
- Klara Meyers Tribute Award
- Schnader Memorial Award
- Esther M. Schultz Award
- William Singer Memorial Award
- Albert Tashjian Prize
- Alice Tully Scholarship

- Gerald Wingenroth Scholarship

- Stuart J. Best Memorial Scholarship Fund

- Professor Robert Grooters Memorial Scholarship Fund

- Sarah A. Hilsendager Dance Education Scholarship

- Frances Hutton Memorial Award

- Louis and Peter Vennett Scholarship

- Glenn Steele Percussion Scholarship

- Immordino Family Percussion Scholarship

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Special Programs

Music Technology Component

In addition to coursework leading to Bachelor's degrees in Music, the Boyer College of Music and Dance offers a 36-credit component in Music Technology to qualified music majors. This component, which is distributed over a student's freshman through senior years, normally results in a five-year program.

The music technology component provides a structured sequence of courses for those students who desire to use new technologies to enhance their skills as performers, composers, teachers, and scholars. Courses focus on the creative, performance, and pedagogical aspects of music technology. See Music Technology Component under Programs and Music Education. 

Music Preparatory Division and Community Music Program of the Boyer College of Music and Dance

Mark Huxsoll, Director
www.temple.edu/boyer/musicprep/index.htm
215-204-1512

Temple Music Prep provides lifelong, non-credit learning opportunities in music and dance to the Greater Philadelphia community. As a division of Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance, Music Prep is uniquely able to combine university expertise with Philadelphia’s outstanding cultural assets, assuring excellence in experience and results.

Programming includes Early Childhood Music Foundations beginning with newborns, Movement and Dance Classes for children through teens, individual instruction in all instruments and voice, and classes specially designed for adults. Music Prep is also an authorized provider of Act 48 credits for Pennsylvania educators.

A major component is the Center for Gifted Young Musicians, which serves those students with exceptional ability and motivation. The Community Music Scholars Program serves students with need from over fifty public schools, allowing access to affordable quality instruction.

Temple Music Prep is a member of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts and the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.

Key Program Components:

• Individual lessons from an outstanding faculty in orchestral instruments, piano, guitar, voice, composition and jazz techniques are offered for children and adults.

Suzuki instruction in violin, flute and piano is also offered for young children. In the “talent education method” of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, children learn to play music with the same enjoyment and fluency with which they learn language.

• Early Childhood Music Foundations is an innovative program in early childhood music education that has a national reputation for excellence.  In a carefully planned sequence of music learning, the program uses the natural human inclination for chanting, singing and movement as the first steps in the musical understanding of melody and rhythm.   

• Movement and Dance classes take children through a sequential, age-specific dance program. Offerings include: Creative Movement (3 & 4 yrs.), Music and Movement (5 through 7 yrs.), Modern Dance (8 yrs. through teens in three levels) and Ballet Technique (pre-teens & teens).

• Basic Musicianship classes are offered in three progressive levels. The goal of these classes is to develop musicianship by integrating aural, written, vocal, and tactile skills. By using movable “Do” solfege, students learn to make the connection between musical notation and sound. Level three is also offered as an advanced standing music theory course, earning a high school senior college credit at the Boyer College of Music and Dance.

• Adult classes are designed to provide opportunities for personal growth and professional development. Offerings include: classes in learning to play piano, learning to sing or in Suzuki piano teacher training; lectures to prepare music listeners for their next concert or opera; workshops in instrument repair; as well as individual study in instruments and voice. Pennsylvania educators are eligible to receive Act 48 credit for most of these offerings.

• The Music Therapy Clinic is a collaborative program between Temple Music Preparatory and the Music Therapy Program of Temple University's Boyer College of Music and Dance. It is a place where the therapeutic potentials of music therapy are made available to children, adolescents and adults with varying types of special needs.

• The Center for Gifted Young Musicians is the component of Music Prep that focuses on the training of exceptionally-gifted students who have the ability and willingness to make a serious commitment to music. By audition only.

Instrumental Division (for strings)
The Center's instrumental program provides a comprehensive package of music instruction and performance for young musicians who have demonstrated the greatest potential for musical achievement. Emphasis in this program is placed on the development of superior musical skills through large and small ensemble performance. The faculty is made up of the finest artist/teachers in the region, including members of The Philadelphia Orchestra and professors from Temple's own Boyer College of Music and Dance.

Children's Choral Division
The Children's Choir is designed for outstanding young singers, male (unchanged voices) and female, ages eight to eighteen. The choir focuses on expressive singing built upon a foundation of good vocal technique and musicianship. Singers perform repertoire representing diverse world cultures and a wide range of styles. The choir is made up of three groups: a training choir for beginning choral singers, a full concert choir, and a small chamber/touring choir.

The Festival of Young Musicians
The Festival of Young Musicians has long been the centerpiece of the Center for Gifted Young Musicians. Held annually in late April/early May, it consists of a series of concerts throughout the region that feature all the performers in the Center.

• The Community Music Scholars Program provides weekly individual instruction, music theory and ensemble experience at a nominal fee for young instrumentalists. These Philadelphia school students with need are nominated by their school music teachers and accepted by audition.

The Boyer College of Music Preparatory and Extension Division is located at Temple University's Center City Campus, 1515 Market Street, in the heart of metropolitan Philadelphia at the hub of the Regional Transit System.

For further information concerning curricula and fees, write to: Temple Music Preparatory Division, 1515 Market Street, Suite 501, Philadelphia, PA 19102, or e-mail: musicprep@temple.edu or phone: 215-204-1512. You can also visit the web site at: www.temple.edu/boyer/musicprep.

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Facilities

Presser Hall, opened in 1967, is the center of musical activity at Temple University. This building houses practice rooms, classrooms, ensemble rehearsal rooms, teaching studios, faculty offices, a 16-station computer classroom, student and faculty lounges, a large listening and viewing library, and the Presser Learning Center. Presser Hall's performance facilities include Klein Recital Hall and Arronson Rehearsal Hall.  Presser Hall houses the Music Studies Department, the Music Education Department, the wind, brass, and Percussion programs of the Instrumental Department, the Choral Activities Department, the Department of Voice and Opera, and the programs in Music Therapy and Jazz Studies.

The nationally recognized Presser Learning Center, located on the first floor of Presser Hall, houses over 6,000 books, recordings, periodicals, videotapes, audio tapes, classroom instruments, and other materials used in the preparation of music teachers and music therapists. Included in the computer classroom is the hardware and software necessary for future teachers and therapists to become knowledgeable about the role of computers in music and administration.

The Presser Hall Listening Library houses a collection of more than 10,000 recordings and tapes, 6,000 compact discs, hundreds of video tapes and DVDs, reference books, and scores. Music listening and viewing assignments for courses in music history, theory, composition, jazz, education, and literature can be completed with this collection, which spans music history and performance from the earliest times to the present. A larger collection of music books and scores is found in Paley Library.

The Boyer College's newest facility, Rock Hall, was extensively renovated for music and dedicated in 1994 in recognition of the generous support of Dr. Milton Rock and the late Mrs. Shirley Rock. Located at Broad Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue on Temple University's Main Campus, Rock Hall houses the Office of the Dean, the string and chamber music programs of the New School Institute, the programs in Music Composition, the Keyboard Department, the Early Music Program, the Alice Tully Library, three state-of-the-art computer/electronic laboratories for music and dance, practice rooms, classrooms, and a 325-seat chamber music recital hall.

The Experimental MIDI studio in Rock Hall features a variety of voice modules controlled by a computer workstation, a multi-channel mixer, and digital and analog recording facilities. Students are encouraged to design their own libraries of timbres for use in composition. The computer synthesis studio uses several computer workstations with expanded disk memory, digital and analog recording equipment, and a broad range of software for music synthesis. Most hardware and software titles in the Boyer College Computer Labs are identical to those in the new TECH Center's dedicated Music Lab, enabling students to work on projects in multiple venues.

The Boyer College's Department of Dance has its administrative, faculty, institute, and student offices housed in 1700 North Broad Street. Dance classes are held in three large dance studios in Pearson Hall where there are additional support spaces as well as two small teaching studios for smaller groups. Dance classes and performances are held in Conwell Dance Theater in Conwell Hall, a 125-seat black box theater.

Also utilized by the Boyer College is the third floor of Mitten Hall where the Temple Opera Theater's rehearsal, administrative and faculty offices are housed along with the Opera Listening and Study Library, and the scene, costume, and prop shops. The Howard Gittis Student Center fourth floor houses several Boyer College administrative and faculty offices, along with rooms for classes, ensemble rehearsals, and lessons. Tomlinson Theater, located across the street from Presser Hall, is used for on-campus large ensemble performances and for the twice yearly staged opera productions. A 55-seat smart classroom for music and dance instruction is housed in the Tuttleman Learning Center.

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