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| Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music | |
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| Established: | 1895 |
| Type: | Unit of Northwestern University |
| Dean: | Toni-Marie Montgomery |
| Location: | Evanston, Illinois, USA |
| Campus: | Suburban |
| Website: | music.northwestern.edu |
The Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music, or Bienen School of Music, is an undergraduate and graduate institution devoted to musical performance and academics. Located on Northwestern University's campus in Evanston, Illinois, 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, the school was known as the Northwestern University School of Music from 1895 until 2008. In September 2008, the school's name was changed to honor retiring University president Henry Bienen and his wife, Leigh Buchanan Bienen.
One of the top non-conservatory based schools in the United States, the Bienen School offers performance degrees in all orchestral instruments, keyboard, voice, and conducting, as well as academic degrees in musicology, music history, music education, music technology, and music theory and cognition. It is one of the few music schools that offers a dual-degree undergraduate program in liberal arts, science, journalism or engineering, in conjunction with those respective university schools. The School of Music has over 125 faculty members, 408 undergraduate students, and 224 graduate students. (Fall 2006)[1].
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History
Initially, the Women's College of Northwestern University contained what was then called the Conservatory of Music, founded by Oren E. Locke in the 1880s. As of 1891, however, enrollment at the Conservatory was stagnating at only 40 students. Peter Christian Lutkin, a noted church organist who ran his own private music school in downtown Chicago, was appointed director in that year, and began widely expanding the curriculum to include not only keyboard and voice instruction but also theory and practice courses that he felt would appeal to amateurs and educators. The Conservatory was soon reorganized as a department within the College of Liberal Arts, and Peter Lutkin was made a professor and the chair of the department. Under his control, the curriculum was further expanded to include music history, counterpoint and harmony. In 1895, the department had a strong enrollment of 200 students and was formally reorganized as the School of Music. Lutkin continued to serve as dean until 1931.
Performing groups
The Bienen School of Music currently sponsors 16 ensembles: the Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, Contemporary Music Ensemble, Philharmonia, Concert Band, Guitar Ensemble, Wildcat Marching Band, Jazz Orchestra, Baroque Music Ensemble, University Chorale, University Singers, University Chorus, Chapel Choir, and University Women's Chorus. Some ensembles are open only to music majors. In addition, students can form chamber music groups on their own.
Facilities
School Buildings
The Northwestern University School of Music comprises two buildings:
- The Music Administration Building. Built in 1873 as the Women's College of Northwestern University, it became part of the Bienen School of Music in 1940. Currently, vocal studies, piano, and composition departments are housed in this building, in additional to administrative offices and academic classrooms. The organ department, which formerly occupied a wing in this building, was controversially closed in 2003.
- Regenstein Hall of Music. Built in 1977, this building sits on the "Lakefill" and overlooks Lake Michigan. It houses studios for the instrumental and conducting programs, practice rooms, a rehearsal room and a recital hall.
In February 2008, the University announced that a new $90 million building was to be erected on the southeast campus as part of a renovation plan for that corner of the campus. The new building, which will unite all music faculty and departments in a common location for the first time since the early 1970s, will include classrooms, teaching labs, teaching studios, practice rooms, student lounges, a choral rehearsal room and library, an opera rehearsal room/black box theater, and a 400-seat recital hall. Construction on the new five-story building is slated to begin in late 2009, with completion expected in spring 2012.[2]
Performance Venues
- Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. Dedicated in 1975, this 1,000 seat venue is the main performance venue for not only the Bienen School but the university as a whole.
- Lutkin Hall. Built in 1941 and named after the first dean of the Music School, Peter Lutkin, this 400-seat hall is used primarily as a recital venue.
- Regenstein Recital Hall. Also known as the "Master Class Room," this 200-seat venue, located in the Regenstein Hall of Music, is commonly used for student recitals.
- Cahn Auditorium. The only venue with a full orchestra pit, it is used by the School of Music primarily for operatic productions.
- The Alice S. Millar Chapel. Built in 1962, this gothic stone structure houses a 100-rank Aeolian-Skinner organ and is used for some choral and mixed performances.
Music Library
The Music Library, founded in 1945, occupies the second floor of the Charles Deering Library in the main university library. It is known primarily for its holdings of music after 1945 and features an extensive collection of John Cage's correspondence.1
References
- Pridmore, Jay. Northwestern University: Celebrating 150 Years. Northwestern University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-8101-1829-7
- Rebstock, Heather. Advancing Music for a Century: The First Hundred Years of Northwestern's School of Music. Northwestern University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-9709021-0-7
External links
- Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music homepage
- Northwestern University Music Library
- Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
- Architectural history of the Music Administration Building
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