Learn, Play & Perform

In Rehearsal: The Amherst College Concert Choir with the Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble

September 27, 2019

On the eve of the Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble’s Sept. 19, 2019, debut performance at Amherst College, the octet rehearses the final movement of Musikalische Exequien by Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) with the Amherst College Concert Choir. Directed by Arianne Abela.

Opportunities for Students

Community Engagement

  • Amherst College Music Tutors Program provides musical assistance to the Amherst Public School’s instrumental music programs, thereby emphasizing the importance of musical education as well as strengthening those programs through the connection to Amherst College.

Private Lessons

  • Private Lessons are offered by professional adjunct instructors in the Music Department.

Performance Opportunities

  • Chamber Music: The Chamber Music program at Amherst brings together student musicians in ensembles of varied instrumentation and voices. Like other performance ensembles at Amherst, students need not be music majors in order to participate.
  • Choral Society: The Choral society is made up four different ensembles, Concert Choir, Glee Club, Chorus, and Madrigal Singers. Each group has between 10 and 40 singers and performs repertoire from the medieval canon to present-day works by Amherst Facutly members.
    • Concert Choir: Approximately 30 musicians who perform a wide variety of SATB choral works ranging from medieval madrigals to modern music. 
    • Glee Club: The Glee Club is the oldest musical group at Amherst, also known as "The Singing College" for its long and varied musical history. This is Choral Society's tenor/bass ensemble. 
    • Chorus: Choral Society's treble ensemble (SSAA) which joins with the Glee Club to sing SATB repertoire. 
    • Madrigal Singers: The Madrigal Singers are a 10-15 member student-directed ensemble specializing in medieval and renaissance repertoire. 
  • Jazz Ensemble and Combos: Amherst College supports a jazz ensemble, several jazz combos, and private instruction for all jazz musicians.  
  • Symphony Orchestra: The Amherst Symphony Orchestra consists of about 60 Amherst College students as well as up to 10 musicians from the other schools of the Five College Consortium. 
  • World Music Performance Program: The World Music Performance Program includes the study of vocal and instrumental music in any area for which there is an interest and for which a teacher can be found.

Ensemble Directors

Arianne Abela || Lecturer and Director of the Choral Music Program

Bruce Diehl || Senior Lecturer and Director of Jazz Performance

Mark Lane Swanson || Senior Lecturer and Director of Instrumental Music; Orchestra Conductor