Regulations and Procedures
Individual Studio Study and Performance-Related Policies
Ensemble Policy
All undergraduate and graduate degree students, diploma students, visiting students, and nondegree music students (except students accepted for certain doctoral programs, master's students who have completed their major ensemble degree requirement, or BME and MS Music Education majors in their student-teaching semester) must register for and achieve a passing grade in a major ensemble each fall and spring semester. See list of Major Ensembles in the Courses section of this bulletin.
Students may request placement in a particular ensemble, but final placement will be made by the faculty.
The ensemble requirement was established by the faculty for several reasons. It provides professional training in an important area of a student’s performance development, and it provides opportunities for music students to hear great masterworks in live performance. It also provides listening experiences for other members of the university community and helps to compensate for the fact that the university subsidizes the extra cost involved in professional music training.
The faculty of the Jacobs School of Music is strongly committed to the idea that students should be given the opportunity to develop their talents to the highest degree possible. They are also committed to the idea that each student can and should contribute to the education of others, to the advancement of the art of music, and to the enrichment of the cultural life of the university through participation in the major ensemble experience.