Oberlin College Course Catalog

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General Information

College of Arts and Science

Conservatory of Music

	General Guidelines
	Facilities
	Instrument Collection
	Degrees & Diploma
	Requirements for Graduation
	Academic Advising & Standing
	Enrollment
	Grading
	Major & Minor Study
	Transfer of Credit
	Advanced Credit
	Concerts & Recitals
	Miscellaneous Information
	Summer Programs

Double-Degree Program

Registrars Office

Arts and Sciences

Major Study

General. Students in a Conservatory degree program are required to pursue full time one or more Conservatory majors in every semester of enrollment, and are expected to work toward completion of the requirements of a major at a rate suggested by the recommended distribution of major requirements shown for each Conservatory major. Recommendations regarding major study are somewhat different for double-degree students, and are described in the double-degree section of this catalog.

Major Requirements. Requirements for each major are described in this catalog each year. Conservatory students must complete the requirements for their Conservatory major which were in effect upon entering Oberlin. Should the requirements for a major change while a student is enrolled, the student may elect to follow the requirements in effect when entering Oberlin or those in effect in any subsequent year. However, the student must elect to follow a complete set of requirements in effect in one of these years.

When determining whether a Conservatory student has completed requirements for a major, the Registrar assumes that the student is following requirements described in the course catalog for the year the student entered Oberlin; if the student elects to follow requirements of another catalog, he or she must notify the Registrar of this intent. For students who have withdrawn from Oberlin for more than four semesters and who wish to return to complete a major, the requirements in effect at the time the student reenters Oberlin, or in any subsequent year of enrollment, are those which must be followed. The regulations governing major requirements for double-degree students are somewhat different, and are described in the double-degree section of this catalog.

Change of Major. Requests for change of major or for addition of a second major are initiated in the Office of the Associate Dean in the Conservatory.

Changes to a different Performance major, or the addition of a second Performance major, involve an audition before a committee of the department of the new major, arranged by the Conservatory Admissions Office.

Changes involving majors other than Performance involve an interview with the appropriate division director.

If a student is denied continuation in a major by action of the Academic Standing Committee, he or she is permitted to enroll for the following semester without a major for the purpose of finding a new major; more than one semester of enrollment without a major is not permitted.

Major Status. In addition to Enrollment Status, which is a function of the number of credit hours completed toward graduation, the Conservatory also recognizes Major Status, a function of the number of requirements for a major a student has completed in a given semester. Major Status for each major is defined in the section of the catalog where that major is described.

Minor Study

General. Minors are offered in music education, music history, community music, piano pedagogy, music theory, ethnomusicology, composition, and in the following performance areas: piano, organ, voice, trumpet, horn, trombone, tuba, harpsichord, fortepiano, recorder, Baroque flute, Baroque oboe, Baroque violin, and Baroque cello/viola da gamba.

To be eligible for a minor, a student must be a degree student in the Conservatory. If a student is admitted to a minor program which did not exist in the year of the catalog that governs his or her major requirements, he or she will follow the requirements for a minor in a subsequent catalog.

The specific requirements for each minor are described below along with the description of requirements for each major.