Music Performance
Offered spring semester only, the Strasbourg Music Performance program is your gateway into Europe’s vital and diverse musical life. Strasbourg itself is home to the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, the Opéra du Rhin, the celebrated Strasbourg Percussion Ensemble, the new music ensemble Accroche Note, several early music ensembles and the annual festival Musica. In addition the fabled Festpielhaus, with its year-long series of world class concerts, is just one hour away in Baden-Baden, Germany.
Advanced music students combine courses in English at the SU Center with study at the Conservatoire National de Région de Strasbourg, one of the most prestigious conservatories in France.
Led by a member of the Syracuse University Setnor School of Music faculty, the program is designed for students in the fourth semester of a Bachelor of Music or B.A. in Music degree program. At the Conservatoire, students take lessons on their principal instrument and may participate in an orchestra or ensemble group, with the opportunity to gain performance experience in Europe through end-of-semester concerts.
You enroll in a course on 20th century music, taught in English. Other classes are taken at the SU Strasbourg Center and include required study in music theory and French language. You may also take an elective course in music literature, art history, history, economics, political science, philosophy and communications for a combined total of 12 to 19 program credits.
Care is taken to balance the demanding Conservatoire activities with the need to attend concerts and experience life in Europe. You arrive in France with the other Strasbourg students and spend your first three days exploring Paris before traveling to Strasbourg with the SU music professor to begin studies at the Conservatoire. During the semester there are opportunities to join with other SU program students in all-school field trips to destinations such as the Vosges Mountains and the Black Forest. In April, when the Conservatoire has its spring vacation, the SU music professor leads the music students on a week-long seminar to such musical centers as Berlin, Leipzig, and Prague.
Program dates are early January to the end of May. The Conservatoire’s academic year ends in mid-June, with final performances scheduled in the last half of May and first week of June. Students participating in music groups with performance dates in June must remain in Strasbourg for these performances and pay for additional housing and meal expenses.
Eligible students must be prepared to take the required music theory and history courses – Chromatic Harmony II, Ear Training IV, 20th Century Music – and applied instruction on their principal instrument. Although there is no language prerequisite, students are strongly advised to have some familiarity with the French language before arriving in Strasbourg, as few of the Conservatoire instructors speak English.
Acceptance into the program is dependent upon favorable review of an audition tape or CD by faculty of Syracuse University’s Setnor School of Music and the Conservatoire in addition to the academic record and music faculty recommendation. The review process also considers the need to have a range of instruments represented in the program.