Current Students

Information for the current students in the Department of Music at A-State.

Collaborative Piano

Many students require the services of a collaborative pianist during their time as a student.  All students working with a collaborative pianist MUST sign the Collaborative Pianist Contract below.  Students need to request a pianist as soon as they know they will need one (TMR, half/full recital, jury, competition) to ensure one is assigned. The request must be made by using the Collaborative Pianist Request Form below.  Vocal students will have a pianist assigned to them at the beginning of each semester.

Collaborative Pianist Contract
Collaborative Pianist Request Form

Health & Safety

Musicians should take care in their daily activities to protect themselves and preserve their health. The A-State Department of Music advises all musicians to exercise caution, consult with your teacher if you have questions, and most certainly consult your physician for any health issues. Your career could be at stake if problems persist and are not addressed appropriately.

Please take some time to read the following draft publication from the National Association of Schools of Music regarding musician health. This is specially written to address student questions and concerns.

Musician Health from the National Association of Schools of Music.

Vocalists should understand the anatomy of the voice and avoid using the voice in ways that could endanger their health. Mr. Matthew Carey, Assistant Professor of Voice, is a Speech Pathologist and should be able to help you with any concerns. Vocalists should also consult:

Protecting Your Vocal Health

How to Prevent and Repair Vocal Damage

Faculty should be familiar with and consult the following document from NASM:

Basic Information on Neuromusculoskeletal and Vocal Health for Faculty and Staff

Slides from Mr. Carey's presentation:

Neuromusculoskeletal and Vocal Health

Information regarding Noise-Induced Hearing Loss:

Decibels & Hearing Loss

Juries

At the end of each semester, students taking lessons will perform a jury for their area faculty. Below you will find more information about jury dates as well as important links for juries.

Fall 2025 Jury Information (tentative schedule)

Area Date and Time Location
Brass Dec. 11 & 12, All Day Recital Hall
Composition TBA TBA
Guitar TBA TBA
Keyboard Dec. 8 & 10, 8:30-9:50am Recital Hall
Strings TBA TBA
Percussion TBA Band Room
Voice Dec. 9 & 10, 10:00am-5:00pm Recital Hall
Woodwinds Dec. 8 & 9, All Day Recital Hall

 

Woodwind, Brass, & Percussion Repertory Form
Fall 2025 Final Exams Schedule

Music Speech Proficiency

Music Education majors can elect to take the Speech Proficiency Exam in place of Oral Communication (COMS 1203). If you choose to do that, the below guidelines that will apply to pass your proficiency. 

Length:

No less than 5 minutes, no more than 7 minutes. Exam will be timed, and exact speech time will be recorded on the evaluation form. Missing the time parameters will result in failure of the exam, no exceptions. Please practice the speech several times to work on timing and to sort out logistics and technological demands.

Topic:

The explanation of a musical concept, or the step-by-step demonstration of a musical process. Many possible topics exist, but some examples include:

  • “Proper Breathing Technique for Playing the Clarinet”
  • “Building Major and Minor Scales”
  • “Musical Characteristics of the Baroque Period”

Note: The speech topic must be approved prior to the exam date! Once a topic has been chosen, contact the exam supervisor, Dr. Stephanie Hoeckley to submit your topic and schedule the exam date. 

Required Materials:

  1. At least one self-prepared visual aid. Your instrument will not count as a visual aid. This often takes the form of, but is not limited to, PowerPoint slides.
  2. Typed outline of speech, along with complete citations of any sources used. Two copies of the speech outline should be given to Dr. Faske and Dr. Hoeckley before an in-person speech exam begins. Alternatively, you may email copies of the outline to shoeckley@astate.edu.
  3. A minimum of three sources used should be used in the research and preparation of the speech. No less than two of these sources should be cited during the speech itself. “According to Johnson and Johnson, page 43, skies are blue....”
  4. No more than three 4”x6” note cards may be used, with writing on one side of each card only.

Criteria:

To be successful, students must:

  1. Present a suitable, pre-approved topic.
  2. Show evidence of organization (content-introduction, body of speech, and conclusion/summary) and pre-planning (visual aids and supporting materials).
  3. Provide copies (or email attachments) of the typed speech outline to each examiner.
  4. Deliver the speech in a conversational manner, with appropriate vocal inflections and non-verbal gestures.
  5. Use language appropriate for a secondary school audience.
  6. Adhere to the time limits.

Room Reservations

Music students can reserve rooms in the Fine Arts Center for rehearsals, teaching, and organization meetings. To reserve rooms, students must use the Room Reservation Form. The availability of the rooms can be checked on the Room Availability Calendar.

A room is not reserved upon submission of the form, but must be confirmed by the Music Office.  Please allow 24 hours for processing of all requests. For many of these reservations, students will need to check out a key from the Music Office. The Music Office is open Monday-Friday from 8am - 7pm.  For weekend reservations students must sign out a key from the Office on Friday and return it promptly on Monday of the next week.

 

Tuesday Morning Recital

The Tuesday Morning Recital is a performance opportunity for all undergraduate and graduate music majors. Recitals are held on Tuesdays at 11:00 am and some rare Fridays at 11:00 am at the end of semesters.  All BA, BME, BM Performance, and MM Performance students enrolled in lessons must perform a solo on TMR once a semester.  (A student can substitute with a solo performance in a Studio Recital, Half/Full/Graduate Recital, or other performances of a solo as defined above.)

Students must sign up for their preferred recital date and send their program information.  Deadline to sign up for a TMR slot:

SIGN UP FOR TMR
SUBMIT YOUR PROGRAM INFORMATION

Fall 2026 TMR Dates (tentative)

Date Category
August 25 Opening Meeting
September 8 Hong-Da Chin
September 15 Kristen Sullivan: "Practice 101"
September 22 TBA
September 29 General Recital
October 13 Brass/Percussion/Woodwinds
October 20 Composition/Piano/Strings/Voice
October 27 General Recital
November 10 General Recital
November 17 General Recital
December 1 General Recital

Undergraduate & Graduate Recitals

Students that wish to schedule a degree recital (half/full/graduate) or a non-degree required recital (half/full/graduate) will need the below links to complete this process.  Consult the Date Availability Calendar for available dates.  To request dates, fill out the Recital Date Request Form with your top THREE preferred dates.  The Publicity Form should be completed no later than FOUR weeks prior to your recital.  This will include sending your completed recital program that should be formatted from the Recital Program Template.

Important dates for scheduling recitals:

**Any recitals attempted to be scheduled after these dates cannot be guaranteed.**

Recital Date Request Form
Date Availability Calendar
Publicity Form
Recital Program Template

Spectrum Concert

The Spectrum Concert is an annual Department of Music event held in April that features performances from large ensembles, chamber ensembles, students soloists, and student compositions across the Department of Music. Student performances (solo, chamber, compositions) will be selected based on performances throughout the semester prior. Below are guidelines of how a student or ensemble can be selected.

The 2027 Spectrum Concert will be held on Friday, April 9, 2027 at 7:30pm in Riceland Hall. 

Programming Guidelines

Student Soloists: Soloists will be chosen based on performances in studio recitals, Tuesday Morning Recital, degree recitals, etc. that happen throughout the fall semester. Each area (brass, composition, keyboard, percussion, voice, woodwind, and composition) should discuss and rank performers in their respective area to submit to the Spectrum Concert Committee by December 1. The committee will invite the first ranked performer on each list. If the first ranked performer declines the committee will continue down the list. Performers can perform something different from the repertoire they were recommended with, but must have approval from their applied teacher.

Small Chamber Ensembles: Small chamber ensembles will be chosen based on their performance on the student chamber ensembles concert and percussion ensembles concert. The faculty coaches of the ensembles will be asked to rank the groups on the recital after the performances. The ranked list should be submitted to the Spectrum Concert Committee by December 1. The committee will invite the first few chamber ensembles on the list based on how much room is available on the program. If the first ranked ensembles decline, the committee will continue down the list. Ensembles can perform something different from the repertoire they were recommended with, but must have approval from their chamber coach.

Studio Ensembles: Studio ensembles will be on a three year rotation. Studio faculty can defer their participation to a future year if they choose. These ensembles include: flute ensemble, double reed ensemble, clarinet ensemble, saxophone ensemble, trumpet ensemble, horn choir, trombone choir, tuba and euphonium ensemble, and percussion ensembles.

Year 1: Flute Ensemble, Trumpet Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble
Year 2: Double Reed Ensemble, Trombone Ensemble, Saxophone Ensemble
Year 3: Clarinet Ensemble, Horn Choir, Tuba & Euphonium Ensemble

Large Ensembles: Ensemble directors will meet in the fall semester to choose ensembles to perform. These areas include: bands, jazz bands, choirs, and opera.