The relationship with our students doesn’t end with commencement; it is merely a beginning.

Craig Paré

Upcoming Events

Community Dance Clinic: "Singin' in the Rain"

  • Date & Time Saturday, March 7 • 10:30 a.m.–Noon
  • Location Music on the Square 21 N. Indiana Street, Greencastle, Ind.
  • Organized by Prof. Ming-Hui Kuo
  • About

    Got a case of cabin fever after a long, cold winter? Don’t miss this chance to revel in the return of spring with Singin’ in the Rain! Learn some of Gene Kelly’s unforgettable dance moves in a fun and exciting musical theatre dance workshop on Saturday, March 7—just in time to welcome spring flowers! Led by EveMarie Bessenbach, Assistant Professor of Music at ɫ, this event is open to all ages and skill levels—no dance experience necessary.

    BYOU: Bring your own (long) umbrella!

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Lunch Box Music Series: Tierney McClure, flute

a Faculty Performance

  • Date & Time Tuesday, March 31, 2026 • 11:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
  • Location Music on the Square 21 N. Indiana Street, Greencastle, Indiana
  • About
    Join ɫ flute professor Tierney McClure and pianist Claudia Santana Núñez for a trip through time celebrating flute music from France. This 50-minute program, spanning the Classical era to the present day, features works by Joseph de Bologne, George Enescu, Darius Milhaud and Yuko Uebayashi. Learn about France’s transformative influence on flute making and playing along the way, while enjoying lunch from The Whisk and savoring some of the rich repertoire inspired by French culture and innovation.

    An optional "add-on" lunch from The Whisk, available for $15 on a first-come, first-served basis, is free to seniors over 65. For additional information, contact: Ming-Hui Kuo (ming-huikuo@depauw.edu).

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ɫ Band

an Ensemble Concert

  • Date & Time Sunday, April 12 • 1:30 p.m.
  • Location Green Center for the Performing Arts, Kresge Auditorium
  • About

    Craig Paré, conductor

    The ɫ Institute of Music will present a program of wind works conducted by Dr. Craig Paré, director of University Bands. Highlights will include “Homage to Leonin” and “Homage to Perotin” from Ron Nelson’s evocative Medieval Suite, offered in tribute to the scholarly legacy of musicologist Dr. Matthew Balensuela. A specialist in medieval music theory, Prof. Balensuela will retire at the end of the academic year after 35 years of distinguished teaching at ɫ.

    Audience members are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item for Putnam County families in need. All contributions collected will be donated directly to the Putnam County Emergency Food Pantry. 

    If you plan to attend, please note the earlier-than-usual 1:30 p.m. start time for this free event.

ɫ Spring Choral Concert

an Ensemble Concert

  • Date & Time Sunday, April 19 • 3 p.m.
  • Location Green Center for the Performing Arts, Kresge Auditorium
  • About

    ɫ Spring Choral Concert
    Bryon Black II, director of choirs

Percussion Ensemble and Jazz Combo Concert

an Ensemble Concert

  • Date & Time Saturday, April 25 • 4 p.m.
  • Location Green Center for the Performing Arts, Kresge Auditorium
  • About
    Ming-Hui Kuo, percussion ensemble director
    Steve Snyder, director of jazz studies

    Experience the energy and artistry of ɫ’s vibrant percussion and jazz communities in this dynamic performance celebrating the expressive power of contemporary percussion and jazz.

    No ticket needed to the free performance.

ɫ Symphonic Band

an Ensemble Concert

  • Date & Time Sunday, April 26 • 3 p.m.
  • Location Green Center for the Performing Arts, Kresge Auditorium
  • About

    ɫ Symphonic Band Concert
    Craig Paré, conductor

ɫ Orchestra and Choirs

an Ensemble Concert

  • Date & Time Sunday, May 3 • 3 p.m.
  • Location Green Center for the Performing Arts, Kresge Auditorium
  • About

    Orcenith Smith, orchestra director
    Bryon Black II, director of choirs

    The ɫ Institute of Music’s 141st concert season comes to an exciting close with this collaborative choir and orchestra concert directed by Profs. Orcenith Smith and Bryon Black II.

Small classes. Big ideas.

A life-changing experience.

Annual Traditions and Events

Each year, we invite artists of international renown to perform as part of our endowed Green Guest Artist series. Among the incredibly talented guests who have performed at the ɫ Green Center are Yo-Yo Ma, Rhiannon Giddens, Thomas Hampson, Bobby McFerrin, Postmodern Jukebox, The Kings’s Singers, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and Frederica von Stade, to name only a few. These concerts are often preceded by master classes, workshops, and classroom visits to give all of our students a chance to meet and work with some of the best artists in the world.

Past Guest Artists

 

2024-2025
Azaguno - West African Music & Dance Ensemble, Astral Mixtape, and multi-instrumental duo Warren & Flick.

2023-24
Founders ensemble, trumpeter Sean Jones, and multi-instrumentalist Jerron Paxton.

2022–23: Sweet Honey in the Rock, The American Brass Quintet, Terell Stafford, Sinta Quartet, Wet Ink, Sandeep Das and the HUM Ensemble

2021–22: Rhiannon Giddens, Eighth Blackbird, Attacca Quartet, Baltimore Consort

From fully staged operas and musicals to more intimate revue-style performances, we do it all. Each fall, our beautiful Moore Theatre whirls into action as the collaborative process of presenting a musical begins. This is closely followed by our opera each spring. In the between-time, Thompson Recital Hall hosts the performances by our “Music for the Stage” class as they perform scenes from various operas and musicals.

The Global Music Experience (GME) at ɫ provides programming focused on musical traditions from different cultures. Each year, ɫ students, faculty, and staff delve into the culture and artistry of a different country or area of the world, exploring that region’s music through lectures, experiential learning opportunities, concerts, and other connected events. We host renowned experts to perform music and dance, share their scholarships, and teach a wide range of students about their musical traditions. The GME welcomes all members of the ɫ community, regardless of area of study, and involves collaborators across campus.

Creative Convocation is a showcase for diverse expressions of creativity from across ɫ. Launched in 2023, student artists, performers, and makers from all disciplines come together to share their creative work with the entire campus community co-presented by the Institute of Music and the Center for Diversity and Inclusion.

Music of the 21st Century is a week-long composer residency immersing the Institute of Music students, faculty and staff in the work of accomplished guest composers through a transformative shared learning experience. During the residency, our community is collectively focused on new music. Virtually all students, staff and faculty are involved in welcoming guest composers and their music into our classes, rehearsals and public events, including two culminating concerts of the guests’ music. This valuable opportunity for students to work directly with distinguished guest composers is generously funded by ɫ alumni Robert and Margaret Schmidt and coordinated by faculty member Eliza Brown.

Upcoming event information can be found here.

A choral extravaganza for high school vocalists led by director of choral activities Dr. Bryon Black II. It is a day for attendees to collaborate and make music with their peers from other schools and participate in master classes and workshops with ɫ voice faculty.

Upcoming event information can be found here.

A celebration of all things piano and string through performance classes, creative workshops, demonstrations, ensemble collaborations, and a closing concert and reception. Open to piano and string students, age 12 and older, family members and music teachers.

Upcoming event information can be found here.

A day of music with the ɫ applied music faculty at our beautiful Judson and Joyce Green Center for the Performing Arts. Attendees will take part in master classes with our world-class instrumental wind and percussion faculty, participate in a large ensemble experience (which will include learning about conducting, large ensemble performance techniques, and repertoire selection), enjoy lunch in our expansive Hoover Dining Hall, tour our beautiful campus, and a have a personal Q & A session with our applied faculty.

Upcoming event information can be found here.

During this annual celebration of jazz music, various high school jazz ensembles perform and receive feedback from guest artists and our own professor of music, Steve Snyder. As the day progresses, master classes are held around campus, leading up to a performance by the ɫ Jazz Ensemble.

Upcoming event information can be found here.

This lunchtime series features live music in downtown Greencastle. The free 50-minute musical presentations are offered at Music on the Square. Enjoy a catered lunch or bring your own and take a break with the ɫ Institute of Music.

The ɫ Institute of Music is home to five unique large ensembles: University Orchestra, University Band, Jazz Ensemble, Chamber Singers and Vox Animae.Students enrolled in these ensembles have the opportunity to make music communally with their peers and perform both classic and contemporary works.

Additionally, ɫ hosts various smaller ensembles and chamber groups, and its Symphonic Band, a collective ensemble open to students, faculty and staff from the campus community. The Putnam County Festival Choir, co-sponsored by the Greencastle Arts Council, is another opportunity for ɫ-Greencastle collaborations as students, faculty, and staff from our campus community and members from the local area come together with a single voice to create truly incredible performance experiences.

Representative Repertoire

ɫ Orchestra

Pines of Rome — Ottorino Respighi
Symphony No. 7 — Ludwig van Beethoven
Pictures at an Exhibition — Modest Mussorgsky
Voices Shouting Out — Nkeiru Okoye
Hansel and Gretel — Engelbert Humperdinck

ɫ Band

Aurora Awakes — John Mackey
Symphony No. 6 for Band — Vincent Persichetti
magneticfireflies — Augusta Read Thomas
Hip Hop Etudes — Daniel Bernard Roumain
The Dog Breath Variations — Frank Zappa

ɫ Jazz Ensemble

“African Skies” — Michael Brecker, arr. Riss
“Dear Rudy” — Terell Stafford, arr. Gray
“Blame It on my Youth” — Oscar Levant, arr. Cunliffe
“Hey, It’s Me You’re Talkin’ To” — Victor Lews, arr. Sharpe

Vox Animae

“It Isn’t a Dream” — Melissa Dumphy
“Deer Song” — Craig Hella Johnson
“Not While I’m Around” — Stephen Sondheim

Chamber Singers:

Le Ballet des Ombres — Hector Berlioz
Geistliches Lied — Johannes Brahms
Ballade to the Moon — Daniel Elder
Great God Almighty — Stacey Gibbs
I Need You — Daniel Bernard Roumain
To the Hands — Caroline Shaw

Contact Us

The Institute of Music

Students walking around campus with East College in the background

Max Fallin

Music Admission Liaison