October 25, 2004
Chairs remarks:
1) Update on proposed Meet The Composer (MTC) commission: Seattle Pro Musica, Kansas City Chorale and Phoenix Bach Choir are interested in forming a consortium for a 2005 MTC grant. Rommereim has contacted Steven Stucky, and Stucky would accept a commission. Total cost to Curd fund would be approximately $2,000, with $3,000 as the maximum.
2) re: Roberts lecture: Steven Stucky's father has passed away, so he won't be able to come to Grinnell this fall. This leaves the Roberts lecture money (and, potentially $500 from Humanities) unspent.
Budget request for 2005-06
Curricular discussion
Note from Vetter: Since it looks like we will be returning
to the topic of the music curriculum at today's meeting I want to ask
of us a few framing questions that we might keep in mind as we chart
out changes. I see this process of curricular revision as possibly following
two general routes: 1) we can think of what we are doing as fine tuning
the current curriculum through the dropping, adding, modifying of courses
in the catalog and requirements in the major; or 2) we could attempt
to define what we are trying to produce with our major (i.e., can we
define our goals for a typical graduating major of our department in
terms of how we should equip her/him for musical life after Grinnell?)
Here are a few "framing" questions:
1) Is our goal to put our majors on an equal footing in terms of their
knowledge of Western music theory and "art music" repertoire
with graduates earning a B.A. or B.Mus. from a school of music or conservatory,
thus preparing them to be successful applicants to graduate programs
in music?
2) With current campus-wide thinking about the direction of the College
and its curriculum as it is being shaped by the strategic planning process,
should we be imagining how diversity and interdisciplinarity (two key
buzzwords emerging from strategic planning) might be manifest in what
we do with our students through our department curriculum? I invite
other questions to be put forth as well. I am asking these questions
not to play the role of devil's advocate, but because I believe that
complex details in any system (such as our curriculum) are more
effectively worked through when there is some shared understanding of
where we want to end up and a realistic recognition of the constraints
in which we operate.
Update on Visiting Artist Budget for 2004-05
Curd Fund budget for 2004-05