Music Major

The Virginia S. and W.W. Nelson Department of Music began as a conservatory of music even before the College’s founding in 1885. The program is a charter member-since 1931-of the National Association of Schools of Music, whose curricula guide the baccalaureate offerings. Since the conservatory’s restructuring as a liberal arts department in 1966, Rollins has continued to enjoy a reputation as one of the finest schools in the Southeast offering pre-professional music training. The mission of the department is fourfold: to provide majors the best possible education in performance, historical literature, and theory-the background necessary to pursue graduate work or a career in music; to open the curriculum to the wider campus community by encouraging non-majors to take courses, including those designed especially for novices; to give all students-majors and non-majors-performance experience through choral and instrumental ensembles and individual training in applied music; and to offer the Central Florida community performances of outstanding merit by resident and guest artists, as well as opportunities to study music a vocationally. We are committed to music for all, rather than music for a few.