Music Major

Meet the Faculty

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 offer the diverse population of students from both Rollins A&S and the Holt School an opportunity to pursue musical training leading to the baccalaureate/bachelor degree respectively;
• 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;
• to serve as a cultural center for the Central Florida community by presenting performances and master classes of outstanding merit by resident and guest artists; and
• to offer residents of the Central Florida community an opportunity to study music avocationally. We are committed to music for all rather than music for the few.

We are committed to music for all rather than music for the few.