In front of an audience, a student plays the flute accompanied by a pianist.

Performance Program

With music for all as our mission, we welcome all students who have a passion for music performance to make music via private lessons and ensembles regardless of their prior musical experience.

Private lesson instruction

Students may pursue private instruction in a wide variety of instruments ranging from Baroque violin to guzheng to West African drums to saxophone. We offer classical and jazz study in voice as well as all string, wind, brass, percussion, and keyboard instruments. Lessons may be taken for credit, regardless of experience. Incoming students who expect to take lessons should take the music theory placement evaluation to determine their starting point for co-requisites. For more information on our faculty and lesson procedures, contact the Music Office.

Performance faculty

Take lessons with any of our performance faculty.

Fred Aldrich, Senior Music Performance Faculty in French Horn

Thomas Duprey, Music Performance Faculty in Jazz and Classical Trumpet

Richard Greenblatt, Music Performance Faculty in Vibraphone

Mark Hamilton, Music Performance Faculty in Trombone & Jazz Trombone

Steve Langone, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Jazz-Rock-Latin Drums

Craig McNutt, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Percussion

Robert Savine, Jazz Accompanist/Coach in Music

Kera Washington, Music Performance Faculty in African diasporic drumming

Eliko Akahori, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Piano

David Collins, Senior Coach/Collaborative Keyboardist

Randall Hodgkinson, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Piano

Russell Hoffmann, Music Performance Faculty in Jazz Piano

Doug Johnson, Jazz Accompanist/Coach in Music

Erica Johnson, Music Performance Faculty in Organ and Harpsichord

Kanako Nishikawa, Coach/Collaborative Keyboardist and Music Instructor in Piano

Lois Shapiro, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Piano

Olga Talroze, Senior Coach/Collaborative Keyboardist

Jenny Tang, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Piano

Laura Bossert-King, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Viola and Violin

Gabriela Diaz, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Violin

Mark Henry, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Double Bass and Electric Bass

Franziska Huhn, Music Performance Faculty in Harp

Laura Jeppesen, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Viola da Gamba

Steven Kirby, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Acoustic Guitar and Jazz Guitar

Catherine Liddell, Music Instructor in Lute

Leo Lynch-McDonnell, Jazz Accompanist/Coach in Music

Mimi Rabson, Music Instructor in Jazz Violin, Viola, and Fiddle

David Russell, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Cello

Jane Starkman, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Violin, Baroque Violin and Viola

Rebecca Thornblade, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Cello

Hui Weng, Music Instructor in Guzheng

Kris Adams, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Vocal Jazz

Kristin Lawler, Music Instructor in Voice

Deborah Selig, Music Performance Faculty in Voice

Sonja Tengblad, Music Performance Faculty in Voice

Kathleen Boyd, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Flute

Fernando Brandão, Music Instructor in Jazz Flute

Glenn Dickson, Music Instructor in Jazz Clarinet

Kyoko Hida-Battaglia, Music Performance Faculty in Oboe

Katherine Matasy, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Clarinet and Classical Saxophone

Tracy McGinnis, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Bassoon

Cercie Miller, Senior Music Performance Faculty in Jazz Saxophone

Our ensembles

Students may audition for and join any of our faculty-led ensembles for credit or non-credit.

  • Neal Hampton conducts the viola section

    Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra
    Comprising students, faculty, and staff from Wellesley and Brandeis, the orchestra delivers inspiring performances of orchestral literature. The group performs four to five concerts annually, including one featuring the winner of the annual Concerto Competition.

  • A violinist, cellist, and pianist play on stage.

    Chamber Music Society
    Chamber Music Society offers instrumentalists and vocalists the chance to perform in small ensembles. Groups receive weekly coaching from an assigned performance faculty member and perform in concerts at the end of each semester.

  • Students sing and play early Western stringed instruments.

    Collegium Musicum
    The Collegium Musicum performs Western music from the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque periods on original instruments. Open to students, faculty, staff, and the community, the ensemble rehearses weekly, culminating in informal concerts each semester.

  • Galen Stone tower as seen through flowering purple rhododendrons.

    Guild of Carillonneurs

    Selected through an application process, members receive weekly lessons and biweekly master classes on the College’s 32-bell carillon. They perform solo concerts on campus, host community events, and travel to other carillons for additional performances.

  • Organ pipes soar above the second level of the chapel.

    Organ Club

    The Organ Club is a group of organists, calcants (those who pump the historic wind system of the C.B. Fisk organ in Houghton Chapel), and organ enthusiasts. The club brings together students, faculty, and staff who share an interest in this unique and beautiful instrument.

  • A line of students standing while playing the trumpet.

    Wellesley BlueJazz
    Wellesley BlueJazz includes the Big Band and Combos. Faculty-directed rehearsals focus on jazz improvisation, with performances on campus and collaborations with other Boston-area colleges. The program features workshops, master classes, and outings to jazz performances.

  • A large group of singers dressed in black pose on the chapel steps.

    Wellesley College Choir
    Composed of 70 singers, the choir performs diverse repertoire, collaborates with men’s choirs, and commissions new works. The group also tours nationally and internationally. Auditions are held during orientation.

  • Three smiling students dressed in black with their arms around their shoulders

    Wellesley College Chamber Singers
    A group of 20 vocalists, the Chamber Singers perform on and off campus, specializing in music for women’s voices with a repertoire from medieval to contemporary music.

  • Dancers in white clap their hands above their heads while drummers beat a rhythm on conga drums.

    Yanvalou Drum and Dance Ensemble
    Yanvalou performs the folkloric music and dance of Africa as it exists today throughout the African diaspora, particularly in Haiti, Ghana, and Brazil, using authentic instruments. Students explore various cultures through music and dance, and present several concerts each year.

Department of Music

Address
Jewett Arts Center
106 Central Street
Wellesley, MA 02481
Contact
Eliko Akahori
Director, Music Performance Program
Phone
781-283-3989