Visual & Performing Arts

Program Description

Simpson College

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The Simpson College Conservatory of Music was founded in 1891. In 1940, it became the Music Department at Simpson and has developed and maintained a position of preeminence among schools offering serious musical training in the Midwest.

Simpson combines the atmosphere of a fine small liberal arts college with a distinguished program in music education and music performance. Students at Simpson are given the opportunity of working with superior teachers in private study and in small classes and are given extraordinary opportunities for both ensemble and solo performance. Here, every student is an individual and treated as such, often having the opportunity for upper-division directed studies in such areas as conducting, vocal repertory, ethnomusicology, Kodaly and Orff techniques, and opera coaching.

The Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the great operatic repertory of the nineteenth century, and the vitality of twentieth-century musical thought and American jazz are living, breathing, exciting, and viable entities in the music department. Visiting artists such as Chanticleer, soprano Evelyn Lear, and jazz great Maynard Ferguson give recitals and master classes. Alumni artists like John Osborn, a tenor who is performing internationally at the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna Stadsoper, National Opera, and Glimmerglass; Kimm Julian, well-known baritone with regional opera companies and in Europe; and Beverly O’Reagan Thiele, soprano who sings with many regional companies, the New York City Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera, also return for recitals and master classes. Distinguished music educators on the national scene appear regularly to participate in the music education workshop series for students and area teachers.

Indianola and the Blank Performing Arts Center are the home of the Des Moines Metro Opera, one of America’s leading regional opera companies, and a number of students become a part of its staff each summer.

Simpson is a remarkable place for a young musician to watch, listen, and grow. It is a place where each student is challenged to develop his or her musical and artistic gifts to the fullest and counseled carefully on realistic career goals and the steps to be taken beyond the Simpson years.

Application Procedures

Deadline--freshmen and transfers: August 1. Notification date--freshmen and transfers: June 30. Required: essay, high school transcript, college transcript(s) for transfer students, minimum 2.0 high school GPA, letter of recommendation, audition, SAT I or ACT test scores. Recommended: minimum 3.0 high school GPA, interview, video. Auditions held 1 time on campus; recorded music is permissible as a substitute for live auditions if a campus visit is impossible and videotaped performances are permissible as a substitute for live auditions if a campus visit is impossible.

Undergraduate Contact

Dr. Maria DiPalma, Chairperson, Department of Music, Simpson College, 701 North Street, Indianola, Iowa 50125-1297; 515-961-1570, fax: 515-961-1498.