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If there is one place that stands out to me as being an academic home away from home, it’s the Music Department at Tufts. Housed in the bronzy Granoff Music Center downhill, I love it all: concerts in the beautiful performance hall, study sessions in the Music Library or at a highly-coveted lobby table under massive sunlit windows, late-night recorder rehearsal in our rustic practice rooms, and even the hours I spend tucked away in the Ensemble Library preparing music for Wind Ensemble or bothering the (very nice) front office staff about help with the copy machine (again).

A few years ago, reading these blogs as a prospective student myself, I remember having a hard time finding a student’s account of some of the groups I was interested in joining. I came from the world of competitive marching band and ensembles with high expectations at my high school in Northern Virginia. I already knew that I wasn’t going to major in music, and my time playing in the stands was going to be replaced by cheering on the sidelines (luckily Pep Band and Cheer are BFFs 4ever), so I was looking for other options. There’s lots of articles now on Jumbo Talk that spotlight students’ experiences with different aspects of music at Tufts; from oodles of options for extracurricular clubs, to getting discounted Boston Symphony Orchestra tickets, to starting a band. So, after almost four years of being involved in various capacities with the Music Department (and a little bit of extra research), I’m putting together the Tufts Music Department 101 guide that I wish I had—plain and simple! For more detailed information on each of these topics, check out the department’s website. To the student looking to go all-in for a degree, join on the side to stay fresh, or to try something totally new: read on! 

Meet Granoff 

Granoff is our headquarters for music studies and performance. The crown jewel, of course, is Distler Performance Hall. It has state-of-the-art acoustics and hosts hundreds of (almost always free) events and concerts throughout the year, as well as the all-ages Tufts Community Music Program. The Ruth Lilly Music Library is where you go for books, manuscripts, scores, audio rentals, or a quiet and airy study spot. Granoff is also home to some excellent classrooms, a lecture and secondary performance hall, the Box Office, the Music Computer Lab, the World Music Room (find Javanese Gamelan and some stunning West African drums here), teaching studios, practice rooms, and a secure instrument locker room. The locker room is key (haha); students can request lockers on a semester-by-semester basis for storage. This was VERY USEFUL as a performer in multiple ensembles. I would also imagine it’s pretty difficult to keep a string bass in a dorm room. Talk to the department about renting musical instruments!

Pro-tip: Granoff, Aidekman Arts Center (home to the Tufts University Art Galleries and Cohen Auditorium), and Jackson Gym/Dance Studios are ‘the big three’ buildings that make up this downhill arts complex for music, dance, and theater/performing arts. While they’re all next door to one another on the street-level, save yourself a trip through the rain or the harsh winter wind by using the hallways that connect all three below ground. You’ll thank me for that. 

Hmm…What Classes Could I Take?

If you’re interested in major or minoring in music, you can explore your options here: https://as.tufts.edu/music/academics/undergraduate-programs 

The Music Department offers classes in subjects like composition, performance, theory, history, ethnomusicology, technology, and cultural studies. Students can also get serious about an independent study project in collaboration with faculty. Visit the music “Courses” page to access class descriptions and see the most recent semester’s offerings. You don’t have to be majoring/minoring in music to take most of these.

Speaking personally, I’ve loved my musicology classes. While I have been a musician for over a decade, neither of these classes require any prerequisite knowledge of reading/playing music or music theory. I took MUS-0028: Queer Pop (taught by Professor Stephan Pennington) in the 2022 Spring semester and MUS-0058: Music, Technology, & Digital Culture (taught by Professor Joseph Auner & cross-listed with the Science, Technology, & Society department as STS-0033) this past semester, Fall 2024. Main takeaways: music history is awesome, these were not “easy A” classes, and I loved writing niche papers on lesbian country music or hyperpop as a cyborg genre. 

Pro-tip: One of the best ways to answer your “Why Tufts?” (Or, your “I want to go to Tufts because…”) short essay on the application is to show that you have made, or will make, a strong connection with something specific at Tufts. All department pages will have a tab for “Prospective Students” that summarizes the department in a more introductory capacity—perfect for those doing some research into Tufts’ academics or hoping to learn more about what a subject is / what a department offers. 

What About Performances & Ensembles?

There are many ensembles and opportunities for performance, including:

• African Music and Dance (Kiniwe)
• Arab Music
• Chamber and Concert Choirs
• Chamber and Symphony Orchestras
• Early Music
• Electronic Music
• Flute Ensemble
• Gospel Choir
• Javanese Gamelan
• Jazz Orchestra and Improvisation
• Klezmer 
• New Music
• Opera
• Pep Band
• Private Lessons
• Tufts Composers
• Wind Ensemble

These ensemble listings can be taken for credit (2 is the standard) or for no credit, just because you love it. Some, but not all will require an audition. These ensembles are a great way to make friends, join a community, continue your practice as a musician, try something totally out of your comfort zone, or fulfill that arts distribution requirement. They perform at least once each semester, are attended by the Tufts Community, and are live streamed!

I’ve been in Wind Ensemble each of my 4 years, and even served on the student exec board two separate times (social chair and now librarian). We traveled to Dublin, Ireland, in 2023 to play concerts for school children! And, this year I joined the Early Music Ensemble. So, now I spend my days stressed out about recorder practice and campaigning for our director to let us perform in historical dress at the spring concert. Huzzah!

Well, What Next?

If you’re interested in speaking to current music majors or students currently in music classes, feel free to reach out to the undergraduate admissions office general inbox (undergraduate.admissions@tufts.edu) and ask to be connected with our student music contacts!