Ithaca College Creates School Of Music, Theatre, and Dance

The performing arts at Ithaca College will take center stage as two of its most renowned programs formally join together on July 1, 2022, with the establishment of the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance.

The current School of Music and the Department of Theatre Arts-which is presently located within the School of Humanities and Sciences-will comprise a Division of Music and a Division of Theatre and Dance within the new school.

The announcement was made today in a joint message to the Ithaca College community from Interim President La Jerne Terry Cornish and Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Melanie Stein.

"In bringing these programs together we highlight and celebrate the performing arts at Ithaca College," says Stein. "This new school will serve current and future students by allowing for more cross-disciplinary training and exposure, better preparing them for real-world multidisciplinary artistic careers in the 21st century."

She points to the history of the institution as being ready from its earliest days to establish connections between the performing arts.

"Ithaca College began in 1892 as the Ithaca Conservatory of Music. But it was just a short five years later that the affiliated Williams's School of Expression and Dramatic Art brought a new mode of educating, engaging, and empowering our students," Stein noted.

This is the first new school at IC since the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance was created in 1988 from the School of Allied Health Professions and School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation.

"The beauty of the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance is that it speaks to our strategic plan goal of structurally supporting and valuing collaboration, interdisciplinarity, curricular flexibility, and shared governance," says Cornish. "I am incredibly appreciative of the conversations and collaborations that transpired among music and theatre faculty to create something new that honors our roots in theory, practice, and performance in service to our students."

Interim School of Music Dean Ivy Walz and Department of Theatre Arts Chair Steve TenEyck co-chaired the School of Music/Department of Theatre Arts Transition Committee, made up of faculty and staff from both areas. The committee gathered input and facilitated conversations within the schools and departments to determine the best organizational structure.

"It was clear to the committee that uniting under a single school would best position both disciplines for deeper future collaboration and possible synergies as we look to better equip graduates to flourish," said TenEyck.

"As we seek to amplify and advocate for the importance of arts-specifically, music, theatre, and dance within the context of building thriving communities-it is incredibly exciting to envision how the creation of this new school brings opportunity to build upon strengths while expanding collaborations in areas of education, pedagogy, theory, performance, production, and more," said Walz, who holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees from the School of Music.

The announcement noted that all of the academic programs currently housed in the School of Music and the Department of Theatre Arts will continue to be offered in the new school. Each of the two divisions will be led by an associate dean, and the search for the inaugural dean of the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance has already begun.

More information on the new school can be found here.

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