Shape the world with sound.
Overview
We offer two majors, music and music education, for you to grow your dedication to vocal or instrumental performance and teach others to share their gift. Our faculty know that music is a passion and encourage you, regardless of your major, to continue your music career in college by offering scholarships to both music and non-music majors.
Music professors bring real-world classroom experience to the music education courses giving you insight into a career of teaching music. Along with your academic program, you’ll have the opportunity to join McPherson’s Band or Choir to make music and connections with other students across majors and activities.
Majors
Music Performance
Explore music theory and refine your talent.
Music Education
Build proficiencies that enable you to share your love of music with a new generation of musicians.
Scholarship Auditions
McPherson College encourages all students to continue to participate in music by offering generous scholarships to music majors and non-majors alike. All students are eligible for a Merit Scholarship up to $23,000/year based on their GPA. An audition-based scholarship can be added for participating in a band or vocal program.
Scholarship auditions are conducted by appointment. This can be done in conjunction with a campus visit or by scheduling a time directly with the professor. When you schedule a campus visit please indicate on the form that you are planning to audition. For questions, students may contact the professor directly or reach out to admissions at (800) 365-7402.
Experiences & Outcomes
Choir
The McPherson College Choir is the college’s premiere choral ensemble. Comprised of students from all majors, the choir performs repertoire from a variety of style periods and genres. From this choir, students are selected by audition to perform in Bella Voce Women’s Choir or The Singing Statesmen. In addition to local and regional concert appearances, the choirs tour nationally or internationally each year.
Band
Perform with the Concert Band, Jazz Band, Drum Line, Steel Drum Ensemble, or volunteer for the Tailgate Band. The McPherson College Concert Band is one of the largest concert bands among any private Kansas college. The concert band is comprised of students from a wide variety of majors, academic disciplines, and activities across campus. They all share a passion for making music in college and beyond. Both the concert band and jazz band were selected to perform at KMEA in 2022 – the only private collegiate concert or jazz band selected to perform! It is also the concert band’s third straight year to be selected in eligible years.
Virtual Tour
Hess Fine Arts Center
Take a video and 360° virtual tour of the instrumental and vocal spaces in Hess - home to the Music, Art & Design programs at McPherson College.
360 Tour & Photo Gallery
Faculty & Staff
Kyle Hopkins M.M.
- Associate Professor of Music
- Director of Bands
- “Throughout history, whenever humans have been faced with the ultimate questions of life and existence, they have relied upon music in their search for meaning. So I am passionate about teaching music and strive to pass on my love of music to my students. I have high expectations for my students to succeed at whatever their individual skill level is. I want them to experience music at its best so they can experience life at its best.”
Jean Kennedy B.M.
- Adjunct Guitar Instructor
- “I am passionate about the guitar, in all of its styles, and sharing that with my students is a real joy. My goal as a guitar instructor is to fill each student’s musical toolbox with the essentials they need to continue learning, enjoying, and sharing the music that they find personally fulfilling.”
Gregg Walker M.M.Ed.
- Adjunct in Music
