Music

Why Music at Coe College?

Performance Opportunities

From on-campus concerts each semester to performances around the metro area, across the state, and even internationally, there is no shortage of opportunities to showcase your talent. The ensembles offer the opportunity to perform in a wide range of musical styles. And recitals and a weekly recital hour provide additional opportunities for solo and collaborative performance.

Depth of Study

The Music Department provides a thorough but flexible music degree connected to the breadth of a diverse liberal arts education. Students can take advantage of double majors with the Bachelor of Arts degree. Future music educators will minor in secondary education as they work towards certification to teach music K-12.  Students interested in composition and performance can focus their course content in those areas.  A minor in music is available for non-majors, and all students with music backgrounds and interests are encouraged to participate in applied lessons and ensembles.

Areas of Emphasis

Coe offers music majors the opportunity to complete an emphasis in: 

• jazz studies
• music industry 
• pre-music therapy

These emphases provide additional, focused coursework and experiential training in increasingly popular music-related fields.

Community

Coe offers the ideal combination of a small, private college in a metropolitan setting. Students receive the personal attention of world-class instructors on over 20 instruments and voice, while taking advantage of the many artistic opportunities provided by the city of Cedar Rapids.

International Tours

In the past 15 years, music groups have toured in Belgium, Belize, mainland China, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Germany, Honduras, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, and Taiwan.

Scholarships

Our scholarship auditions enable all admitted prospective students to compete for annual awards ranging up to full tuition. Students pursuing a music degree can apply for the full-tuition Williston Jones Marshall Music Scholarship. Other partial-tuition scholarships, including the Schauwecker Music Scholarship, are available to all students and renewable through annual participation in select ensembles. Coe also offers Visual & Performing Arts Scholarships (up to $4,000 per year) as well as the All-State Music Scholarship ($5,000 per year) - awarded automatically to any student who has won a place in their state's All-State band, orchestra, or chorus.

Transfer agreements

Coe College has a music transfer agreement with Kirkwood Community College.

Coe College has been a member of the National Association of Schools of Music since 1962.

Original Work

Luke Sanders ’17 made valuable connections in the world of music education and had multiple performance opportunities during his time at Coe. His proudest accomplishments are having his original works performed by the Coe jazz band and orchestra. Upon graduation, Luke accepted a position teaching high school band at Waterloo West High School (Waterloo, IA), and shortly thereafter completed a master's degree in jazz pedagogy from the University of Northern Iowa. He was recently hired by the University of Northern Iowa as Instructor of Guitar.