Kansas State University’s Department of Music is committed to the highest ideals of music education, performance, scholarship, and service to the arts. Our human resources are among the best anywhere. Our faculty and staff engage students with integrity, dedication, and a collective wisdom that is based on experience gained through productive work in our respective fields of expertise. Everyone who comes to McCain Auditorium will feel the combination of warmth and confidence we have in our ability to educate and motivate our students.

This is an exciting time in the life of our department. During my nineteen years at K-State the number of music majors and minors has grown dramatically. Our department is committed to serving the needs of the state of Kansas through our dedication to providing quality teacher education and through our firm belief that a great university must make the arts accessible to ALL of its various constituencies. In this regard, more than 10% of our 22,000 students participate in music offerings during the course of an academic year. We are extremely proud of this tradition and of this level of service to the general student population. We bring the resources of a large comprehensive university and the personal attention found in the small liberal arts setting together to offer something unique and very special in Manhattan.

The arts are thriving at KSU through the support of our higher administration. In 2004 we opened a $250,000 music technology laboratory that is considered one of the top technology classrooms in the entire university, and in the fall of 2005, wireless Internet access was installed for access in the common areas of McCain Auditorium. In April of 2006, our Symphony Band performed before the Music Educators National Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah and followed that later in the year with a tour of Australia and New Zealand. In January of 2007 the KSU Brass Ensemble joined musicians from across the globe to participate in “Exploring Brass in Greece.” In the summer of 2007 the KSU Jazz Combo toured South America, and in the fall of 2007 the KSU Trumpet Ensemble participated in master classes and gave concerts in Paris. In March of 2008 the KSU Orchestra toured England and Scotland. Future plans beckon the Symphony Band to Brazil and our Concert Choir to Korea. At home, the summer of 2007 saw the music wing of McCain receive many attractive updates with a fresh new look in our common areas, studio renovations, and new skylights in the atrium doubling the amount of natural light flooding that area. In October of 2007 the Austin organ in All Faiths Chapel came back into service after $60,000 was spent on the refurbishment of this instrument currently valued at more than one million dollars. In the summer of 2008 we will install a new Keyboard Lab due to the generosity of the Dean’s office in Arts and Sciences. Plans are underway to relocate much of our music performance library and to renovate McCain 204, a space where our choirs rehearse, many of our service courses are taught, and someday a hall where many student and faculty recitals will take place as the result of the renovation. This is indeed an exciting time to participate in music at KSU!

One of the most important recent developments in our effort to meet the needs of educators across the state was the creation of our summer master’s program for music teachers. It is now possible to complete a master’s degree over several summers of intensive study while teachers keep their full-time positions during the academic year. I think that you will find very positive comments from the more than 60 educators who are currently pursuing our summer option to move their careers forward. More information on this innovative program is available by contacting Drs. Frank Tracz (ftracz@k-state.edu), Frederick Burrack (fburrack@k-state.edu), and Julie Yu (julieyu@k-state.edu).

In the world today there is a sense of increased internationalism. We recognize the need for our students to understand this trend, and seek opportunities to interact with cultures far beyond the Flint Hills of Kansas. In recent years our students and faculty have performed and/or made presentations in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Ecuador, England, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, New Zealand, Poland, Scotland, and Thailand. We are part of a global community of the arts, and we are fully vested in experiencing all that the larger world has to offer. There has never been a more exciting time to participate in music at KSU, so we encourage prospective undergraduate students and returning graduates to come to Manhattan and enjoy the easy living of our growing community but still experience the world in all of its creative diversity and intensity.
The Music Department at KSU wants to get to know you better. Don’t hesitate to contact us with your questions, ideas, comments, and concerns. The more we know about you, the better we can serve your unique needs and aspirations. I hope to see you around McCain Auditorium…a GREAT place to make music and friends!

Dr. Gary Mortenson
Professor and Head
Kansas State University
Department of Music
garym@k-state.edu