Doane University’s musical environment is the result of strong support coupled with outstanding faculty to bring skill and artistry to our music making and teaching.
Music classes are held in the
Communications building, which features rehearsal rooms for band and choir and numerous practice rooms. There are approximately 200 students enrolled in Doane’s Music Department. Small classes provide an intimate learning experience, and students benefit from one-on-one instruction and state-of-the-art technology.
The college owns a great deal of music equipment including two Steinway concert pianos, state-of-the-art recording equipment featuring the industry standard Pro Tools software. Additionally, significant gifts to the college Music Department have made it possible to provide future upgrades of equipment, facilities and experiences for students.
The Music Department enjoys two performance spaces on campus. The Heckman Auditorium is a 525-seat performance space in which all major concerts, such as the Homecoming Concert and Christmas Festival, take place. Several Music Department events are also held each year in newly remodeled Whitcomb-Lee Conservatory.
Doane regularly brings great artists and educators from around the country to campus. Recent visits include such notable artists as jazz pianist Valerie Capers, choral arranger Alice Parker, bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen, wind band conductors Robert Grechesky and Frank Tracz, pianists Arnoldo Cohen, Spencer Myer, and Joel Fan, and ensembles such as the Cantus, Imani Winds and the Modigliani String Quartet.
Every year students have the opportunity to travel as members of the college's elite musical organizations. Recent choral tours have included Arizona, California, Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico and South Dakota. The choir tours internationally every three years. Recent band tours have included performances in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington D.C., Cleveland, Chicago, Dallas, Portland and Seattle. The choir and band each take a major two week tour every three years.
The high quality of our music program has brought recognition to both our students and our musical organizations. Both the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the Jazz Unlimited vocal jazz ensemble were selected to perform at the 2010 Nebraska Music Educators Association Conference. The Doane choral program has performed with both the Omaha and Lincoln Symphonies, and has also performed with Abendmusik at First Plymouth Congregational Church in Lincoln. Doane Choir was selected to perform at the 2009 Nebraska Music Educators Association Conference and the Symphonic Wind Ensemble has also performed for both the Nebraska Music Educators Association conference and The Nebraska State Bandmaster's Association conference. Last year the Symphonic Wind Ensemble presented a clinic with nationally known music educator Dr. Jeremy Lane at the annual Nebraska State Bandmaster's Association meeting.
