Music, Department of

By Stacey Lumley, Chris Brown and Amanda RespessGeorgia College & State University is entering the final stages of construction on a new music building located on the corner of Wayne and Montgomery Streets, in Milledgeville, Georgia. The 10,400-square-foot building will serve as the Department of Music’s new dedicated rehearsal space. “We’re very grateful for the university being able to do this, as it allows us to be able to do so much more that will be beneficial to the students,”...

by Margaret SchellGeorgia College & State University had a few alma maters over the years; however, Ruth Sandiford Garrard ('65) brought the most recent one to life with music. The university’s alma mater’s lyrics were written by Margaret Meaders (’26). Music was added later, thanks to a class assignment for composing alma mater music. Garrard was in that class. She took up the challenge, hoping to provide many generations with a song they could cherish for years to come. In 1965,...

By Cindy O'DonnellPolitical divisiveness has Americans singing different tunes.But whether you’re tapping to Beyoncé’s “Freedom”— a liberation song used recently by U.S. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris — or swaying to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” — often used by former President Donald Trump — one thing’s for sure.Music makes politics more fun.“Voters are swayed by emotions,” said Dr. Dana Gorzelany-Mostak, associate professor of music at Georgia College & State University...

Bob Marley is quoted as saying, “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” Billy Joel said, “Music in itself is healing.” And Jimi Hendrix was certain, “If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.”At Georgia College & State University, 34 undergraduates and 14 graduate students study this phenomenon and bring its healing technique into the community. Students work with elderly adults in five assistant living facilities...

By J. Cale StricklandDr. Evren Kutlay, this semester’s Martha Daniel Newell Visiting Scholar, gave a lecture-performance on the intersection between the arts and geopolitics, “Cultural Diplomacy and Music,” earlier this month.Kutlay performed 12 pieces in total, seven solo and five alongside students, staff and faculty from the Department of Music.She says the lecture-performance, which focused on the relationship between Eastern music and international relations, was the result of...