Music, Department of

Ludwig van Beethoven believed “music can change the world.” Two Georgia College students are taking that to heart, lifting the spirits of elderly residents in Milledgeville one song at a time. “I believe music has the power to open real connection between humans, and I want to use music as a tool to heal,” said graduate student Matthew Seymour of Augusta, who’s getting his master’s in music therapy. “I feel a sense of gratitude to be able to bring some enjoyment to the residents. I...

Amanda Brennen Hometown: Roswell, GA.   What made you choose Georgia College? There are only two music therapy programs in Georgia, and I felt most excited after visiting Georgia College. I loved the campus, the faculty I met was so inviting and I was excited about the possible leadership opportunities I would have.   What made you want to study music therapy? My sophomore year at Roswell High, my literature teacher asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. At the time, I told her...

Picking the right presidential candidate can be tricky in the best of times. Just in time for early voting this month, however, comes something everyone can get behind: music. Georgia College’s updated and improved Trax on the Trail website is a serious study of the science of music and political strategy. Songs on the campaign trail often evoke nostalgia, even lightheartedness. They boost a candidate or poke fun, halt indecisiveness and influence voters.Music can also bring people...

As students were staying home and juggling last-minute coursework online last spring, senior music education major William Refuss of Fayetteville, Georgia, went a little further. He signed up to help test others for COVID-19.  Refuss joined Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE), a nonprofit providing free coronavirus testing in the greater Atlanta area. Donned in full PPE—personal protection equipment—he helped test thousands of people in Alpharetta—which has the highest volume...

It’s difficult to play band music without a band. But, apparently, not impossible. As COVID-19 made the world less busy and more solitary—abruptly silencing many things, like two live Jazz Band concerts and the university’s spring musical bonanza, Music at the Mansion—Band Director Clifford Towner quickly decided his students would record their instruments solo on cell phones, laptops or tablets. Each slice of music would then be digitally blended for full-sounding compositions. “The...

Some things are simply meant to go together—like salt and pepper, pencil and paper, lock and key. In July, after 23 years in the health sciences, Georgia College’s music therapy program will return to the music department. “All the various dominoes that were needed for this unification to happen were starting to fall, in regard to supporting reconnection between the two areas,” said Dr. Don Parker, chair of music. “By having both programs together, we avoid a lot of redundancy.” Studies...

Quitting is not a word in Dr. Owen Lovell’s vocabulary, and canceling concerts is taboo. As a concert pianist, he’s played through broken thumbs, broken hands and scorpion stings. He’s missed family funerals and skipped hospital visits to play on stage. So, it’s no surprise the coronavirus couldn’t stop Lovell’s March solo concert. He streamed it live on Facebook. “As a faculty member whose primary training is in performance, I’ve never had a reputation for canceling concerts, and...