Minors

Play an instrument. Sing in an ensemble. Act. Sculpt. Sew. Build. Students from all majors can perform, design, compose, and lead with a minor in the Visual and Performing Arts Program. We emphasize artistic, practical, and analytical attributes that round out your education and create lifetime memories. Looking for music? We offer three different music concentrations to our students.

Paint Pallette

Art

Create. Expand. Connect. Experiment with materials. Explore contemporary and traditional forms. Study many kinds of art, or focus on one. Cultivate your creativity in a minor that's flexible and tailored to how you learn.


Students performing in R&D Jazz Band

Jazz Studies

Improvise, arrange, perform, record.  This minor will give you experience in many facets of performing as a Jazz musician—all while making music with life-long friends in one of the oldest Jazz programs in the Midwest.


Students playing in the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra, a close view of the violinists.

Music

Concentrate in general music, jazz, or music technology. This broad minor provides a background in theory and history, instrumental or vocal lessons, music technology, improvising, and arranging, as well as opportunities to sing or perform in an ensemble.


A student sitting at a control booth adjusing settings during a performance.

Music Composition

Complete courses in theory, music history, contemporary music, and composition. This minor culminates with a student project scoring an orchestral session with the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra.


Student playing large drums in the Keweenaw Symphony Orchestra.

Music Performance

Take your love of music to the rehearsal room and stage. A minor in music performance focuses on private music instruction, ensemble participation, conducting, and interpretation, all built on a foundation of music theory and history.


Student working in recording studio

Sound

Record. Mix. Install. Listen. A minor in Sound provides a strong foundation in many areas: tools, techniques, theory; the full spectrum of audio production, from recording to mixing and mastering; narrative analysis and story structure; and the technical arts that form the backbone of this advanced disciplinary field.


actor onstage

Theatre Arts

It's your time to get involved in the theatre with a minor in Theatre Arts. You can explore to get a taste of just about everything - acting, costuming, lighting, scene building, projections, sound - you name it.


Two actors looking at stars

Theatre Performance

Perform in one of the department's mainstage productions. Create voice-over commercials. Take courses in acting, voice, sound, and electronic media. The performance minor gets you seen and heard onstage and off.


A student works in the lighting grid

Technical Theatre

Work backstage. Design, props, build scenery, create costumes. Explore stage management, lighting, and sound. The technical theatre minor is an optimal way to combine your passion for theatre with engineering, computer science, or business.