Keyboard Studies

The Townsend School of Music is committed to developing musicians with the highest level of musicianship and artistry. Within the keyboard area, students experience a multitude of opportunities in both solo and collaborative experience at the undergraduate and graduate level. The School embraces the ideal of student-faculty engagement by structuring small classes which reinforce personal interaction. Classes focusing on piano skills, pedagogy, literature, sight-reading and ear training are part of the core curriculum in the keyboard area. Students receive private instruction from an esteemed artist faculty and have the opportunity to gain extensive performing experience through regular music school recitals, studio classes, chamber concerts, and degree recitals.

Music majors completing a piano degree often continue into excellent Master and Doctoral programs to further studies in performance, collaborative piano and teaching at the collegiate level. The creation of a new graduate degree in collaborative piano emphasizes Mercer's commitment to the development of well-rounded pianists who are prepared for success in today's professional field of music. Chamber music holds an important position in the School and opportunities for collaborative performance are encouraged.

Degrees Offered

• Bachelor of Music (Performance or Education)
• Bachelor of Arts in Music
• Master of Music (Performance, Collaborative Piano, Church Music and Choral Conducting)

Keyboard Studies Faculty

Dr. Carol Goff, Associate Professor, Chair of Keyboard Studies and Coordinator of Collaborative Piano

Dr. Jack Mitchener, Director of Townsend-McAfee Institute of Church Music, organ

Ian Altman, Associate Professor of Piano

Anne Armstrong, Adjunct Collaborative Piano Faculty

Camille Bishop, Adjunct Collaborative Piano Faculty

For further information, please contact: Dr. Carol Goff at (478) 301-4133 or goff_cs@mercer.edu.

Organ and Harpsichord

As a major in organ and harpsichord studies at Mercer, you will be equipped technically and musically for a career in sacred music, performance or music education. You will receive weekly lessons from seasoned faculty who are expert performers in both church-related and concert settings. In organ and harpsichord studies, you will perform music from all stylistic periods and nationalities. Your studies will follow a chronological path through three centuries of keyboard literature as you build your technique and expand your knowledge of the instruments. With systematic instruction, you will also study the art of improvisation as an organist and harpsichordist. You will have excellent performance opportunities in both concert practice and departmental recitals with several options of organs with mechanical playing action, including the beautiful and versatile 52-rank Holtkamp tracker organ in Newton Hall. Richards, Fowkes and Co. Op. 2 and Op. 3 organs are also located in the McCorkle Music Building, and you will have access to a wide range of non-mechanical instruments in the Macon area. For more information on organ and harpsichord studies, contact Dr. Jack Mitchener at (478) 301-5751 or mitchener_je@mercer.edu.