Starting this year, campus musicians are receiving a little more credit -- literally.
This past fall, the College Curriculum Committee passed a Music Department proposal that calls for undergraduate students who participate in department-sponsored music groups to have the option of receiving academic credit.
Such groups include the University Choir, Ancient Voices, University Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Penn Brass Choir, Penn Percussion Ensemble, Penn Baroque Ensemble and Penn Recorder Ensemble, among others.
From this year onward, students have the option of receiving one-half credit for every academic year spent in the ensemble. Students can choose between pass/fail or graded credit.
Music Department Director of Undergraduate Studies James Primosch said he is pleased with the committee's decision to approve the proposal.
"The statement we're making by giving credit for this activity is that we do affirm the intellectual content of participating in an ensemble," he said, adding that the new idea was also meant to "show how the department values the participation in the ensemble."
Music Director of Vocal Ensembles William Parberry agreed, adding that "the students who are in the performing ensembles work really hard. The other performing groups on campus ... they're teaching more popular music. In performing ensembles within the Music Department, the focus is on classical music."
Primosch added that the department can only give credit for groups that it sponsors because those groups are supervised by faculty members.
"I haven't heard folks complaining about, 'Hey, why is my a cappella group not being granted credit?'" he said. "The Music Department can't really give credit for activities in which we have no supervisory capacity, however worthy that activity may be. Certainly, there are many activities on campus that are worthwhile. This is not meant as a put-down to any of them."
College freshman Evan Schapiro, who is a member of the a cappella group Counterparts, said that he is not offended by the department's decision to offer credit to only department-sponsored groups.
"It doesn't really anger me that much," he said. "I wouldn't expect to get any kind of credit for the things I do. My group's really fun, and we get a lot of other kinds of rewards."
But some of the students who do have the opportunity to receive credit for their on-campus musical endeavors have chosen not to do so.
"I think it's a great idea, but they're not offering enough credit to make it worthwhile," said College junior and University Orchestra member Alyssa Rubinstein. "If I could have gotten one credit per semester, I would have done it."
However, Parberry said that he thinks the amount of credit being offered is "just about right," given the nature of the ensembles.
"I don't think it should be something like one credit per semester ... or even one credit for the whole year," he said. Students who participate in these groups "don't take exams, they don't write papers. While it's not as lax as, say, a pop performing group on campus, it is, at the same time, not quite on the same level as an academic course."
Primosch agreed, saying that "because of the nature of the activity, it's customary that performing ensembles ... are a little less credit than a classroom course." He also added, "It's not just the clock time that is the only consideration here."
And to most students in these ensembles, some credit for their hard work is certainly better than none at all.
"It's a pretty big time commitment, so I figured since I'm already doing it, I might as well do it for credit," said Wharton junior Drew Sutton, a member of the University Symphony Orchestra and the Penn Baroque Ensemble. "I definitely was surprised when I came here that they didn't give credit. I know a lot of other schools that do. I'm glad that they finally are offering credit now."
