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The College of Music offers extensive opportunities for students to develop their skills through renowned ensembles that are open to all MSU students. Most require an audition, and details are available at music.msu.edu/performance. 

Bands

The College of Music concert bands perform the full spectrum of wind music including chamber, contemporary, and traditional repertoire. Wind Symphony, comprised of advanced graduate and undergraduate students, presents six concerts during the academic year with additional national performances. Symphony Band consists of higher level undergraduate music majors and maintains an active performance schedule giving five to six concerts a year. Concert Band, which includes undergraduate music majors and nonmajors, and Campus Band, providing playing opportunities for non-music majors campus wide, each present four concerts per year.

University Bands
Wind Symphony
Concert Band
Symphony Band
Campus Band

Athletic Bands
Spartan Marching Band 
Spartan Brass

Choirs

Choral groups at MSU perform secular and sacred music in all styles and genres representing many eras and cultures. University Chorale is comprised of the top graduate and undergraduate singers in the college and frequently appears with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. State Singers is recognized as the oldest singing organization on campus, and Women’s Chamber Ensemble focuses on more contemporary repertoire. Glee clubs are popular ensembles performing in the glee tradition while Campus Choir and Chamber Choir perform music from a range of periods. Choral Union is a community chorus that focuses on major choral-orchestral works. University Chorale, Women’s Chamber Ensemble, and Men’s Glee have performed at national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association.

  • University Chorale
  • Mosaic (women’s chamber ensemble) 
  • Singing Spartans (men’s glee club)
  • Chamber Choir
  • State Singers
  • Viridis (women’s glee club)
  • Campus Choir
  • Choral Union

Orchestras

The Symphony Orchestra is comprised of some of the most advanced string, wind, and percussion musicians in the college. It maintains a schedule of six main orchestral performances, two full opera productions, and a holiday program each season. The repertoire chosen is often advanced and draws from both the well-established orchestral canon and new works by living composers; it is designed to be an intensive learning environment for musicians further developing core musicianship skills. The Concert Orchestra, which is open to students, staff, and faculty from all corners of the university as well as the greater Lansing community, presents four concerts per year and is designed to be a community-building artistic experience for all involved. An audition is required for participation in all orchestral ensembles at MSU.

  • Symphony Orchestra
  • Concert Orchestra

Jazz Ensembles

Jazz ensembles include three big bands, each made up of 18 members, playing the repertoire of the great jazz masters as well as a wide range of soul, swing, blues, and gospel. The four nonets are eight-piece ensembles that blend the sounds of big band with small group performance. There are also 12 combos, each consisting of four to six members. 

  • Jazz Orchestras I-III
  • Jazz Nonets I-IV
  • Jazz Combos

Musique 21 

Musique 21 is a project-based group of musicians with a flexible instrumentation. Focusing on innovative presentations of new work utilizing a variety of media including theatre, film, and movement, this adventurous troupe pushes the envelope of 21st century performance. Using a style that has often been called “Theatre of Music,” M21 has been enthusiastically celebrated by students, audiences, and critics alike.

MSU Opera Theatre

Each season, MSU Opera Theatre presents two fully staged and costumed productions with orchestra. Opera productions are presented in the expertly renovated Fairchild Theatre, bringing audiences a close theatrical experience with stellar acoustics. MSU’s recent productions of The Pirates of Penzance and The Magic Flute took top prize within their respective divisions for the National Opera Association’s college competition.