Organ and Harpsichord
The Organ-Harpsichord Division offers a comprehensive curriculum for students with a wide variety of interests. Professors Charlotte Mattax and Dana Robinson have built the organ and harpsichord areas, attracting players with their performing expertise and attention to individual students. Robinson, for example, has recently taken students on a study trip to Germany and the Netherlands. UIUC makes available several fine instruments, including double-manual harpsichords by Willard Martin, Frank Hubbard, and William Dowd; an 18^th-century chamber organ, tracker practice organs, and a 70-rank organ by Casavant Frères. The university’s many other excellent resources supplement solo work with an excellent library, an early music ensemble, and training in performance practice, basso continuo, hymn-playing, and improvisation. For still more experience the Urbana-Champaign community welcomes harpsichord and organ majors in a second early-music performance group and numerous churches that offer part-time employment. The Organ and Harpsichord Division has at its disposal special scholarship assistance from various endowments for qualified students.