2083 Lawrenceville Road, Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648, USA

+1 609 921 8829

Undergraduate programs

Bachelor of Arts in Music. Four years. Concentrations in choral ensemble, performance (piano, organ, voice), music history/theory, piano accompanying, sacred music. Bachelor of Music. Four years. Major in music education (including choral conducting). Studies in performance (piano, organ, voice), sacred music, theory/composition, music history.

Graduate programs

Master of Music. In performance (including opera), choral conducting, sacred music. Master of Music Education. Bachelor of Music in Music Education/Master of Music Education. A five-year dual degree. Master of Choral Pedagogy. Master of Voice Pedagogy. A musical theatre track is also offered. Master of Arts in Teaching. In music education.

The Westminster Choir College, founded in 1926, has since 1992 formed the School of Music of Rider University. Emphasis at the residential college is on training in choral music, both secular and sacred, with the aim of preparing its graduates for music leadership in churches, schools and the community. It is a division of the Westminster College of the Arts at Rider University. All students are expected to sing in one of the seven College choirs, involving daily choir rehearsals and the study of voice and conducting. The College has a Voice Resource Centre designed to help in teaching the physiological and acoustic aspects of the voice. IN 2020 THE WESTMINSTER CHOIR COLLEGE WAS MOVED TO RIDER UNIVERSITY’S LAWRENCEVILLE CAMPUS DUE TO THE DECISION TO SELL THE PRINCETON CAMPUS. There is a handbell program as well as opera and music theatre programs. Successful completion of the MM with a major in sacred music may be granted one year of advanced standing in the PhD program in liturgical studies at Drew University. Facilities include several fine performing spaces. The Talbott Library houses, among other collections, the Adams Collection of Marcel Dupré Memorabilia, the American Organ Archives of the Organ Historical Society, the Erik Routley collection of hymns and hymnological literature, the Robert Shaw Collection of Marked Scores and the Leopold Stokowski scores. There is an extensive collection (6,000 titles in multiple copies) of sacred and secular choral scores as well as 80,000 single copies. A vast collection of CDs of choral, organ and general music is held. There are 21 functioning pipe organs on campus. The College organizes a community music school division, known as the Westminster Conservatory, providing instruction in performance (piano, organ, harpsichord, voice, orchestral instruments, Suzuki piano and Suzuki strings), music literature, theory, opera appreciation and ensemble experience to infants, young people and interested adults. There is a co-operative program with Princeton University, allowing for limited student cross-registration, and also with Princeton Theological Seminary for their graduate students wishing to take courses at the College. There are plans to move the Choir College to Rider University's main campus at Lawrenceville. Member of the National Association of Schools of Music.

November 2022