The Early Music Institute at the Jacobs School of Music provides a comprehensive program in the study of historical performance on original instruments of music before ca.1800.
Supplementing performance with research and theoretical studies, the Institute offers degrees at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. The faculty consists of internationally known performers who specialize in the performance of early repertory. The EMI is fortunate in enjoying university-wide academic support from disciplines as diverse as musicology, computer studies, literature, medieval studies, and fine arts.
The program includes private lessons in voice and on historical instruments along with extensive solo and ensemble performance opportunities. Academic courses are designed to provide an understanding of the many practical and theoretical areas essential to performance of medieval, renaissance, baroque, and classical music (e.g., improvisation, ornamentation, articulation, basso continuo, solmization, historical notation, bibliography, organology, etc.). Research is encouraged, and opportunities for research are provided both in academic courses and in elective special projects. The faculty of the Early Music Institute makes every effort to accommodate a student's specialized interests without losing sight of a broader commitment to artistic excellence and scholarship.
As several of our visiting European colleagues have pointed out, a high standard of early music instruction may be found in many places, especially in Europe, but the rare thing about IU is the student's access to extraordinary resources, the opportunity to study music in its broader cultural context and the ability to weave the academic and performance strands together into a meaningful whole. Another observation has been that many Conservatories have commuting faculty and sometimes commuting students as well, which makes it difficult to offer such a well-rounded educational experience and to have major ensembles of such caliber.