Student Musicians develop artistry through performance in ensembles, individual instruction, music theory, and technology. Musicians collaborate, actively engage hands-on in contemporary styles as well as jazz, classical, and folk music.
18 credits required for Endorsement:
- Music Theory I
- Music Theory II
- Comparative Music or
- Music Composition
- Music Electives (4 credits)
- Choirs/Ensembles (8 credits)
Instrumental Music Electives Include:
- Intro Ensemble
- Ensemble Explorations
- Modern Ensemble
- PiM Vocal Ensemble
- PiM Treble Voices
- Contemporary Voice and Ensemble
- PiM Singers
- Music and Technology II
- Advanced Placement Music Theory
- Piano
- Songwriting
- Careers
- Arts Internship
- Arts Collaborative
- Senior Capstone
I like to present something that the people haven’t seen or haven’t heard before. Otherwise, they might as well just stay home and play the record.
~ Herbie Hancock
Instructors
Christopher Thomson is a saxophonist, composer, and educator based in Minneapolis, MN focused on creating genre-defying music that incorporates electronic, classical, jazz, and eclectic musical styles in his work as Cedar Thoms with releases Celestial Being (2019) and Brighter Days Ahead (2021) in addition to his work as a saxophonist with other artists. He loves exploring what’s possible when musicians get together for collaboration and has worked with artists such as Bon Iver, Father John Misty, Delfeayo Marsalis, Mason Jennings, Dylan Hicks and Small Screens, Anthony Cox, Dosh, among others.
Thomson currently teaches courses at PiM Arts High School and serves as Applied Music Faculty—Saxophone at Carleton College. He holds a M.Ed in Learning Design and Technology from SMUMN and a Bachelor of Music Education degree from University of MN Twin Cities.
Alessandro Rovegno (PiM Alum’, 2015) is a composer, sound artist, free-improviser, and educator based in Minneapolis, MN. Rovegno holds a BM in Music Composition from Cornish College of the Arts, where he studied composition with Tom Baker and Jarrad Powell; and an MFA from California Institute of the Arts in Composition and Experimental Sound Practices, where he studied composition with Michael Pisaro-Liu and improvisation with Timothy Feeney.
Rovegno’s compositional work draws from the tradition of experimental music. His work is rooted in an innermost relationship with the act of Listening. This interest in auditory perception is explored through gradual manipulation of tone, timbre, and mood over long durations– in both acoustic and electronic mediums. His pieces have been premiered and performed across the US in Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, New York, and Minneapolis. As an instructor, Rovegno draws upon his practice as an experimental musician to challenge students to think more broadly and critically about their own and their peers’ work.
At PiM, Rovegno teaches composition, music theory, electronic music, and contemporary ensembles.
