Most programs at the Jacobs School of Music require students to participate in ensembles as part of their academic programs.
This gives you valuable experience—both in performing and in working with others. And the diversity of our ensemble offerings enables students to encounter an expansive range of musical styles and genres.
Explore what we have to offer and get excited about all the opportunities that await you!
Audition: Required for marching percussion and RedSteppers.
All woodwind and brass players are automatically accepted into the Marching Hundred. The Department of Bands recognizes that not all students have the same background in marching ensembles, so spots for the pre-game are determined during Band Camp week, one week before the start of Fall semester classes.
Instruments used in the Marching Hundred include piccolo, clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone, trumpet, mellophone, trombone, baritone, sousaphone, and marching percussion (bass drum, snare drum, tenor drums, and cymbals). Only mellophones, baritones, sousaphones, and marching percussion are provided by Indiana University.
Once you experience the spirit that fills the stadium at the games, you can see for yourself why so many people say the Marching Hundred is one of the highlights of their college career.
Learn how to join the Marching Hundred
Auditions: Required. Auditions for the group (which include prepared music from the current marching season as well as sight reading) are held in early September. You MUST be a member of the current Marching Hundred to audition for the Crabb Band.
The IU Crabb Band—named for Chuck Crabb, Assistant Athletic Director for Facilities—is a select athletic band comprised of Marching Hundred members that performs for IU men’s and women’s soccer games.
Auditions: Required. Auditions for the group (which include prepared music from the current marching season as well as sight reading) are held in early October. You MUST be a member of the current Marching Hundred to audition for the Big Red Basketball Band.
The Big Red Basketball Band (BRBB) is a 100-member ensemble comprised of Marching Hundred members.
We perform at all home men's basketball games as well as select away trips, including the annual IU vs. Kentucky game in Indianapolis or Louisville, the Big Ten Tournament, and the NCAA Tournament.
Audition: Required. Auditions are held at the beginning of each semester.
The Jacobs School of Music Concert Band performs major works of the traditional wind band repertoire as well as new compositions by leading composers.
Consisting of both graduate and undergraduate music majors, this outstanding ensemble performs two or three concerts per semester and rehearses daily. A core group is often taken from the membership of the ensemble to form various chamber winds groups.
Audition: Not required.
Each summer, the Jacobs School of Music Summer Concert Band performs outdoor concerts featuring a variety of works, including light concert overtures, marches, Broadway tunes, and movie scores. One of the major instrumental ensembles in the summer, the band is a fully instrumented symphonic band, attracting some of the finest wind and percussion students in the school.
Audition: Required. Auditions are held at the beginning of each semester.
The Jacobs School of Music Symphonic Band performs major works of the traditional wind band repertoire as well as new compositions by leading composers.
Consisting of both graduate and undergraduate music majors, this outstanding ensemble performs three concerts per semester and rehearses daily. A core group is often taken from the membership of the ensemble to form various chamber winds groups.
Audition: Required.
The Indiana University Wind Ensemble is one of the premier ensembles in the Jacobs School of Music and one of the finest in the nation.
The ensemble performs the most outstanding literature of the wind band medium including music for both chamber winds and large ensemble.
The Wind Ensemble has performed many times at national and international venues, including appearances at the Palladium Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall, the American Bandmasters Association national convention, the Japan Bandmasters Association convention, and many more.
Audition: Not required. Auditions are held only for part assignments.
The All-Campus Band is open to all IU students, regardless of major, wishing to continue in music making throughout their collegiate years. Band members meet once a week and perform a formal concert at the end of each semester.
This ensemble does not fulfill the music major ensemble requirement.
For more information regarding band auditions, contact the band office at iubands@indiana.edu or 812-855-1372.
Audition: Required.
Winner of The American Prize in Choral Performance, NOTUS is one of the country’s most unique collegiate vocal ensembles, with a singular commitment to championing living composers through the commissioning, programming, and recording of new works.
Directed by conductor-composer Dominick DiOrio, NOTUS has performed across the nation, from regional and national American Choral Directors Association conferences to Carnegie Hall.
NOTUS is proud to also shine a spotlight on the talent of Jacobs School of Music student composers through an annual contest for new choral works. Winning compositions receive premiere performances by the ensemble and help to launch national careers for young composers.
Audition: Required.
The Indiana University Opera and Ballet Theater produces six fully-staged operas every year. Many of these operas contain a choral component, and this offers one of the most exciting and intensive performing opportunities to students at the Jacobs School.
Students in the IU opera choruses come into contact with some of the greatest works of dramatic music. Singers in the opera choruses also receive extensive training and coaching in diction, movement, memorization, and other fundamental skills necessary to bring opera to life.
Audition: Required. Any Indiana University student, regardless of major, may audition. View details for auditions.
The Grammy-nominated Indiana University Singing Hoosiers have a long and storied tradition of excellence in the contemporary vocal arts, performing popular contemporary vocal music ranging from The Great American Songbook, jazz, Broadway, to the hits of today.
Dazzling choreography and a fun, energetic and entertaining program that appeals to all audiences and all ages are a part of every Singing Hoosier performance.
Audition: Required.
The University Chorale is a multifaceted choir of undergraduate voice majors, pianists, organists, and guitarists, as well as composers, musicologists and music theorists.
The ensemble provides singers the opportunity to learn and perform music of many styles and genres including early music, classical and romantic works, and music composed late into the 20th century. The ensemble has also sung with the IU Opera Theater in past productions of The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Mozart, and Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah.
Audition: Required.
Founded over 60 years ago and the longest running choral ensemble in the Jacobs School, the University Singers consists of 32 exceptional singing musicians.
The ensemble is known for vibrant and engaging performances of repertoire in widely ranging languages and styles from Renaissance madrigals through chamber music of the 20th century.
Audition: Required.
Pro Cantare is a chamber choir specifically created to serve undergraduate sopranos and altos, helping them develop and hone ensemble, musical, and vocal skills in a focused, small-group setting.
Audition: Not required.
The All-Campus Chorus is open to all members of the IU community, including students, faculty, and staff. No previous musical experience is necessary. While music reading skills are helpful, they are not required.
This ensemble does not fulfill the music major ensemble requirement.
For more information regarding choral auditions, contact the choral ensembles office at 812-855-0427, or visit them in Simon Music West (SM) Room C148.
Audition: Required.
Auditions for jazz ensembles are held at the beginning of the fall semester. Auditions for spring semester are held only as needed to fill open chairs.
Audition: Required.
Auditions for jazz ensembles are held at the beginning of the fall semester. Auditions for spring semester are held only as needed to fill open chairs.
Audition: Required.
Auditions for jazz ensembles are held at the beginning of the fall semester. Auditions for spring semester are held only as needed to fill open chairs.
Audition: Required.
Members of the Latin Jazz Ensemble are selected from the jazz ensemble auditions at the beginning of the fall semester.
A multiple-Grammy Award nominee, trombonist Wayne Wallace leads a 24-piece band of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music students on brass, woodwinds, guitar, bass, piano, percussion, and vocals.
Their signature sound—self-described as a semitruck going down the highway—is a modern hybrid of Latin Jazz, Afro-Cuban folkloric music, and African American musical styles. The IU Latin Jazz Ensemble prides itself on getting folks out of their seats and onto the dance floor with its big sound and driving rhythms.
Audition: Not required.
The All-Campus Jazz Ensemble is open to all students at IU, regardless of major.
This ensemble does not fulfill the music major ensemble requirement.
For more information regarding jazz ensemble auditions, contact the jazz studies department at jazz@indiana.edu.
Auditions: required.
The Indiana University Baroque/Classical Orchestra is a major ensemble whose members perform on period instruments—instruments restored to their original specifications, or copies of original 17th and 18th century instruments—which are provided by the school.
The repertoire performed is selected from music composed in the 17th and 18th century. No prior experience is necessary. "Seating" rotates, and the opportunity exists for all players to gain experience both in leading and concertante playing.
Auditions: required
Assignments are made by studio placement or by audition. Students should check in Clouse's Lounge as well as with their teacher at the beginning of each semester for more information on auditions.
Auditions: required
Assignments are made by studio placement or by audition. Students should check in Clouse’s Lounge as well as with their teacher at the beginning of each semester for more information on auditions.
Auditions: Required
The Indiana University New Music Ensemble, with a core of eighteen virtuoso instrumentalists, dedicates its efforts to performing a broad spectrum of contemporary music. We focus on works from the recent past and give many world premieres with the composer present, but also present significant ensemble works from the 20th century.
Each season’s repertoire includes music by IU students and faculty, guest composers, and other composers from around the world.
Auditions: required
As the premier orchestra of the Jacobs School of Music, the Philharmonic Orchestra has performed at the Carnegie Hall in New York and at the opening of the Bastille Opera House in Paris.
Assignments are made by studio placement or by audition. Students should check in Clouse's Lounge as well as with their teacher at the beginning of each semester for more information on auditions.
Auditions: required
Assignments are made by studio placement or by audition. Students should check in Clouse's Lounge as well as with their teacher at the beginning of each semester for more information on auditions.
Auditions: required.
Assignments are made by studio placement or by audition. Students should check in Clouse's Lounge as well as with their teacher at the beginning of each semester for more information on auditions.
Auditions: not required
The All-Campus Orchestra is open to all students at IU with previous orchestral experience, regardless of major.
This ensemble does not fulfill the music major ensemble requirement.
For more information regarding orchestra auditions (strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion), email Brian McNulty, Instrumental Ensembles Assistant, at bfmcnult@indiana.edu or visit the instrumental ensembles office in the Musical Arts Center (MC) Room 426.
Auditions: required.
Concentus performs a wide-ranging repertory of music for small and large mixed ensembles, vocal and instrumental, from all early periods. At the core of Concentus are small ensembles of winds, brass, and plucked and bowed strings. These ensembles perform separately and together in combination with singers and keyboard players.
Auditions: Open to students from the Guitar department (by audition or recommendation).
The Jacobs Guitar Ensemble and IU Guitar Ensemble perform fundamental repertoire related to the classical guitar tradition and various other styles. They feature original works for guitar ensemble and arrangements that aim to expose students to practical elements of music performance that often appear in the guitar repertoire.
Auditions: required.
Dedicated to the performance of Latin American repertoire, LAE explores original Latin American genres and their corresponding performance practices through arranging and performing pieces from both the popular and classical repertoire.
While we have our own arrangers and composers in residence, we often host guest faculty from Indiana University in order to expand our repertoire.We have worked with top names in Latin American music, including Aquiles Báez, Jorge Gomez, Pablo Aslan, Jovino Santos Neto, and Pablo Ziegler among many others.
Auditions: not required.
The All-Campus Guitar Ensemble welcomes guitarists of all levels and is open to all IU students regardless of your major. The ensemble is ideal for students that want share their musical talent around campus and join IU’s large guitar community.
The ensemble performs a wide variety of musical styles while blending several types of guitars such as classical, acoustic, electric, bass guitar, and others. All types of guitar are welcome.
This ensemble does not fulfill the music major ensemble requirement.
The Jacobs School of Music offers its students the opportunity to collaborate with world-class faculty in an intimate chamber music setting. Each semester, nearly 100 groups receive regular coachings and have opportunities to perform on and off campus.
One of the premier large brass ensembles in the country playing brass music from the past four centuries.
Auditions: required. Arranged by faculty coach.
Each semester several jazz combos are coached by members of the jazz faculty. Each combo has a designated faculty coach.
Auditions: required or upon approval of the instructor
The IU chamber percussion ensembles cultivate sensitive chamber music skills and investigate and employ the appropriate styles and performance techniques on all percussion instruments. The IU percussion ensemble is offered in the fall and spring semesters. An Afro-Cuban Ensemble is offered in the fall semesters. Brazilian and Steel Pan Ensembles are offered in the spring semesters.
