History

Music-making has been an integral part of the Houghton experience almost since the beginning. Existing as an extra-curricular activity at first, by the 1920s a music department, along with the theology department, was a part of Houghton Seminary. The department was elevated to college status by the late ‘20s, with a 24-hour major and a music education.

In 1931 Wilfred Bain (yes, that Wilfred Bain) joined the Houghton faculty and established the College Choir, quickly inaugurating the high musical standards that became a hallmark of the program. In 1932 a new, 3-story music building opened, destined to house Houghton’s musicians until 1999. The newly formed choir, along with the existing orchestra, provided the base for strong growth through the 1930s. An interesting side-light is that one of Dean Bain’s students in those years was a young man named George Beverly Shea.

In 1945, at war’s end, Bachelor of Music curricula were added to the curriculum, followed in 1946 by program accreditation by the National Association of Schools of Music.

A wind ensemble was established in 1955 by Harold McNiel, himself a member of Fred Fennell’s first Eastman Wind Ensemble. A fine new performance space was afforded in 1961 with dedication of the Wesley Chapel auditorium and it’s 61-rank Holtkamp organs. The late 1960s saw the establishment of an annual Christmas Madrigal Dinner, a tradition lasting for thirty-six years until 2002.

By the 1970s Houghton choirs were partnering with the Rochester and Buffalo Symphony Orchestras, and a tradition of large-scale choral-orchestral works was well-established. The music department received School of Music status in 1981.

Through the 1980s & ‘90s the need for a new facility was paramount, and the Center for the Arts was dedicated with great thanksgiving in 1999. That same year an extraordinary $15-million endowment gift made possible a new expansion of programs and faculty. 

Graduate education was inaugurated at Houghton in 2003, when the first music graduate students enrolled for study. This intentionally small program has already met its initial program goals. Today fifteen graduate musicians join some 125 undergraduate majors, a host of minors, thirteen full-time and twenty-plus part-time faculty who look expectantly to the future, thankful for the blessings of a rich heritage and earnestly seeking to make a difference for the good in the church and the world.