A diverse cross-section of musical styles is offered allowing students to explore the best that each genre has to offer from rock and blues, to jazz, folk and world music.
Program Overview
The Contemporary Music & Technology program at Selkirk College is a two-year diploma program developed to train musicians for the commercial music and entertainment industry. It’s the only program in Canada based on the world renowned Berklee College of Music curriculum and its guiding principle that the best way to prepare students for careers in music is through the study and practice of contemporary music. For graduates of jazz and classical programs, Selkirk College can offer the technology training and popular music concepts they might be missing in order to become more employable.
Develop Your Skills
- Performance
- Improvisation
- Songwriting
- Composition
- Film Scoring
- Recording
- Live Sound Mixing
Curriculum
The Contemporary Music & Technology program trains musician performers for the commercial music industry. The curriculum includes individual instruction on guitar, voice, bass, drums, saxophone, violin, and keyboards, as well as a solid grounding in music theory and ear training. Individual and ensemble instruction and practice is offered throughout both years of the program. Rock, blues, jazz, folk and world music are the primary instructional styles.
Study your instrument and related skills in the first year and choose a major in the second. An initial core year that provides solid grounding in music theory and ear training is followed by one of six program majors:
- Core (Year 1)
- Performance (Year 2)
- Production (Year 2)
- Composition (Year 2)
- Songwriting (Year 2)
- General Music (Year 2)
Facilities
Professional studios, high-end labs, and private practice rooms are available all in beautiful Nelson. We have a total of 18 Digital Audio Workstations on campus all running the industry standard Pro Tools software and hardware and Sibelius music notation software. There are also laptops loaded with Ableton Live Suite for student use.
Careers
Graduates go on to become performers, recording engineers, composers, songwriters and teach private lessons.
A graduate of the Contemporary Music & Technology Program, in November 2015 Kiesza returned to her roots on Nelson’s Tenth Street Campus to give back to the college. At the 2016 Graduation Ceremony, Kiesza was honoured with the Distinguished Alumna award.
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Program At-A-Glance
In the News
For three decades, Contemporary Music & Technology Program instructor Steven Parish has been mentoring the future of the industry on Nelson's Tenth Street Campus. On October 25, the drum instructor will again join his music faculty colleagues on stage for the highly anticpated Faculty Concert.
Students from the Contemporary Music & Technology Program are ready to share their talent and passion as they take the stage at Spiritbar in downtown Nelson on April 18 for their year-end showcase. Students have been in preparation over the last few weeks of the Winter Semester, creating and perfecting funky and groovy sounds that the audience will have a hard time forgetting.
Acclaimed jazz artist David Restivo has joined the Contemporary Music & Technology Program faculty on Nelson's Tenth Street Campus where he brings decades of experince in both performance and teaching to students eager to take their careers to the next level.
International internships provide life-changing experiences for those who take the step to explore different cultures. A group of post-secondary graduates that included several Selkirk College alumni recently returned from internships in Jamaica, Guatamala, Kenya and Rwanda. Here is a Q&A with one of the particpants.
Graduates of Selkirk College and all Canadian post-secondaries now have an opportunity to participate in meaningful and impactful internships across the globe in locations that include Rwanda, Jamaica, Guatemala and Kenya. Two Selkirk College graduates recently returned from six-month placements and are emboldened by their experience.
A summer of music awaits Contemporary Music & Technology Instructor Melody Diachun who is fresh off her new release and hitting the road to tour the EP Get Back Into the Groove. Diachun and her band perform on Nelson's Tenth Street Campus on June 21.
The annual Contemporary Music & Technology Program's Faculty Concert is set for the Shambhala Music & Performance Hall on Nelson's Tenth Street Campus where the community will get a chance to see the talented teachers perform an eclectic set of music in an evening show that is not to be missed.
Students in the Selkirk College Contemporary Music & Technology Program have been presented with a new cultural opportunity courtesy of a partnership with the Edna Manley College of Visual & Performing Arts in Jamaica.
The Selkirk College Contemporary Music & Technology Program is a pillar program at Nelson’s Tenth Street Campus. This past spring, original faculty member Paul Landsberg retired after a 28-year career. Here is a look back at the impact the guitar instructor had over almost three decades.
The bond grows between Selkirk College and Rwanda's Nyundo School of Music where an international language is bringing growing opportunities to shrink the world through music. The next chapter in the growing relationship between Selkirk College and Rwanda’s Nyundo School for Music has been written.
During one of Selkirk College’s biggest nights of the year, students of the Contemporary Music & Technology Program released an original song written just for the occasion. “50 Years of Dreams” is a catchy number shining the spotlight on the college’s 50th anniversary through the eyes of students on campus pursuing their dreams.
Shrinking the world through music, the Selkirk College Contemporary Music & Technology Program has cemented a relationship with a music school in Rwanda that is an important part of the healing the process the African nation continues to go through.