Music History
This Austrian child prodigy and Classical master wrote his first symphony at age 8 and later composed iconic operas like The Marriage of Figaro.
Who was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
This iconic 1970s brother-and-sister pop duo behind hits like "Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun" are among the conservatory's most famous alumni.
Who are The Carpenters (Richard and Karen Carpenter)?
This famous filmmaker behind Jaws and Jurassic Park is one of CSULB's most legendary alumni, graduating with a film degree.
Who is Steven Spielberg?
CASMEC stands for the California All-State Music "E" Conference, highlighting its main mission to support school music teachers.
What is Education?
Consisting of three notes stacked in thirds, this fundamental harmonic building block forms the basis of Western functional harmony.
What is a triad?
Known as the "King of Lieder," this Viennese Romantic composer wrote over 600 art songs, including the eerie narrative masterpiece "Erlkönig".
Who was Franz Schubert?
The institution was renamed in March 2008 following a historic $16.4 million endowment—the largest single gift in university history—from the estate of this local real estate investor and amateur pianist.
Who was Robert "Bob" Cole?
Reflecting the school's proximity to the Pacific Ocean, this aquatic apex predator named Elbee was voted in by students to serve as the campus mascot.
What is a shark?
This northern California city, which serves as the state capital, hosts the massive annual conference at its SAFE Credit Union Convention Center.
What is Sacramento?
This geometric visual aid arranges the 12 chromatic pitches in a sequence, showing the relationships between sharp and flat key signatures.
What is the circle of fifths?
This Polish pianist and composer specialized almost exclusively in solo piano music, elevating national dances like the polonaise and mazurka into high art.
Who was Frédéric Chopin?
The conservatory's elite 40-member pre-professional vocal ensemble made global headlines by winning the prestigious, international "Choir of the World" title at the International Eisteddfod in Wales.
What is the Bob Cole Chamber Choir?
Rising 18 stories over North Campus, this massive, cobalt-blue geometric structure serves as a major landmark and the home venue for Beach athletics.
What is the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid?
Formally was known as Walter Pyramid
To audition for CASMEC's prestigious All-State instrumental ensembles, students must have their director hold active membership in CMEA or CBDA, which stands for this band-focused organization.
What is the California Band Directors Association?
In 4/4 time, this overarching rhythmic classification applies when the main pulse is divided into three equal parts per beat rather than two.
What is compound meter?
Franz Liszt pioneered this flexible, one-movement orchestral form that tells a story or illustrates a poetic idea, breaking away from standard Classical multi-movement structures.
What is a symphonic poem (or tone poem)?
Conservatory film-scoring alumnus Basil Poledouris won an Emmy Award in 1989, but he is best known for composing the powerful, sweeping orchestral score for this 1982 Arnold Schwarzenegger fantasy epic.
What is Conan the Barbarian?
Before its 322-acre footprint was converted into a sprawling modern university campus in 1949, the physical land was primarily used for these two farm animals.
What are sheep and rabbits?
CASMEC is a massive collaborative effort run concurrently by five distinct state music organizations, including CODA, which caters directly to directors of this specific student ensemble type.
What is an orchestra (California Orchestra Directors Association)?
This specific type of chromatic chord is built on the lowered second scale degree (2̂) and typically appears in first inversion to transition to the dominant.
What is a Neapolitan chord (or Neapolitan sixth)?
Celebrated for his intense focus on thematic unity, this Romantic opera giant utilized Leitmotive (short, recurring musical phrases linked to specific characters or places) to anchor his massive four-opera cycle, The Ring of the Nibelung.
Who was Richard Wagner?
Consistently recognized as national powerhouses, the conservatory's top concert jazz orchestra and its premier vocal jazz ensemble, Pacific Standard Time, have repeatedly won top collegiate honors from this legendary jazz magazine.
What is DownBeat?
Enrolling over 41,000 students, CSULB is so massive that the United States Postal Service assigned the university campus its very own individual five-digit identifier
What is a ZIP code 90840?
For college student leaders looking to sharpen their podium skills, CASMEC hosts the CLA, an intensive pre-conference event standing for this vocal-centric program.
What is the Choral Leadership Academy?
In strict species counterpoint, musicians must carefully avoid creating these two types of parallel intervals between any two voices to maintain independence.
What are parallel fifths and parallel octaves?