The JWCC Music Department offers you a great place to start! Whether you’re planning a career in music or just want to improve your skills, our program provides a challenging curriculum, solid, one-on-one training and a number of performance opportunities.
Classroom instruction in the areas of music theory, ear training and music literature is designed for the music major, but any interested student may enroll. Private lessons are offered in voice, piano, brass, woodwind, percussion, and guitar, and class piano is also available.

The music program has three performing groups — Concert Choir, Vocal Show Ensemble and Jazz Band. All groups participate in a rigorous concert schedule throughout the year and tour to a major metropolitan city each spring. Past destination cities have included Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, Kansas City and Chicago, with concerts at AutoZone Park, Stax Music Academy, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Union Station and the Navy Pier.

CONCERT CHOIR

The 40-voice Concert Choir is open to all qualified students and performs masterworks as well as a wide variety of other literature, ranging from Renaissance to Contemporary. The group presents several major concerts and performs at selected college and community functions.

VOCAL SHOW ENSEMBLE

A highly versatile, auditioned group, the Vocal Show Ensemble performs both serious and popular music, and is often featured in a high-powered energetic stage show of 50’s and 60’s rock and roll, jazz standards and pop. The group also does scat and Big Band styles and is accompanied by instrumental back-up.

JAZZ BAND

The JWCC Jazz Band is open to all qualified students and performs jazz standards as well as current fusion works.

Student soloists are a popular feature of Jazz Band performances.

FACULTY

Gary Declue

Gary DeClue, Fine Arts Department Chair and Professor of Music, has degrees from Culver-Stockton College and Truman State University and completed further study at Iowa State University, Drake University and Westminster Choir College.

DeClue is active as a performer, clinician and adjudicator throughout the Midwest. He received national recognition for performing the role of Stephen Douglas in the C-Span production of the Lincoln-Douglas debates and has received national awards in education from NISOD and the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.

He was twice elected president of the JWCC Faculty Senate and has been nominated multiple times by students for Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. He was selected for inclusion in the 2006 edition of Who’s Who in American Education and also received the 2005 JWCC Quality Performance Award.

Rhonda Basinger

Rhonda Basinger holds degrees from Western Illinois University and the University of Iowa and has completed additional coursework at the University of Iowa and the University of Missouri. She works as a performer and adjudicator throughout the area and has presented workshops on church music topics.