Salem State University Music & Dance Department

05/22/2026

05/12/2026

Bob Strom - author, musician, historian - joins the Salem State Community Chorus for their concert "Salem by the Sea: A Musical Tapestry”. The group will host an open dress rehearsal tonight at 7 pm (audience welcome) and present its formal concert tomorrow, May 13 at 7 pm. The concert takes place in the Salem State Recital Hall, 71 Loring Avenue.

Strom will join the group for performances of "Salem Willows for Mine" and "Get Off the Track" and share his insights about Salem’s diverse musical heritage.

Admission is free, although donations at the door are welcome to support the work of the chorus.

The Recital Hall is located on the ground floor of 71 Loring Avenue. Parking is available across the street from 71 Loring Ave. in the lot marked F/C.

05/11/2026

Among our special guests at this week's Salem State Community Chorus concert are two Salem State music alumni: Javier Márquez ’08 and Jabari Tovar '16.

Márquez will conduct his original composition "Passing Hours" set to a poem by 19th century poet Ella Higginson.

Tovar will provide percussion accompaniment for several selections including "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" by Patrick Gilmore, with pianists Simon Byrne and Joe Stroup.

The Salem State Community Chorus presents “Salem by the Sea: A Musical Tapestry” in celebration of Salem 400+ on May 12 (open dress rehearsal) and May 13 (performance) at 7 pm. The concert takes place in Salem State’s Recital Hall located at 71 Loring Avenue.

Parking is available across the street from 71 Loring Ave. in the F/C lot.

Admission is free. Goodwill offerings at the door are welcome to support the work of the chorus.

05/09/2026

𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗺 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘂𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁 - 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰

Charlotte Forten Grimke was a prominent African American abolitionist, poet, and educator. Born into a wealthy and politically active, free Black family in Philadelphia, she became deeply involved in anti-slavery activism at a young age. She attended Salem Normal School from 1854-1856 and was the first African American student to graduate.

Her "Parody on Red, White, and Blue” was written and performed in Faneuil Hall in 1858 for the annual commemoration of Crispus Attucks’ death in the Boston Massacre and in protest of the Dred Scott decision. Set to the familiar patriotic tune “Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean,” Forten Grimké’s lyrics sharply expose the contradiction of a nation that celebrates liberty while allowing slavery to continue - an effect deepened by the musical irony itself - infusing a well-known patriotic melody with a forceful abolitionist critique.

The Salem State Community Chorus performs:

Tuesday, May 12, 7 pm - open dress rehearsal
Wednesday, May 13, 7 pm - concert

Salem State Recital Hall
71 Loring Avenue

Goodwill offerings at the door are welcome to support the work of the chorus.

The Recital Hall is located on the ground floor of 71 Loring Avenue (Classroom Building).

Parking is available across the street in the F/C lot.

05/08/2026

We had a wonderful celebration of the arts at the Creativity Awards on Wednesday night! More photos to come but we wanted to share this group photo and one more congratulations to all of our student honorees and our Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award honoree, Outdoor Sculpture at Maudslay.

Front from left to right:
Eliza Crook (dance) , Ava O'Brien (music), Valerie Flanigan (creative writing, Jazmin Hopkins (creative writing), Jack Newton (dance), Lauren Abramson (theatre), Kallyn Lavallee (art +design), Eve Dizio (art + design)

Back row from left:
Aidan Auditore (music), Cameron Holmes (theatre)

Second photo: Bert Snow speaking on behalf of Outdoor Sculpture at Maudslay.

05/08/2026

The upcoming Salem State Community Chorus concert will feature works by a number of Salem composers with texts by Salem writers. Among those composers is Edward Lundergan whose setting of "The Ocean" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was commissioned for this concert in honor of Salem's 400th anniversary.

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote his poem, The Ocean, in 1825, when he was 21, reflecting on the sea's dual nature—furious waves above, quiet depths below. The poem was possibly influenced by his sea captain father's loss at sea when Hawthorne was young - it features a theme of contrasts between life's struggles and death's peace. The Ocean was published in The Salem Gazette that same year.

A native of Salem, MA, Edward Lundergan holds an M.M. from the University of Michigan and a D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from the University of Texas at Austin. Before retiring, he was was Director of Choral Activities and Chair of the Music Department at the State University of New York at New Paltz as well as the Artistic Director of Kairos: A Consort of Singers.

You can hear The Ocean, and so much more, on:
Tuesday, May 12, 7 pm (open dress rehearsal)
Wednesday, May 13, 7 pm (concert)

Recital Hall
71 Loring Avenue.

The Recital Hall is located on the ground floor of 71 Loring Avenue.
Parking is located directly across the street.

Goodwill offerings at the door are welcome to support the work of the Salem State Community Chorus.

05/04/2026

Music major Ava O'Brien is today's Creativity Award recipient highlight!

- Ava will graduate in May with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and a 3.8 GPA.
- She is the recipient of the John Finnegan Music Scholarship.
- Ava is an active performer in multiple ensembles on and off campus in both orchestral and jazz settings.
- Her future plans include graduate music studies and a professional career as a performer and teacher.

Ava will be recognized at our awards ceremony on Wednesday, May 6 at 7 pm in the Sophia Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts.

05/02/2026

Can you imagine being a triple major in dance, music and theatre? Jack Newton, can!

Jack is receiving his Creativity Award in Dance. You can see Jack's work this weekend in the Salem Dance Ensemble concert in the Sophia Gordon Center. Tonight at 7:30 pm and tomorrow at 2 pm.

Other things to know about Jack:

- He will graduate in Fall 2026.
- His first exposure to dance came via figure skating and developed into formal training through interdisciplinary performance.
- Jack is a regular performer in Salem Dance Ensemble and Repertory Dance Theatre.
- He is a three-time recipient of a Presidential Arts Scholarship and the recipient of a 2025 Summer Artistic Development Grant.
- Jack has been a Dean's list student since Fall 2024.

05/01/2026

Michelle Deane is in her eighth year teaching in the music and dance department at Salem State. Michelle's enthusiasm for her SSU students is palpable. While her primary role is teaching, she has taken on other hats during her time at SSU with the same enthusiasm and commitment.

Michelle's choreography always offers some surprising twists and turns for the audience - we mean that literally and figuratively. We can't wait to see her piece "the mountains we miss in CA" at this weekend's Salem Dance Ensemble concert!

Saturday, May 2, 7:30 pm
Sunday, May 3, 2 pm

Sophia Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts
356 Lafayette Street

Admission is free. Suggested donation of $10 at the door to support the Dance Honor Society.

Street parking is available on Loring Ave and Lafayette Street around the perimeter of campus. If no street parking is available please proceed to the parking garage which can be accessed via College Drive.

04/30/2026

Joanne Caidor - Misses Jojo to our students - has been teaching in the SSU dance program since 2019. In addition to her teaching duties she is the director of the Hip Hop Dance Ensemble (HDE) at Salem State, a Hip Hop Company open to Salem State Students, alumni and the community.

Jojo's choreography sizzles with power. 🔥🔥🔥 You don't want to miss HDE's performance of her piece "Riders Block Party" this weekend at the Salem Dance Ensemble concert!

Saturday, May 2 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, May 3 at 2 pm

Admission is free. Suggested donation at the door of $10 for the Dance Honor Society.

Sophia Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts

The Sophia Gordon Center is located at 356 Lafayette Street. Street parking is available on Loring Ave and Lafayette Street. If no street parking is available please proceed to the parking garage which can be accessed via College Drive.

04/30/2026

Congratulations to 2026 Creativity Award in music recipient Aidan Auditore. We will celebrate Aidan's accomplishments on Wednesday, May 6 at 7 pm at the Sophia Gordon Center for Creative and Performing Arts.

Aidan graduates in May with a BA degree in music and a minor in film studies. While at Salem State he has participated in numerous ensembles including Guitar Ensemble, World Music and Ensemble and Electronic Music Ensemble. A composition student of Samuel Beebe he hopes to compose for films and video games in the future.