Overview

Whether you aim to become a professional musician or develop your talent for personal enjoyment, the music program at Olympic College offers a variety of classes and performance opportunities to support your goals. Our music faculty is a team of passionate and well-rounded educators with extensive professional experience. Their expertise in both vocal and instrumental music ensures that students receive a high-quality, well-supported education across a wide range of musical styles. We proudly serve diverse student populations, welcoming individuals from all backgrounds and musical interests into an inclusive and collaborative learning environment.

In addition to individual music lessons, the music program offers a range of ensemble experiences including concert choir, vocal jazz, jazz band, and wind ensemble. Students can also enroll in lecture-based classes covering a variety of subjects such as music theory, class piano, and music history electives exploring classical, jazz, pop, film, musical theater, opera, and protest music. The department also benefits from access to the state-of-the-art William D. Harvey Theatre, located in the College Instruction Center at the heart of the Bremerton Campus.

MORE INFO

Complete a short form and a member of the Welcome Center will follow up with you right away! You can also contact music faculty directly at: @email.

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Contact us

Prospective new students contact the Welcome Center for one-on-one help applying to Olympic College.

Current and returning students contact the Advising Center to connect with a Student Success Coach or your Faculty Advisor.

Music Course Offerings

Performance Ensembles
Man playing saxophone

Concert Choir is open to singers of all skill levels and provides a welcoming, supportive environment – perfect for those who are new to singing or looking to build confidence and vocal skills through group performance. Rehearsals: Monday 6-7:30pm.

Jazzline (vocal jazz) is a select vocal jazz ensemble of 8-16 singers accompanied by rhythm section (piano, bass, drums), focusing on standard and contemporary vocal jazz repertoire and style. This ensemble requires an audition. Rehearsals: Tuesday/Thursday 1-2:15pm.

Jazz Ensemble is a select big band consisting of 5 saxophones, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, guitar, piano, bass, and drums; offering students experience in jazz style, standard and contemporary big band repertoire, and ensemble performances. This ensemble requires an audition. Rehearsals: Monday/Wednesday 1-2:15pm

Jazz Combos are small ensembles of 2–3 horn players, guitar or piano, bass, and drums, focusing on traditional and contemporary jazz repertoire with a strong emphasis on improvisation and group interaction. This ensemble requires an audition. Rehearsals: Determined on student availability.

Wind Ensemble is a large ensemble open to all skill levels, requiring the ability to read music. They perform a diverse repertoire of wind band literature, providing students opportunities to develop their musicianship and ensemble skills across various styles. Rehearsals: Wednesday 6-7:30pm

Opera & Musical Theater production gives students the opportunity to perform staged works in a variety of styles, from classical opera to contemporary musical theater. Productions alternate each year between opera and musical theater, providing valuable performance experience in both genres. These groups require an audition. Additionally, students participating in Opera or Music Theater are required to enroll in individual voice lessons. 

Questions?

Dr. Jonathan Campbell
Music Faculty
@email

Academic Program

While pursuing an Associate of Arts in Music, students will have the opportunity to work with leading professionals, showcase their work, and gain performance experience in our state-of-the-art theater. Consider taking music classes for your distribution requirements and electives while working to complete your Associate in Arts - Direct Transfer Agreement (AA-DTA): Music.

Transfer & Career Info

Olympic College Music Faculty

The Olympic College Music Faculty are dedicated to preparing music majors to transfer successfully to a four-year institution or to begin a professional career in music. Those with no background in music are more than welcome; we offer introductory music classes for all who want to learn. 

Dr. Emerald Lessley

Dr. Emerald Lessley

Choral & Voice

Emerald Lessley began studying music and performing at a young age in northern California. Dr. Lessley has enjoyed operatic roles such as Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Eurydice in Glück’s Orphée et Eurydice, Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Suor Angelica in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Calisto in Cavalli’s La Calisto, Semele in Handel’s Semele, Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Second Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Gasparina in Haydn’s La Canterina, Geraldine in Barber’s A Hand of Bridge, La Ciesca in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Pauline in Barab’s A Toy Shop, Estrella in Offenbach’s La Perichole, and Belisa in the U.S. premiere of Maderna’s opera Don Perlimplìn. In addition to traditional operatic repertoire, Emerald is an active performer of new music. She loves premiering new works and has enjoyed recent collaborations with composers on concerts in both the U.S. and Europe.

Dr. Lessley has been teaching and conducting ensembles for more than ten years and has enjoyed directing youth and college level choral groups, as well as musical theater productions. As a member of an internationally award winning a capella group, Dr. Lessley has been an invited clinician at several a capella workshops. She has also served as a competition adjudicator, including WMEA and WMNTA events. 

In her private voice studio, Dr. Lessley specializes in classical, musical theater, contemporary styles, and voice for transgender singers. Because of her research and experience, Emerald has been an invited speaker at the Northwest Voice Conference, the Vocology in Practice Conference in London, the London-based BAST webinar series, and NATS Chat.

Faculty Advisor

Every student is assigned an advising team consisting of your Student Success Coach and Faculty Advisor. Your Faculty Advisor is determined once you decide on your specific academic program. The following professor is the Faculty Advisors for Music.

Academic Division

Music is part of the Social Sciences & Humanities Division (SSH). Visit the SSH Division webpage for more info, including support resources and services, and contact info for division staff and the dean. The Social Sciences & Humanities Division can assist you with: 

  • Advising
  • Connecting with faculty
  • Finding campus resources
  • Support for procedural processes such as a grade appeal or student complaint.