Music Department
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Degrees Offered
Auditions: Music Majors/Minors Ensembles
Scholarships and Awards
Student Organizations: Vocal Instrumental
Faculty
The Music Department's mission is to provide educational opportunities that will enable our students to become competent in the theory and practice of music. The Department will emphasize technical proficiency, conceptual understanding, increased awareness of the student's artistic talents, and the role of music in society.
Degrees Offered
Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science
The Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degrees are offered in Vocal, Piano, or Instrumental Performance; Music Education; Pedagogy; and Conducting. The Music Department also has a strong Church Music component, with courses designed to equip future church music conductors, vocalists, instrumentalists, and administrators.
Minors:
Students with aptitude in music but who are pursuing another field of study for their major often minor in music. The music minor equips students with the basics in applied skills, theory, and history. Students minoring in music may become part-time music directors in churches, performers, or teachers in schools where the music teacher serves also in another teaching capacity.
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The Faculty
Dr. Alan Armstrong - Department Chair, Music Theory, Opera Literature, and Piano Performance, director: "Free Spirit"
Dr. Alan Armstrong received his Ph.D in Music History from The Ohio State University. He also holds a B.Mus.Ed from there, and an M.M. in piano performance from Bradley University. Dr. Armstrong is also a cellist, and serves as principal cellist of the Wilson Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he is a Grade II bagpiper, enjoying success as a competitor with the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association, and a member of both the Port City Pipes and Drums of Wilmington, NC and the Wake and District Pipes and Drums of Raleigh, NC. Dr. Armstrong is also a scholar known for his work in French Grand Opera, notably the work of composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. Dr. Armstrong is the founder and director of "Free Spirit," a contemporary Christian ensemble that represents MOC at various functions throughout the eastern US.
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Dr. Sherri-Damon Marcia - Instrumental Performance, Music Education; director: Symphonic Band, Jazz Band, PEP Band, Sinfonia 
A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Sherri-Marcia Damon received her D.M.A. and her M.M. in Trombone Performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and her B.M. in Trombone Performance from The Cleveland Institute of Music. Dr. Damon also holds a Certificate of Completion from the Armed Forces School of Music and her State of North Carolina Continuing License for K-12 Music. Her performing experiences include the US Navy Atlantic Fleet Band, the Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Western Piedmont Symphonies, principal trombone of Salisbury Symphony Orchestra and the SSO Brass Quintet, and a member of Brass-on-the-Slide, Ascension Trombone Choir, and the Tropic Orchestra. Dr. Damon has 10 years of teaching experience in public schools and colleges, and has been a featured clinician, performer, and composer-arranger at trombone and brass workshops in North Carolina, Washington, D.C., and North Dakota; and her arrangements of the African-American spiritual for trombone ensemble have been performed at festivals in the United State, Italy, and Austria.
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Dr. Melanie Crump - Choral Music, Conducting, Applied Voice; director: Concert Choir, Mount Olive College Chamber Choir
Dr. Crump received her DMA in Vocal Performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She received a MM in Music Education (Choral Direction), a MM in Vocal Performance, and a BM in Music Education (General Music K-12 from Appalachian State University. Prior to joining Mount Olive College, Dr. Crump taught a private voice studio, and served as a choral music director in Winston Salem/Forsyth County Schools and at Wesleyan Christian Academy. She continues to serve as Musical Theater Director of the Triple Threat Dance Center in Winston-Salem.
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Stuart Burnham – Music Appreciation, Music History, Sight-singing/Dictation, Class Piano, MOC Choir Accompanist 
Born and raised in Spokane, WA, Burnham received his M.A. in musicology from Stanford University and is currently completing his Ph.D. through the same institution. He has previously taught music appreciation at Mount Olive's campus in Wilmington, NC, and now teaches this course, along with music history, sight-singing/dictation, and class piano at the main campus. As an undergraduate at Wake Forest University, he double majored in piano performance and English, graduating with honors in the former. He also reviews concerts for Classical Voice of North Carolina, and was a junior-critic representative at the 2005 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, TX.
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