Many of the larger groups are both classes and student organizations. For some groups, credit toward graduation is available, but optional. Students are given priority for some positions and some groups are limited to students, but all members of the Georgetown community are invited to join the orchestra, band and concert choir. Auditions are required for all groups except the concert choir. Chapel Choir and Gospel Choir are operated by Campus Ministry and include a ministry component.

INSTRUMENTAL GROUPS
GU Orchestra
Founded in 1980, the Georgetown University Orchestra is a large ensemble devoted to the study and performance of orchestral music, including repertoire composed for full orchestra and chamber orchestra.  Literature is selected from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern periods. Orchestra membership is open to all instrumentalists and requires an audition. For more information, click here! 

GU Chamber Music Ensembles Program
Participation in the CME Program includes the study and performance of selected works for specific instrumental groups and combinations, and is available to string, woodwind, brass, percussion and keyboard instrumentalists.  Auditions are required.

GU Wind Ensemble
The GU Wind Ensemble offers performance opportunities that will both challenge and enrich the musical lives of the participants and listeners. The GU Wind Ensemble is committed to performing meaningful music at the highest level. Excellence, integrity, and artistry are what we will strive for at every rehearsal and every performance. The music performed each semester will examine the importance of cross cultural and socio-cultural significance that music brings to western civilization. From Corelli to Grainger, no matter how unpopular, this ensemble will seriously examine all genres and aspects of the wind literature.We perform once each semester. Membership is by audition and is open to all members of the Georgetown community (students, faculty, staff). We also accept community players from the DC metropolitan area.

GU Pep Band
The Georgetown University Band, established in 1922 as a concert band, plays a variety of music ranging from classical to contemporary. The GU Band now consists of the Wind Ensemble and the Pep Band. The Wind Ensemble performs for campus events including ceremonies, concerts, and convocations, while the Pep Band performs at all home football games and basketball games, traveling extensively in the spring.

GU Jazz
Georgetown Jazz is an ensemble dedicated to promoting the American art of jazz.  The focus is primarily on the historical big band sounds of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Stan Kenton and other great bands from the 1930s to the present.  We also perform some contemporary arrangements and our own versions of classic tunes.  All participants will develop some level skill with jazz improvisation.  Georgetown Jazz performs in and around the Washington DC area and at many university functions.

VOCAL GROUPS
GU Concert Choir
The Georgetown University Concert Choir is an SATB choral ensemble that performs sacred and secular works from all periods of music history. The Choir performs one major concert each semester (collaborating frequently with other campus ensembles and local artists) and at special ceremonies throughout the year. Auditions are required. The Concert Choir is open to students, faculty, and staff, as well as members of the University community.
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GU Chamber Singers
The Georgetown University Chamber Singers, founded in 1992, is a select group of mixed voices organized to perform small choral masterworks from the Renaissance through the Twentieth Century.  Emphasis is placed on the art of singing a cappella, though at times the group performs with accompaniment.  Membership requirements include an audition. 

A Cappella Groups
Georgetown's vocal music program includes five student directed a cappella groups.

Founded in 1988, the Phantoms are Georgetown's first co-ed a cappella singing group. The Phantoms perform extensively on and off campus and have released 5 studio CDs ("Hmm.... Looks Like Moose Country," "Spank Your Eardrum," "Phantoms On Ice," "Bop It!," and "Phive") and one live CD ("The Best of Live: 2003-2005"). The Phantoms sing a variety of classic and contemporary rock, pop, and R&B arrangements. They also co-host, with the Gracenotes, the annual D.C. A cappella Festival ("DCAF") each fall, inviting a cappella groups from other universities on the east coast to perform at Georgetown.
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The GraceNotes are an all-female group, focusing on music with a soprano/alto blend. Founded in 1980, they produced their first compact disc ("Take Note") during the 1991-1992 school year and their second ("Naked") during the spring of 1996.  The third and most recent CD ("Say Grace") was produced in fall of 2000. The Gracenotes sing a variety of music including pop, classic rock, jazz and barbershop. They also co-host, with the Phantoms, the annual D.C. A cappella Festival ("DCAF") each fall.

Harmony brings new dimensions to the on-campus singing scene as an all-female group celebrating the diversity of international song.  Each song is sung in it's native language furthering the university mission to promote international understanding and cooperation. Independent of the Program in Performing Arts.

The Chimes are an all-male a cappella group founded in 1946. They perform frequently at University functions, alumni gatherings, local restaurants, and sponsor the annual Cherry Tree Massacre, a singing festival held each winter.  Auditions for these three groups are held in the fall and spring.

Georgetown's newest a cappella group is the Saxatones. The GU Saxatones were established for the purpose of creating and performing a cappella music while sharing talent with the surrounding community with a commitment and focus on community service. The GU Saxatones repertoire consists predominantly of Oldies music ('60s and '70s) and similar styles.

PERFORMANCE COURSES

Course credit is available for participation in all faculty-led performance groups. Please see the schedule of classes for details (MUSC100). Highly accomplished music students may apply to perform a Senior Recital under the guidance of a faculty member (MUSCM460).