The Collegium Musicum is one of Columbia University's leading choral ensembles and has been a part of University life since the mid-1950s. The group is connected to Columbia's core curriculum, traditionally singing Josquin's Ave Maria...virgo serena for Music Humanities classes. Although in the past the Collegium has devoted itself to the performance of music of the middle ages and Renaissance—that by composers like Machaut, Josquin, Palestrina, Ockeghem, Tallis, and Monteverdi—in recent years the Collegium has broadened its repertoire to embrace works of all historical epochs, including 20th-century and contemporary music.
The Collegium performs multiple times during the academic year. It sang in three concerts and an opera during the 2008 – 2009 academic year, and plans to sing in three concerts during the 2009 – 2010 academic year. The fall 2009 concert comprised music by Josquin, both songs and motets. Our next concert, music for Holy Week, will take place on 30 March 2010 at St Paul's Chapel on the Columbia campus. There will be a concert of part-songs and Lieder by Schubert at the end of the academic year. In the fall of 2010 we will sing a concert of sacred music by Perotin, Orlandus Lassus, and Arvo Pärt.
The current director of the Collegium is Michael Shaw, PhD candidate in Historical Musicology.