Collegium Musicum

The Collegium Musicum is an ensemble of singers and instrumentalists dedicated to the performance of early music on original instruments.

Directed by Laura Jeppesen, the Collegium Musicum is a student ensemble devoted to the performance of early music on original instruments, and is open to Wellesley College students, faculty, staff, and members of the local community. Vocalists, players of stringed and wind instruments, and keyboard players are all encouraged to join this exploration of repertory from the courts and chapels of Renaissance Europe. Weekly rehearsals include instruction in viola da gamba, lute, Renaissance flute, recorder, and violin. Wellesley’s unique collection of early instruments, made available for student use, includes eight viole da gamba which are on display in the Sargent Concert Salon in Pendleton West. The work of the ensemble will culminate in an informal concert at the end of each semester.

Auditions: Auditions are held during the first meeting in the fall semester. Please contact director Laura Jeppesen at ljeppese@wellesley.edu for more information.

Close-up of Collegium players with their instruments

Time Commitment

The Collegium meets every Monday evening from 7-9 pm in PNW 101. The work of the ensemble culminates in an informal concert at the end of each semester.

Academic Credit

Students may elect to take Collegium for 0.5 credits per year. It is not mandatory to seek credit. Students who participate in Collegium during the Fall semester can register for it in the Spring with the director's approval. MUS 260 is for the first two years of participation, and MUS 270 is for the second two years of participation (prerequisite: MUS 260). Students seeking credit must participate in the ensemble all year.

Laura Jeppesen, Director

Laura Jeppesen, player of historical stringed instruments, earned a master’s degree from Yale University and studied at the Hamburg Hochschule and the Brussels Conservatory. She has been a Woodrow Wilson Designate, a Fulbright Scholar, and a fellow of the Bunting Institute at Harvard. A prominent member of Boston’s early music community, she has long associations with The Boston Museum Trio, Boston Baroque, The Handel and Haydn Society, the Boston Early Music Festival, and Aston Magna.

Laura has been music director at the American RepertoryTheater, creating music for Christopher Marlowe’s Dido, Queen of Carthage, for which she earned an IRNE nomination for best musical score. In 2015, she was part of the BEMF team that won a Grammy for best opera recording.

Laura has performed as a soloist with conductors Christopher Hogwood, Edo deWaart, Seiji Ozawa, Craig Smith, Martin Pearlman, Harry Christophers, Grant Llewellyn, and Bernard Haitink. She has an extensive discography of solo and chamber works, including the gamba sonatas of J.S. Bach, music of Marin Marais, Buxtehude, Rameau, Telemann, and Clerambault.

Laura teaches at Boston University, Wellesley College, and Harvard University, where in 2015 and 2019 she won awards of special distinction in teaching from the Derek Bok Center. She is a 2017 recipient of an Andrew W. Mellon Blended Learning Initiative Grant for innovative teaching at Wellesley College. Her essay, “Aesthetics of Performance in the Renaissance: Lessons from Noblewomen,” appears in Uncovering Music of Early European Women 1250-1750, published by Routledge Studies in Musical Genres, 2019. Her most recent CD, “Marais at Midnight,” was released by Centaur in 2021.

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