At Holy Cross, students nurture their talents and engage with a wide range of creative pursuits, learning to take risks and express their inner voice along the way. These opportunities are essential to arts majors and to our entire community. Across our campus, students of all backgrounds and aspirations find ways to develop their creativity through curricular and extracurricular opportunities.
Holy Cross is home to a rigorous-yet-supportive artistic community that provides our students with excellent training and preparation for a career in the arts — but all Holy Cross students are welcome to avail themselves of the myriad artistic opportunities on campus. Many of the greatest thinkers, inventors, creators and discoverers of every discipline have been those who devise new approaches and novel solutions for our most pressing challenges. This type of innovation relies on creativity and imagination — and one of the best ways to grow those abilities is to engage in artistic activities that open new avenues of expression. By taking advantage of our extensive arts programs, students exercise their minds and develop as intuitive and gifted problem solvers.
| Academic Programs | ||
|---|---|---|
| Balinese Gamelan | Music and Theatre | Participants play on a handcrafted Gamelan Gong Kebyar orchestra built especially for Holy Cross in Bali, Indonesia. Internationally renowned musicians and dancers from Bali teach music and dance classes; students must register for classes in order to participate. |
| Brooks Jazz Combo | Music | Welcomes students who have a strong interest in jazz, who then work with Holy Cross faculty and some of the region’s most talented jazz musicians. |
| Chamber Music | Music | Soloists, duets, trios, quartets, and more, coached by artists-in-residence and music faculty, have multiple performance opportunities each semester. |
| Chamber Orchestra | Music | Performs masterpieces by great composers in Brooks Concert Hall; highly gifted students have the opportunity to perform as soloists with the ensemble. |
| Chamber Singers | Music | A select choral ensemble of 16 singers who display the highest level of musical excellence. |
| Chapel Choir | Music | An ensemble of instrumentalists and singers who perform a diverse repertoire of liturgical music at Mass on campus. |
| College Choir | Music | Offers students the opportunity to learn the art of choral singing through repertoire, vocal production and musicianship. |
| H-CLEF | Music | Welcomes all students interested in combining computer coding with live laptop performance and interactive video. |
| Holy Cross Bands | Music | With one concert band, two athletic bands (marching and pep), and instrument exploratory programs, Holy Cross Bands provide numerous opportunities for all students, regardless of skill level, to participate in ensembles and perform in concert and athletic venues. |
| Jazz Ensemble | Music | Enables talented jazz musicians to perform at standing-room only events on campus, and to collaborate with internationally renowned visiting artists from organizations that include the Boston Pops Jazz Quartet. |
| Schola Cantorum | Music | Welcomes experienced vocalists who can sing Gregorian chants, eight-part motets and pieces from the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Contemporary periods. |
| Theatre Department Productions | Theatre | Open to all students who audition, these productions are directed and designed by Holy Cross faculty and provide the highest quality work and training for all involved. |
| Student Organizations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Alternate College Theatre | Theatre | Led by students under faculty supervision; offers the opportunity to star in a show, work on a stage crew, manage publicity or get involved with any other aspect of theatrical production. |
| Ballroom Dance | Dance | Competitive dance organization open to all students; also offers lessons to the Holy Cross community. |
| Creative Writing Club | Composition | An eclectic community of writers and lovers of the written word; meets weekly to share and discuss original works in an encouraging and supportive environment. |
| Dance Ensemble | Dance | Offers dancers a chance to learn and practice through student-taught workshops that include jazz, tap, hip-hop, ballet, lyrical, contemporary and performance. |
| Delilahs | Music | All-female a cappella group; performs for the Holy Cross community regularly and offers annual Christmas and spring concerts. |
| Fools on the Hill | Music | Holy Cross' only co-ed a cappella group; performs short programs every Thursday and larger concerts throughout the year. |
| Fusion Hip-Hop Dance Team | Dance | A hip-hop dance group that combines influences from all styles of dance; welcomes all dancers and non-dancers to participate. |
| KPop Dance Crew | Performing Arts | Unites students who share similar interests in k-pop dance and educates other Holy Cross students about K-pop culture. |
| Latinidad Identidad | Performing Arts | A dance team that hopes to spread Latinx awareness through dance and art on and off campus. |
| Off the Record | Music | All-female a cappella group; teaches students to arrange and perform songs while forming bonds with other Holy Cross females who are passionate about music. |
| Purple Patcher | Composition | The official Holy Cross yearbook; creates a historical record of the school year, provides a sense of pride among students and staff, and serves as a community awareness and public relations tool. |
| Rhythm Nation Steppaz | Dance | The only step team on campus; hosts tryouts yearly for male and female students interested in performing at various campus-related events and offering workshops for other students. |
| Sons of Pitches | Music | All-male a cappella group; enables members to develop their musicality and participate in a performance environment that welcomes members of varying skill and experience levels. |
| Student Art Society | Art | Strives to increase access to and enjoyment of student art on the Holy Cross campus through fundraising events, monthly exhibitions of student artwork and weekly meetings that foster new relationships. |
| The Spire | Composition | The official Holy Cross newspaper; publishes dynamic articles that represent the student voice on Mount St. James. |
| The Fenwick Review | Composition | The College’s independent journal of opinion; strives to promote intellectual freedom and takes pride in defending traditional Catholic principles and conservative ideas. |
| WCHC 88.1 FM | Radio | Broadcasts 24/7 on the air and via the Web, with student and faculty DJs occupying airtime every day throughout the school year. |
| WCHC Sports | Radio | Broadcasts a wide variety of Holy Cross athletic games over the radio and serves as the primary source of live streaming video for national networks like CBS College Sports. |