Music

The Cardinal Gibbons Band Program provides students the opportunity to explore the genres of Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Pep Band and Chamber Music in a collaborative and supportive atmosphere.

The program seeks to foster individual interests in conjunction with the full ensemble, while educating students in the mediums of self-confidence and self-discipline.

The Cardinal Gibbons High School Choral programs provide students the opportunity to experience vocal music in a variety of styles. Gibbons Chorus offers participation in Women's Ensemble, Men's Ensemble, Mixed Ensemble, and A Cappella Choir.

All Chorus participants receive academic credit and attend daily rehearsals, perform annual concerts, and sing in selected contests and competitions. Gibbons Chorus students have the opportunity to share their God-given talents by providing the music for all the school masses.

The Cardinal Gibbons Guitar Program is a pre-college, professional program that emphasizes guitar education and performance. The guitar program is one of the only programs of its kind in the state of North Carolina with over 100 students.

Students learn about all areas of guitar including music reading, music theory, music history, scales, improvisation as well as playing bass, drums, and keyboard. The program also strives to help students learn self-confidence and self-discipline.

The Cardinal Gibbons AP Music Theory Class is designed to allow for creativity and composition of large choral and instrumental works. Students in this class will learn techniques in composition, form, and analysis of major works from all major Western musical periods and genres. Students will also become proficient on music notation software, aural skills and theoretical knowledge. This class is designed to prepare students for the AP exam with the goal of testing out of college freshman Music Theory courses.

The Cardinal Gibbons Percussion Program takes students with no experience and teaches them the basics of playing drums and mallet percussion including sections on drum set, marimba and steel pan. The emphasis is students playing and have fun doing it! Students also learn team work within a small ensemble, how to be leaders, and stage presence. Piano students are encouraged to take this class!

The Cardinal Gibbons String Orchestra Program is a multi-level string ensemble experience, where members of any skill level have the opportunity to become involved. Classes are divided into three levels, with no audition experience necessary for the beginning strings ensemble. 

In our Music Department, Cardinal Gibbons Music Clubs inspire and enrich the music education offered in our department curriculum. Clubs are open to all Cardinal Gibbons students who possess talents, with parameters set forward by their individual instructors.

The Cardinal Gibbons Pit Orchestra is an auditioned group of students from the Music Department who accompany the Drama Department musicals. These groups vary in size and instrumentation, depending on the performance.