Program Overview

Music, B.A. Program

The university's music department serves its students and the broader New Haven community via music instruction, performance, technology, and scholarship. Through in-depth and personalized study, students in the B.A. Music program can build the skills and experience they need to take their musical goals further.

Program Description

Students take courses in music theory and musicianship, technology, music history, and improvisation. The university's signature Applied Lessons, offered through the support of the Stutzman Family Foundation, allows students to take private lessons in instrumental or vocal music. A diverse array of ensembles offers opportunities to perform in a variety of styles. Students also have the opportunity to select from three specializations to complete their coursework: Music Traditions, Music Performance, or Music Technology.

Specializations

All B.A. Music students choose from one of the following 9-credit specializations.

Music Traditions

Students choose from the university's array of music history courses, offering in-depth coverage of different music traditions and genres from around the world.

Performance

Students complete coursework in music entrepreneurship, arranging, and advanced musicianship, culminating in a senior recital.

Music Technology

Students gain experience composing, producing, mixing, and recording music and sound. The Music Technology lab is equipped with up-to-date technology and a recording booth, and students get hands-on experience in multiple aspects of contemporary music production.

Learning Outcomes

• Upon graduation, music majors will demonstrate comprehension of the relationships between music and various traditions, social trends, histories, and styles of music, art, and other disciplines.
• Music majors will demonstrate competencies in theoretical and aural skills through sight-singing performance, generating and analyzing harmony, creating and notating self-generated musical ideas, and the graphic dictation of sounds.
• Music majors will demonstrate the ability to extemporaneously compose musical ideas through improvisational performance.
• Students will demonstrate artistry and creative expression in their principal area of applied music-making.
• Members of performing ensembles will demonstrate cooperative learning and creative expression through performance.

Accreditation

The university is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.

Careers

Students graduating with their Bachelor of Arts in Music can pursue careers in the following areas:

• Music, arts, and media technology, including working in recording studios, radio stations, podcasting studios, and live event venues.
• Producing, composing, performing, and recording music and sound for media organizations, including TV, radio, video games, and streaming platforms.
• Working with arts and arts-adjacent organizations, including events planning and management, fundraising, grant-writing, personnel management, concert/tour/venue bookings, event promotion and publicity, and marketing.
• Performance opportunities as a musician working in classical, jazz, musical theater, and popular styles.
• Students graduating from the B.A. Music program may also choose to pursue further study at the graduate level.

Scholarships

Music majors are eligible for scholarships up to $6,000/year from the Stutzman Family Foundation. Award amounts vary and are awarded each semester up to a total of eight semesters.

School and Department

The Music, B.A. program is offered through the College of Arts & Sciences, Department of Music.