Music (BA)
Bachelor of Arts
(Faculty of Arts)
If you love music and music studies but don't plan to make Music your entire career, you'll want to consider the BA Music. It is a comprehensive program that provides extensive instruction in technical music skills, interpretive and creative approaches to music, music theory and composition, music performance, and music history and literature, with special emphasis on complementary and interdisciplinary studies. You will learn skills that will earn you employment in such occupations as music editor, community arts manager, marketing, publisher, performing arts administrator and music sales.
Admission Requirements
Admission to all majors is limited. Therefore, all qualified applicants may not be admitted.
To be considered for admission applicants are required to present the appropriate high school subjects and a competitive average.
Other Admission Requirements
Click here to view the Department of Music website.
Why take this program?
Where it all begins
Musical study begins with a passion for music, followed by a desire to learn as much as possible about the subtle art of combining sounds into structures of enduring beauty. But which music program is right for you? Are you more interested in studying intellectual approaches than performing professionally? Do you plan to work in an arts-related field instead of pursuing a professional career as a musician? If so, the Bachelor of Arts in Music could be right for you. Students in the BA Music program can look forward to a challenging musical education that offers musical training enriched by literary, critical, historical and scientific perspectives acquired through their complementary studies. This gives them the career flexibility of a broader liberal arts foundation.
Musical growth
The Department of Music is a fertile environment for music study. At any time during the academic year, students walking though Craigie Hall will hear the sounds of students practicing, ensembles rehearsing and recordings emanating from various classrooms. They will also encounter gatherings of students and faculty discussing musical issues, providing guidance on class work, or simply relaxing as members of a passionate and deeply engaged musical community. Music students work closely with faculty members who maintain active careers as performers, composers, scholars and educators. Students learn technical skills and creative approaches to develop their own distinctive musical styles.
Instrumental resources
Music students have access to state of the art theatres and recital halls, including the award-winning Rozsa Centre. The department also has a number of resources available to students, including the Electroacoustic Music Studio (a digital lab with a fully functional MIDI workstation including keyboards, tone generators and a wide range of software), the Integrated Arts Media Lab, an organ studio, instrument collections and music archives. In addition, the Department of Music has its own recording label, UNICAL Records, which produces many critically acclaimed performances by the university’s ensembles, faculty performers and guest artists, as well as faculty composers and alumni.
What will I study in my first year?
Your first year courses will include Theory and Composition, History and Literature, non-music options and performance in a large ensemble. You will have a chance to explore your passion for the development and theory of music and become acquainted with the program.What will I study in later years?
Senior courses are smaller, more focussed, and more intense. Now that you've been introduced to the field you will develop your own approach to learning, conducting (no pun intended) your own research and working independently to discover the field.What can I do with this degree?
The great thing about studying a field in Fine Arts is that you’ll graduate with a number of marketable skills including:- Improvisation skills
- Performance and presentation
- Flexible and divergent thinking on a global scale
- Project management skills
- Good teamwork
Graduates from the BA Music program have a number of career options available to them in a variety of industries. Here is what some U of C grads have done with their BA Music degree:
- Instrument Designer
- Composer
- Choir Director
- Synthesist
- Sound Effects Specialist
- Teacher
- Music Therapist
- Vocalist
- Musician
Additional Information
Student Finance
