Music

Music belongs to everyone. It evokes the look and feel of our time and of times past. People will always make music, but great music needs people with the power to create it and the power to understand it. In the Department of Music, we want to share that power with you.

The Department of Music offers programs in a range of fields: the academic fields, including music history, music theory and world music studies, and the performance fields, mostly in classical music but also selectively in jazz. You may choose to earn credits by participating in one or more of our 15 performing ensembles, which include orchestras, concert choirs and bands, jazz choirs and bands, opera workshops and world music ensembles. We also offer courses to non-music students in the areas of music appreciation, basic theory, jazz history and popular music history.

You can find our graduates in orchestras, bands, choruses, opera companies, recording studios, music schools and universities around the world. You will also find them in fields such as education, arts administration, music retailing, community music making, music therapy, and the radio, television and recording industries.

Bachelor of Arts (BA) Music

  • Major or Minor in Music: Provides a thorough undergraduate musical education. No audition required.
  • Honors in Music: Designed for students interested in theoretical, historical and cultural issues in traditional and popular music. No audition required.

Bachelor of Music (BMus)

  • The most intensive of all programs, the BMus requires a performance audition, and rudiments/aural skills tests for admission.
  • Routes: General Route, Performance Route (Piano, Organ, Voice, Strings and Harp, Wind and Percussion), Music History, World Music, Composition and Theory, School Music Route (see also Combined Degree).

Bachelor of Music/Bachelor of Education (BMus/BEd) Combined Degree

  • Students will take a challenging combination of music and education courses, graduating with two degrees.
  • Transfer to the Faculty of Education is at the end of the third year. An audition on the major instrument/voice is required.


Department of Music
3-82 Fine Arts Building
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB T6G 2C9
Tel: (780) 492-3263
music@ualberta.ca
www.music.ualberta.ca