Music Performance
Degree: Bachelor of Music
What is Music Performance?
If you like the sound of being a performing musician or teacher, a music major may be right for you. You'll be most successful as a music major if you have these qualities in addition to performing talent: 1) strong motivation to practice, study, and learn more about music on your own; 2) good sight-reading ability and musical ear; 3) an interest in learning more about various types of music; 4) a high level of intellectual curiosity in subjects other than music.
What are the features of Miami's program?
Focus on undergraduates: Miami University is nationally recognized as one of the top undergraduate universities in the country, with a commitment to you shared by the music department. Faculty are dedicated to developing your talent and ability. And as a music student, you'll benefit from a 7:1 student: faculty ratio. Courses for music majors are taught exclusively by faculty members, not graduate assistants.
National recognition: Our students have won national awards in competition with students from music conservatories. Among our faculty are award-winning composers, renowned performers and teachers, and scholars of international reputation.
International performing: Miami is the only university in the U.S. where students and faculty perform annually with a major European music festival.
Individual attention: We offer private lessons on all the major orchestral and band instruments, piano, harp, and voice. Required for music majors and music minors, these lessons are open, based on audition, to non-music majors as faculty time permits. Auditions for these opportunities are held at the beginning of each school year. For more information about auditions, contact the music department office.
Top-notch facilities: The Center for Performing Arts is the department's primary facility, shared with the Department of Theatre. The building houses the 400-seat Gates-Abegglen Theatre, the 150-seat Souers Recital Hall, rehearsal rooms, classrooms, faculty offices and studios, and student practice rooms. The CPA also contains the Amos Music Library and Listening Center, with more than 40,000 volumes and 18,500 recordings, the Electronic Music Studio, and a new class keyboard laboratory with Macintosh computer/keyboard MIDI workstations for instruction and practice in keyboard skills and music theory/composition.
Study abroad: Miami's music program offers outstanding opportunities for international study. The Department of Music has an agreement with the Luxembourg Conservatory of Music for a student and faculty exchange program which sends Miami students to study music in Luxembourg for a semester or a year.
Are there special admission requirements?
If you want to major or minor in music at Miami, you will need to audition on your instrument or voice. High school seniors can choose to audition at various times between November and March.
In order to prepare you for your audition, study and practice on your instrument or voice are very important. While it is not a requirement for admission as a music major, most of our students auditioning for acceptance as music majors have had private lessons. All music majors at Miami, regardless of performance area, are required to reach a basic proficiency in piano, so piano study before college is useful. Foreign language study is also helpful, particularly for voice majors; French, German, or Italian is required.
What courses would I take?
The Bachelor of Music in Music Performance provides comprehensive professional musical training for the performer. In addition to performing ensembles and private lessons on your major instrument or voice, the program includes courses in music theory, music history, ear training and sight singing, and keyboard skills. Courses in other subjects are taken as part of the Miami Plan for Liberal Education.
What can I do with this major?
You can work as a performer after graduating with a music degree; many of Miami's graduates are doing just that throughout the country. Many graduates are teaching music or working independently as studio teachers. Performance graduates often attend graduate school before moving on to performance careers. In recent years, Miami's music graduates have been accepted to graduate study at many of the nation's leading conservatories and music schools.
Who can I contact for more information?
For general information about Miami University, please contact:
Office of Admission
301 S. Campus Ave.
Miami University
Oxford, OH 45056-3434
513-529-2531 (v/t)
www.muohio.edu/requestinfo
For specific information on the Music Performance major, please contact:
Department of Music
109 Presser Hall
Miami University
Oxford, OH 45056
513-529-3014
music@muohio.edu
www.muohio.edu/music
