Music

Career - what can you do with a music degree?

In the College of Arts and Sciences, opportunity is everywhere. Take advantage of this freedom to create your own experience. A flexible curriculum leads to a choice of careers in research, education, recording, composing or the wider music industry.

The BGSU alumni network in the music profession spreads far and wide throughout Ohio, the Midwest and across the country and the world.

Strategic partnerships with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, the Toledo Opera, the Toledo Museum of Art, WGTE Public Media, the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts, the Detroit Symphony and more offer students the chance to get hands-on experience from the moment they begin their degree and networking and job opportunities upon graduating.

Gaining professional skills in marketing, recording and distributing music add possibilities for multi-strand careers.

Curriculum

All B.A. in music students study core courses in music theory, aural training, and music history. Three different tracks of music electives are offered with emphases in:

Music History
The music history specialization provides training in the fundamentals of research and scholarship in the field of music history. Students specializing in music history can take such specialized courses as Problems in Music History, Performance Practice, Symphonic Literature, Chamber Music Literature, Opera Literature, African Music, Indonesian Music and Japanese Music.

Ethnomusicology/Jazz
Ethnomusicology is the study of music in its social and cultural contexts. The jazz emphasis in the Bachelor of Arts in music prepares students for careers in jazz performance, composition, and jazz education.

Performance
The music performance emphasis prepares students for careers in orchestral, band, opera and vocal performance, commercial music and private studio teaching, as well as for further study at the graduate level.

Students receive individualized instruction in the Moore Musical Arts Center—one of the nation's finest music facilities—which has over 70 practice rooms, a state-of-the-art computer lab, and a music technology studio.

Over 40 music ensembles—orchestra, bands, choirs, small groups, and world music ensembles—are open to all University students (many by audition).

Bachelor of Arts in music majors are required to choose a minor. Some suggested fields of study include art, communication, computer science, film studies, journalism, media production, nonprofit administration, popular culture, theatre.

The BGSU College of Musical Arts offers a Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Musical Arts. A thriving graduate program includes a Master of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts program.

Required courses

Student organizations

BGSU has more than 20 music-related student organizations, including the Steel Drum Association, wind and string groups, and the Student Jazz Association. Certain vocal ensembles, such as A Cappella Choir, Collegiate Chorale, and University Men’s and Women’s choruses, also have student organizations associated with them.

Arts Village Learning Community

Open to students of any major, the Arts Village is a residential learning community that involves exploring all aspects of the arts and sharing views with one another and faculty of various disciplines.