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Professor Jeff Bailey with student in Music Production program

Music Major

Bachelor of Arts

Musicians, sound designers, and anyone who is passionate about music will find a home in Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK’s music major, contemporary music production minor, and Certificate in Music Production program. Our music department has been accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) since 1961. Our music major in Minnesota provides you with an expansive curriculum that blends contemporary and traditional skills to help you develop your expertise in performance, theory and composition, contemporary digital music technology, business and marketing, and music histories and cultures.

With our BA in music, you will learn how to use industry-standard equipment, including Apollo, Neve, API, Undertone Audio, Soyuz, Stager, Peluso, ATC 25s, and Focal. In addition, we have a spacious Mac lab classroom where you can learn how to use industry-standard software, including Logic Pro, Pro Tools, and QLab software.

What’s more, as Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK is located in the robust Twin Cities performing arts scene, our professional, well-connected teaching staff will provide you with excellent internship opportunities with recording studios, theater companies, music venues, commercial music libraries, educational organizations, and music producers.

 

Music major details

Student Research
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Internships
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Career Paths
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Grad School
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Engaged learning and student research

Your research opportunities are limited only by your imagination. Our BA in music students have produced EPs and LPs and composed original theme music for podcasts, underscores for theater productions, soundtracks for dance shows, art shows and community events, and compositions for Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK ensembles. They've investigated the intersections of music with other liberal arts studies, from studying music and second language learning and exploring religiosity in songwriting to examining legal battles over ownership in the entertainment industry.

From your first semester, you'll connect with greater Twin Cities communities by sharing your music with audiences in formal and informal settings. Your flute ensemble may perform for the residents at a neighborhood retirement home; if you are a jazz musician, your senior recital may be performed at a St. Paul jazz club; as a member of choir, your voice will uplift congregations in local churches.

Learn more about undergraduate research at Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK 

Internships for music majors

We make sure you leave Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK with music work experience on your resume, and the opportunities are boundless. Whether you want to explore a career in sound design, music production, advertising, or more, we have internship opportunities for you.

Examples of internships held by our music majors include:

  • Greater Twin Cities Youth Orchestra, rehearsal assistant
  • St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, educational outreach intern
  • Shifting Paradigm Records, marketing and operations assistant
  • Essential Sessions, recording studio assistant
  • Tinderbox Music, radio and streaming services assistant
  • Keys 4/4 Kids, nonprofit piano donations & distributions administrative assistant

Explore internships

Explore career paths for music majors

Our innovative courses and one-on-one mentoring by faculty will give you the tools to succeed in a variety of jobs, such as:

  • Recording and post-production producer
  • Freelance composer-arranger
  • Sound designer
  • Grants and special events manager
  • Front of house sound engineer
  • Retail experience manager
  • Music ministry coordinator

You can also put your degree to work in any number of fields, including:

  • Performance and instruction
  • Recording and technology
  • Music business
  • Arts administration

Take your studies further with graduate school

Our graduates have gone on to graduate schools across the country in the pursuit of master’s degrees. Examples of programs and schools include:

  • Master's in Vocal Performance, Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University
  • Master’s in Scoring for Film, Television, and Video Games, Berklee College of Music (Valencia, Spain campus) 
  • Master of Music in History and Literature, University of Northern Colorado.
  • Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting, Manhattan School of Music
  • Graduate Certificate in Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television, USC Thornton
  • Master of Music in Voice Performance, Lionel Hampton School of Music, University of Idaho
Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK orchestra performing
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Learn about Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK's orchestra

Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK Orchestra Director Yali You talks about the unique and exceptional qualities of the university's symphonic orchestra.

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Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK Music student Jesse Mickelson playing guitar in Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK music room

The music production program has taught me so much as a composer. I joined the program as a novice and left able to mix my own music, chop samples, write orchestral mockups, and much more. I learned so much from Jeff Bailey's mentorship and even found my first composing job.

Jesse Mickelson '22, Music and Certificate in Music Production

2024-2025 Concert Season
 

Dates for our 2024-2025 concert season will be announced in September; please check back. 

Music program news

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May 6 2024 / Inside Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK News

Bailey Composes for Guthrie Theater

Jeff Bailey , Professor of Practice and Director of Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK's Music Production program, is following up his composing work at Florida's Asolo Rep Theatre production of "Intimate Apparel" with another exciting composing and sound design adventure for...
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April 22 2024 / Inside Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK News

Chu Publishes New Book

Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK Professor Emeritus of Music George Chu has published a new book. Working with Columbia professor Edna Chun, "Transformational Music Teaching" was published by Palgrave Macmillan late last year. A link to the book can be found here .

Take your next step today

Interested in music? We’d love to send you information, including more on music programs, arts, and student life at Â鶹ÊÓƵAPK.

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