Areas of Study
The Department of Music offers one general and five professional undergraduate programs leading to baccalaureate degrees in music. The general program (BA) provides a liberal arts education with music as the major subject. The four professional undergraduate programs (BMus) emphasize the development of proficiency in the major area: music education, performance, history & literature and composition.
Ensemble Opportunities
Included with the above areas of study, the Department of Music offers many diverse performance and educational opportunities for both majors and non-majors.
Large Ensembles
Western's Music Department welcomes ensemble participation by students of all academic majors and places performers solely by audition. In addition, applied lessons at no additional cost are available on a space-available basis to non-majors who participate concurrently in a large ensemble.
Chamber Ensembles
These small ensembles ranging from string quartets to wind/brass quintets to flute and brass choirs perform in quarterly concerts and receive weekly coaching from the applied faculty.
Opera
Western's Department of Music presents full-scale opera and musical theater productions in conjunction with the Department of Theater Arts, as well as annual opera workshop performances. Previous opera productions, including The Magic Flute and La Boheme, have won national awards for excellence.