Michigan State University

Fast Facts

  • College of Music

    Fall 2009 Enrollment: 648
    Number of Undergraduate Students: 373
    Number of Graduate Students: 276

    Overall Percentage In-State Students: 56%
    Overall Percentage Out-of-State Students: 27%
    Overall Percentage International Students: 17%

  • MSU is one of the leading universities in the nation in placing graduate students in tenure-stream positions. The employment rate for College of Music students has been exceptional, with 100 percent of our graduates in music education and music therapy securing employment in their fields over the last 11 years. Over the past five years, the MSU College of Music has placed, on average, 25 graduate students in tenure-stream university positions—one of the best national records.
  • More than 80 college faculty members are noted for their devotion to teaching; excellence in performance; creation of innovative, challenging, and imaginative curricula; the production of creative works; and significant research in many areas of music.
  • More than 100 graduate assistants have completed advanced studies.
  • Music major enrollment rates increased more than 97 percent between 1991 and 2004.
  • Music participation in general education has increased substantially, including a 300 percent increase in nonmusic major participation in various ensembles, a doubling of music offerings in the Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities, and initiation of first-year general student elective courses in music. More than 2,000 non-majors participate in ensembles and music classes on an annual basis.
  • Faculty, students, and student ensembles present more than 300 events, concerts, master classes, and workshops each year. Performances include opera theatre productions and a wide variety of music, from jazz, contemporary, and Latin to classical, chamber, and traditional.

Ensembles

  • Eight choirs, including University Chorale, State Singers, Women’s Chamber Choir, Women’s Glee Club, Men’s Glee Club, Collegiate Choir, Chamber Choir, and Choral Union
  • Four orchestras, including symphony, philharmonic, chamber, and concert orchestras
  • Seven bands, including wind, symphony, and concert bands; two campus bands; and marching band and brass bands
  • Opera theatre, featuring two fully staged performances each year
  • Eighteen jazz ensembles, including jazz orchestras, jazz octets, jazz combos, and vocal jazz ensembles
  • New music ensemble (Musique 21)

On-campus Performance Venues

  • Cobb Great Hall, Wharton Center for Performing Arts (seats 2,500)
  • Pasant Theatre, Wharton Center for Performing Arts (seats 600)
  • Fairchild Theatre (seats 670)
  • Concert Auditorium (seats 3,763)
  • College of Music Auditorium, Music Building (seats 360)
  • College of Music Hart Recital Hall, Music Building (seats 85)

Degrees

  • Undergraduate degrees: music composition, jazz studies, music education, and music performance (percussion, piano, strings, voice, winds)
  • Master’s degrees: collaborative piano, music composition, conducting (wind, choral, and orchestral), jazz studies, music education, music performance (brass, percussion, piano, strings, voice, and woodwinds), music theory, musicology, and piano pedagogy
  • Doctoral degrees: composition, conducting (winds, choral, and orchestral), music education, and music performance (percussion, piano, strings, voice, brass, and woodwinds)

Mission Statement

The mission of the Michigan State University College of Music is to provide the highest quality professional instruction; to instill in students a dedication and desire to achieve excellence and understanding in all aspects of their musical education; to develop their abilities to the highest professional standards; to expand cultural awareness and diversity; to provide access for comprehensive non-degree instruction; to participate in community, state, regional, national and international arenas through service, teaching, research and performance; and to support an excellent faculty vitally engaged in significant research, scholarly and creative endeavors.

 

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