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  1. Undergrad Programs
  2. Undergraduate Programs

Undergraduate Programs

Overview

The Department of Music is a dynamic center of musical activity, offering degrees in performance, creation and scholarship that feature close engagement with faculty, while also serving the broader campus through wide-ranging classes and ensembles. The department is led by nationally and internationally recognized faculty artists and scholars who are highly active in their professional fields, while also being deeply committed to teaching, mentoring and engaging with the campus and regional community. Many of our alumni enter top-tier music graduate programs and lead successful careers as performers, conductors, composers, technologists and scholars, while others - including many double majors - build on their critical and creative training to pursue professional careers outside of music. Our flexible degree options and our dedicated faculty help students cultivate their own creative identity and professional pathway, and provide a foundation to deepen students' lifelong relationship with music.

Spring 2025 Update on Undergraduate Programs

At the undergraduate level, we offer the B.A. in Music and the B.Mus. in Music. In addition, we are excited to announce that beginning in fall 2025, we will be offering a Minor in Music. 

The B.A. and B.Mus. degrees will be changing starting in Fall 2025. This page on the CTSA Student Affairs website provides lists of the requirements for all degrees,  including the prior and new versions of the B.A. and B.Mus, as well as the Minor in Music.

Currently enrolled music majors who entered UCI prior to Fall 2025: If you wish to consider switching to the new degrees in Fall 2025, start by reviewing the degree requirement checklists linked above. If you have specific questions after doing so, please contact a CTSA Student Affairs Academic Advisor, and note that we will also hold an information session to answer questions in mid-May, before fall enrollment starts. (The date/location of that meeting will be sent in a department email announcement.)

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Music

Note: This description applies to the new version of this degree, starting in Fall 2025.

The Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree program provides students with a broad foundation in music studies, and its flexibility is especially well suited for students who wish to pursue a second major, study abroad, or other curricular options. All B.A. students complete courses in theory, history, musicianship, keyboard skills, performance, composition/improvisation and technology. In addition, B.A students complete course requirements and a B.A. Project in an area of emphasis, choosing from two options: 1) History and Theory of Music; or 2) Integrated Composition, Improvisation and Technology. Through upper division emphasis courses, which are often major-restricted with small enrollments, and through designing their original capstone B.A. Project, students have opportunities to develop their individual research and creative interests while working closely with faculty. 

Bachelor of Music (B.Mus.)

Note: This description applies to the new version of this degree, starting in Fall 2025.

The Bachelor of Music (B.Mus.) degree program provides pre-professional training in Western classical music performance and is designed for students who aspire to work as professional musicians. Three B.Mus. specializations are offered: piano, vocal arts, and strings (violin, viola, violoncello, and double bass). Students in this program receive weekly private instrumental or vocal instruction, with quarterly juries (performance exams), and present a public solo recital during their senior year; vocal arts and strings students also present a junior recital.

​​Admission to the B.Mus. degree program is by audition. Auditions are held in late January each year and all students (including new applicants, transfer applicants, and currently enrolled UCI students wishing to add the B.Mus. as a second major) must audition at that time, for entry into the B.Mus. degree in the following fall. For information on audition requirements and scheduling, please see the Music Department website.

Minor in Music

A new option for UCI students starting in Fall 2025, the Minor in Music consists of 32 units of coursework, including five lower-division lecture classes (Fundamentals A and B; Classical Tradition 1 and 2; and Music and Computers) and an additional 12 units of upper-division MUS courses (which can include any combination of both ensembles and lecture classes).

Links and Contacts for Undergraduate Students

Important links:

Contacts:

 

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