About Us

The UNCG School of Music has long been recognized as one of the top music institutions in the United States and has been fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music since 1938. The school offers the only comprehensive music program from undergraduate through doctoral study in performance and music education in the state.

Music has been a central discipline at UNCG since the university's founding over a century ago. Progressing from a department to a professional School of Music by 1921, the school was the first in the South to offer an undergraduate music education degree (1912). During the 1920s, the North Carolina High School Music Contest Festival - the precursor of today's influential North Carolina Music Educators Association - arose on campus.

Today the UNCG School of Music consists of over 600 music majors taught by a faculty of more than 60. Our outstanding resources and environment have led to the school serving as host for several major organizations:

  • International Tuba and Euphonium Association
  • International Double Reed Society
  • North American Saxophone Alliance
  • College Music Society Southeastern Division
  • Society of Composers, Inc.
  • Society for Music Teacher Education

Studies in the UNCG School of Music complement rigorous professional training with a broad liberal education necessary for students to function effectively as teaching and performing musicians. Our approach of combining conservatory and university style learning, outstanding faculty and beautiful facilities clearly reaps rewards.

Living in the artistically thriving Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, the Triad area provides a wealth of cultural opportunities for our students. Students regularly attend and perform in concerts by the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra, the Greensboro Opera Company, the Winston-Salem Symphony and the Eastern Music Festival.

There are also performing opportunities for area churches, touring events and with several other orchestras throughout the region. Situated midway between Washington, DC, and Atlanta, Greensboro is only two hours from the mountains and four hours from the coast. It is a dynamic city, offering a splendid setting for the university.

Seven first place awards in the National Opera Association Competition since 1995
First place national winner in the MTNA Solo Woodwind Competition
100 percent job placement from our Music Education degree programs

Degree Programs

Undergraduate Study

  • Bachelor of Music
    • Composition
    • Jazz Studies
    • Music Education
    • Performance
  • Bachelor of Arts
  • Music Minor

Graduate Study

  • Master of Music
    • Performance
      • Accompanying
      • Conducting
      • Early Keyboard Instruments
      • Piano Pedagogy
      • Vocal/Instrumental
      • Vocal Pedagogy
    • Music Theory
    • Composition
    • Music Education
  • Doctor of Musical Arts
    • Accompanying
    • Conducting
    • Performance
  • Doctor of Philosophy
    • Music Education

Our Alumni Say...

The program is perfectly balanced... conservatory-feel in a "state university,"

Best kept secret in music education. The school was fantastic when I attended, and is even better now.

UNCG has tremendous resources and faculty to offer to anyone considering music as a career. The experience of the large ensembles is unparalleled.

UNCG is a fine institution; the School of Music is outstanding.

 

The mission of the UNCG School of Music is:

  1. to provide a rich, stimulating environment in which students can develop as music professionals through a comprehensive curriculum enhanced by the liberal arts for undergraduate students, and through study, training, and experiences for graduate students (through the doctoral level) that will enable them to become specialists and leaders in their fields
  2. to offer a variety of opportunities for musical growth and creative achievement for all University students; and
  3. to function as a center of intellectual, educational, and cultural excellence on campus, regionally, nationally, and globally.

The School of Music has been an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music since 1938.