FAIRFIELD—Sacred Heart University will offer a bachelor of arts degree in music starting this fall. While students have been able to study music as a minor, the tremendous growth and success of SHU’s performing arts program brought about the expansion.
The new program will be based in the department of media and performing arts in the School of Communication, Media & the Arts (SCMA), which is part of the College of Arts & Sciences. Coursework will prepare students to become professional musicians, music educators, producers and audio engineers.
Joe Carter, director of SHU’s academic music program, and Sara “Sally” Ross, associate professor and department chair of media and theatre arts, worked together to establish the new major. It will require students to complete 48 credits: 36 from required courses consisting of music theory (12 credits), music history and literature (9 credits), applied music (13 credits) and piano proficiency (2 credits). Students also will pursue 12 credits for their concentration, in either performance or music production.
“A music major is a logical and prudent next step as Sacred Heart continues to expand its arts curricula. It is, in part, a response to the unprecedented growth of the academic music program over the past several years. By offering an average of 20 music elective classes each semester, along with private lessons on 20 instruments, plus instrumental and choral ensembles, the academic music program has grown to be the largest performing arts program at SHU,” said Carter.
“Studying music encourages students to incorporate creative expression into their wider intellectual and personal development, thus fulfilling a fundamental goal of Catholic schooling: to educate the whole person and to nurture each student’s intellectual, aesthetic, spiritual and moral growth,” he said. “Increasing our commitment to the academic discipline of music will unambiguously contribute to providing the environment in which its students can develop the aesthetic dimension of life by nurturing their abilities to imagine, create and appreciate, which is part of our mission statement.”
Students will be required to participate in an audition-based assessment to determine if they will be admitted into the program. They will have to present entry-level musical abilities with growth potential. Students who have a performance concentration will perform 60-minute recitals in their junior and senior years.
“We are excited that this major will enable students to pursue their passion for music while gaining versatile skills that will open the doors to a variety of creative careers,” said Ross.
(To learn more, visit the music degree program webpage.)
