Founded in the 1870s in one of the great artistic and cultural centers of the nation, the School can lay claim to a glorious and distinguished history. The many successful alumni and former faculty can attest to this tradition. We are proud of our past and conscious of our present. The School offers the most diverse array of academic and artistic programs and degrees, from the bachelor’s degree to research and professional doctorates. Our online professional doctorate is at the very cutting edge of graduate music education. The faculty of the School of Music shares our mission and goals:

• To prepare professional musicians in composition and performance for the concert stage and for our nation’s professional musical organizations. We strive to provide the means for society’s most talented and creative musicians to realize their own potential.
• To prepare students for music teaching in elementary and secondary schools, as well as in colleges and universities.
• To give local and surrounding communities the benefits and cultural advantages of the musical resources of a large, urban, professionally oriented university music program. The School of Music is actively engaged in many activities that have direct influence on the cultural life of greater Boston. Most of these activities are presented without charge and provide opportunities for students and residents of the community, including those of underprivileged areas. These performances and services involve many recitals and concerts of the faculty and students, including the Boston University Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Chorus, Time’s Arrow, and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute in conjunction with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In addition, the School offers lectures and performances by visiting artists, as well as performances and master classes by the in-residence ensemble; the Muir String Quartet; Boston Baroque; and our professional contemporary performance group, Alea III. Undergraduate and graduate students of the School play an active role in the musical life of the Boston community as freelance artists and as part of several outreach programs bringing music to the community.
• To encourage all of those students in the University who wish to study music, in performance as well as in the theoretical studies, as a part of their elective choices as well as their required curriculum.
• To promote scholarly work and research in all fields of musicology, ethnomusicology, and music education.

We extend the warmest welcome to all visitors, prospective students, and colleagues of the School. You will find our community to be vibrant, supportive, and progressive. The School’s mission is unchanged since the 1870s—through educating the very finest and most humane musicians, we seek to contribute to the artistic life of the society in which we live.

Website: www.bu.edu/cfa/music/