Music Education
Music Education Faculty
Dr. Joelle L. Lien, Music Education Division Chair
Dr. Mark Ely, Professor of Music
Dr. Jessica Napoles, Assistant Professor
Dr. Rachel Lee Nardo, Beverly Sorensen Endowed Chair
About the Program
The Music Education Division at the University of Utah offers the following degree programs:
Bachelor of Music (BM) in Music Education
Master of Music (MM) in Music Education
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Music Education
The Bachelor of Music Education degree is designed to prepare students for careers in music education and leads to a K-12 music teaching license. Because of the varying demands and opportunities in teaching, students will have experience working with choral and instrumental ensembles and teaching general music. Ultimately, students choose one of two specialized degree tracks: choral and instrumental.
The four-year course of study for music education majors includes music theory and aural skills, music history, conducting, liberal arts, education, and music education coursework. Music education majors study with applied faculty on their major instrument and have opportunities to perform in solo recitals and with a variety of ensembles.
Music education faculty offer one-on-one mentoring and advising at least once per semester to ensure that students feel comfortable with their progress in the program and so that they receive the necessary guidance throughout their four years.
Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Music Education program begin to observe and work with public school music teachers during their freshman year. This pre-service teaching involvement continues throughout their four-year program and becomes progressively more intensive. During the junior year, students participate in methods courses that investigate appropriate teaching strategies and materials and include on-site pre-service teaching experiences in local schools.
The culminating experience of the degree program is the student teaching semester. Students work in partnership with public school teachers as they assume the role and responsibilities of a full-time music educator. During this time, they also participate in a weekly seminar engaging them in topics that include classroom management, interviewing skills, assessment, portfolio development, and other issues of interest to student teachers.
Graduate programs in music education offer flexible degree structures designed to meet a variety of student interests and areas of expertise. Because many graduate students work full-time as music educators in local schools, the School of Music offers music education degree programs that may be completed after school hours or during the summers.
Graduate students in Music Education have a great deal of flexibility in their course work, with up to 12 credit hours of electives. Students can choose courses from a variety of areas within the School of Music, including applied lessons and ensembles. Graduate degrees in music education are designed to meet individual needs, and the culminating project in the Masters program may be either a thesis or another project of the student’s choice. Students work directly with their major professor to determine which option is best and how to accomplish their goals.
The University of Utah is the only institution in Utah granting a PhD in Music Education.