Department

• Music

The Department of Music offers comprehensive programs in music leading to the Master of Music Education degrees.

The Department of Music, as a unit within Jackson State University, is an accredited member of the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM).

The Department of Music supports many performing ensembles, which include the “Sonic Boom of the South” Marching Band, University Choir, Chorale, Orchestra, Jazz Ensembles, Steel Pan, African Drum and Dance, and Opera Workshop among others. The Department of Music is located in the F.D. Hall Music Center, which houses a recital hall, rehearsal facilities, digital recording studio, and piano and electronic music technology labs. Our faculty members are highly qualified professional educators and musicians, including instrumentalists, vocalists, composers and conductors, trained at some of the most highly respected colleges and conservatories in the nation.

The graduate program leading to the Master of Music Education degree offers a curriculum aligned with the mission of the College of Liberal Arts and the University. The Master of Music Education degree is creatively designed and provides the graduate student with a comprehensive music education curriculum with options for study in a Thesis, Project, Recital or Extra Hours Plan.

Mission Statement

The Department of Music is committed to providing the highest quality of educational opportunities in music education, performance, and technology by empowering a diverse population of students to develop the technologically advanced skills required to assume leadership roles in music education, music industry, and related areas in the global market. The Department of Music offers courses and performance opportunities which broaden music education in the liberal arts and provides artistic enrichment for the University, Community, State and Nation while facilitating opportunities for artistic activism which begins to address the sociocultural inequalities and challenges of the world.

To this end, and in alignment with the mission of the University as a whole, the department is committed to challenging students to explore new ideas and reach their highest potential through engaging course work, research, and seminars. Additionally, the Department of Music resolves to:

• Provide competitive, accredited, undergraduate and graduate degree programs and curricula which focus on advancing education, research, performance, and technology.
• Engage students of all majors in opportunities to develop their knowledge, and ability in all aspects of music by participating in concerts, performances, workshops, master classes, and guest artist residencies.
• Inspire students and faculty to participate globally in culturally enriching activities by encouraging engagement with Western classical, world, and modern music and through involvement in student exchange and study abroad programs, competitions, international music festivals, and conferences.
• Encourage students to increase knowledge and mastery of the means by which to communicate (verbally, in written form, and through artistic interpretation) the value and vastness of knowledge expressed in music and art, historically and in contemporary times.
• To encourage critical thinking, listening and analytical skills which are reinforced and articulated through college-level rhetorical writing, speaking, and performance of and about Western and world music.

Masters