Placeholder for header/hero
Subtitle

THE LARGEST UNDERGRAD MUSIC PROGRAM IN THE UW SYSTEM

Intro

Join a community of 400+ student musicians and take part in the well-established and beloved tradition of music at UW-Eau Claire. Whether you’re a declared music major or a student from across campus, the UW-Eau Claire Music Department welcomes any passionate student interested in growing as a musician and as an individual.

Widgets
UW Eau Claire Music Department at the 2018 Holiday Concert in at Pablo Center
Transform your passion for music into professional excellence in our rigorous program accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.
Our noteworthy range of degree programs, supportive faculty, and plentiful performance opportunities will give you the experience needed to tackle your future endeavors and launch you into a career you'll love!
Jazz Crawl
Did you know that students of ALL majors are welcome to audition for and participate in our bands, choirs, orchestras, theatre productions, and dance performances?

Blugolds can visit the *Music and Theatre Arts Department SharePoint site which serves as a resource both for students who are declared as a Music or Theatre major, and for those across campus who are interested in participating in the performing arts on campus.
*UWEC login credentials required!

EXPLORE OUR MUSIC COMMUNITY
01
VOICE & CHORAL AREA

Wisconsin's Singing University

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Voice and Choral Area hosts the state’s largest undergraduate choral program to 300+ students each year and is nationally recognized for its vibrant tradition of vocal excellence.

02
UNIVERSITY BANDS

Over 100 years strong

Our award-winning bands put your musical talent and Blugold spirit on display. Perform in packed venues, march at football games, and travel across the nation performing at regional, national, and international events. The UW-Eau Claire Band program offers students a variety of concert bands, jazz ensembles, and athletic bands designed to meet the artistic and educational needs of Blugolds, regardless of major area of study.

03
Icon showing two people shaking hands, representing the Handshake app
STRING AREA

A Close-knit group woven by expert string pedagogues

Push your creative limits with fellow orchestra musicians practice and perform a variety of works from the seventeenth century to today. The UW-Eau Claire String program offers students a variety of ensembles including the University Symphony Orchestra, Baroque Orchestra, contemporary ensembles, and a full-ride scholarship quartet.

BECOME A BLUGOLD!

In addition to UW-Eau Claire admission requirements, students enrolling as a music major or minor are required to successfully complete a departmental audition for instrument or voice prior to enrolling. LEARN MORE:

Keyboard

The keyboard area at UWEC provides valuable opportunities for students in solo performance, chamber music, and accompanying. A specialized array of courses includes piano literature, piano pedagogy, accompanying and piano ensemble.

Beyond the piano, students have opportunities to play the harpsichord in a Baroque chamber orchestra and to pursue an interest in organ with regular access to a unique Aeolian Skinner organ in the main concert hall. Students regularly gain experience accompanying for student lessons and recitals, as well as rehearsals for operas, musicals, choirs, jazz bands and more. Students have access to Steinways in the performance halls, practice rooms with grand pianos, a harpsichord and two practice organs.

Highly trained faculty who are active performers and scholars provide all piano students with weekly individual lessons and a studio class in which students perform for one another and offer critiques to their peers. Faculty serve as active mentors in faculty-student research projects with topics that range from the biography of Beethoven to the challenges of performing Britten's pieces. Guest pianists from across the country are regularly invited to perform and provide masterclasses for students. Recent graduates have gone on to teach in the schools, to open private studios, to pursue degrees at top graduate programs, to conduct Broadway productions, to serve as accompanists for opera companies and more.

Composition/Theory/History

Led by highly trained and specialized faculty, the music composition, theory and history area offers a diverse and engaging array of courses for both the music and theatre arts major and the general UWEC student.

Beginning composition class is an opportunity for any music student to learn about introductory principles of composition. Composition faculty will provide students with a major or minor in composition weekly individual lessons and a studio class where students critique their peers’ work. The composition curriculum exposes students to contemporary models of composition while steadily encouraging students to develop their own personal compositional style.

Music theory explores how music works and why, and it examines musical patterns derived from physical principles of sound and the aesthetic goals of composers. Courses in music history provide students with an introduction to relevant issues of culture, race, gender and socioeconomic factors as they impact the development and reception of music literature produced within both the Western (classical, popular and folk music traditions) and non-Western arenas (e.g., music practices in Africa, India and elsewhere). Through these course offerings, students enrich their experience as musicians, becoming better interpreters, performers and composers of music. Embracing a curriculum that is relevant to all students, study in this area aims to open up musical worlds as varied as Louis Armstrong, Mozart, Beyoncé, Libby Larsen and an Ojibwe powwow.

Page Family

Music and Theatre Arts Department

Haas Fine Arts Center 156
121 Water Street
Eau Claire, WI 54703
United States