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Music at Shepherd University is the home for your future.
Shepherd music is undergraduate-focused, with no graduate performing program. You perform, you play, you sing, you compose, and you conduct. YOU get the experience—learning in action.
We offer two degrees:
- Bachelor of Music Education (B.M.E.)
Vocal • Instrumental - Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Music
Performance • Composition • General Music
Many Shepherd music graduates have gone on to prestigious graduate schools of music that include Peabody, Northwestern, Ithaca, Eastman, Arizona State, and Manhattan School of Music. Music graduates have starred on Broadway and world tours, become recording artists and have joined nationally known ensembles including the United States Navy Band and The Sea Chanters. Learn about our student’s success stories and testimonials.
The Music Education program has an astounding 100% placement rate of those actively seeking jobs in the teaching field since its inception in 1950, and music education students learn to conduct by directing our ensembles in real concerts, not lab ensembles in student recitals. Shepherd music grads hold esteemed teaching positions in institutions of learning all over the country, including elementary, secondary, and post-secondary schools.
We offer challenging academic classes taught by top-notch, full-time faculty members as well as a wide variety of ensemble experiences for you to develop your professional skills, including:
- Three choral ensembles for men, women, and chamber music, as well as Masterworks—a large ensemble that includes singing with a full orchestra twice yearly
- A wind ensemble, wind symphony, two jazz ensembles, a student orchestra, a guitar ensemble, a chamber music ensemble, and the Ram Band—the best small-school marching band in the country
- An opera or musical workshop every fall and a fully-staged opera or musical production every spring
We engage in international travel every other year. The Jazz Ensemble, Wind Ensemble, and Concert and Chamber Choirs have performed throughout the United States and Europe, including Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, England, Ireland, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Our students utilize modern technology to enhance the development of their musical skills through our computer lab, a massive MP3 library, and digital practice rooms that allow you to simulate various performance environments.
We offer competitive tuition rates for both in-state and out-of-state students at comparable private universities and conservatories.