Department of Music

The Department of Music is also home to a world-class concert series—UChicago Presents, welcoming internationally acclaimed performers of classical, early, and world music, and jazz—and the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition—Chicago’s home for the creation, performance, and study of contemporary classical music, in addition to several performance ensembles.

For nearly 90 years, the UChicago Department of Music has been a leader in the study and creation of music, both historical and contemporary. With leading scholars in their fields and situated in the UChicago Humanities Divisions, the department offers graduate degrees in composition, ethnomusicology, and music history and theory, as well as an undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree in music.

Beyond the classroom, the Music Department hosts a thriving co-curricular Performance Program encompassing four choirs, two orchestras, two jazz ensembles, a South Asian instrumental and vocal ensemble, a Middle East music ensemble, an early music ensemble, a wind ensemble, and programs in chamber music, piano, and voice. Open to all undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students at the University, the performance program offers an exceptional environment for artistic inspiration and musical growth, and for students in the department, it serves as a complement to their academic studies.