The Department of Music at Emory recognizes the many and varied manifestations of music, and hears in them a powerful means of understanding the human experience. The department provides a dynamic and ever-changing environment in which students, faculty, and the greater Atlanta community can encounter music through performance, creation, listening, reflection, and analysis. We offer a broad array of courses and experiences in which students make and study different kinds of music. We aspire to provide rich and deep encounters for all who are interested, appreciating that our different musical traditions and levels of expertise enrich those encounters. Through our collective activities, we affirm the capacity of musical expression to respond ethically and creatively to the world. We welcome all and are committed to mutual care and collaboration in our work.
Studying music at Emory offers opportunities for students to develop as performers, composers, and researchers. Over the last four years, our program has enjoyed significant increases in enrollment by those seeking credit for these diverse endeavors. We have observed that while the scope of students’ creative ambitions and projects has widened impressively over these last years, our resources to support their work have remained steady. Successful fundraising allows us to increase support for our students who have been successful in nationally visible fora including:
- performances on HBO Max, with members of the Atlanta Symphony, NBA Live TV, with multi-platinum recording artist Ben Folds
- praise in the New York Times, Atlanta Journal Constitution
- highly-competitive national awards: Fulbright, Beineke, and Shepard
- major conference presentation including at the Society of American Music, the Society for Music Theory, and the Society for Ethnomusicology
- publication in the Journal of Undergraduate Research in Music Journal.
The Impact of Your Gift
Time and time again, our graduating students cite their arts experience as having been key to their time at Emory. We plan to expand upon our already significant relationships with musicians of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to make music at Emory an even more vital component of the Atlanta arts scene, with reciprocal benefits for our students, faculty, and the Atlanta community. We are also developing new Study Abroad initiatives, internships, and collaborations to offer our music students a colorful palette of culturally-rich experiences to draw upon during their time at Emory. Here are other ways a gift will make an immediate impact on students:
- eliminate lesson fees for majors (currently $960 per semester), increasing access to the major and equity by reducing financial hardships
- fund for helping alleviate costs of student research travel in US and abroad
- guest lecturer funds artist/lecture series
- funding for lessons scholarships
- discretionary travel funding for students in various tracks engaged in research who are invited to participate or present at conferences or symposia
- funding study abroad opportunities in music, including our new “Music in Italy” program launching in 2023
- funding to support students in the preparation and presentation of their creative work (compositions, honors projects) on campus
