REVA AND SID DEWBERRY FAMILY SCHOOL OF MUSIC
BA, Music, multiple concentrations
The Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Music provides maximum flexibility to students who have diverse interests in music and other fields. Recent BA students have gone on to graduate study and to careers in studio teaching, arts management, musicology, and music theory to name only a few. Students may choose between several concentrations: Music, Music Technology, Music Pedagogy, and Audio Engineering and Sound Design.
Concentrations
Music
The Bachelor of Arts in Music provides students with substantial coursework in music fundamentals, theory, aural skills, music history, and solo and ensemble performance. As a liberal arts degree, the BA allows students to study a foreign language, take a minor, a second major, or even to pursue a double degree program. The BA is the perfect degree for students who want to study music at a high level and who have a strong academic interest in the sciences, humanities, or another professional field such as business. It develops problem solving and critical thinking skills and prepares students for a multitude of career paths inside and outside of music.
Music Technology
The Music Technology concentration provides students with a strong grasp of the technical and theoretical aspects of music recording and production within the context of a broad liberal arts education. It acquaints them with the historical and social context of recorded music and electronic music in all of its aspects, from the avant-garde experiments to current styles of electronica. Students develop the skill and technique to produce substantial new creative works in electronic composition and music recording and production.
Music Pedagogy
The Music Pedagogy concentration combines the musical and academic rigor of the BA in Music with specialized instruction in pedagogy through an 18-credit-hour core of courses culminating in an internship. The concentration is designed for students who wish to develop mastery of studio music teaching. Students examine practical and theoretical aspects of pedagogy, teach students at multiple levels in supervised and unsupervised settings, and explore the psychological and physiological challenges of working with learners of all ages. Admission to the concentration is currently limited to students in strings and piano.
Audio Engineering and Sound Design
The BA in Music with a concentration in Audio Engineering and Sound Design is a Liberal Arts degree for students who want a serious study of music with an emphasis on the control and design of sound events and the manipulation of live and recorded sound. It is designed to be interdisciplinary and draws on course offerings from throughout the College of Visual and Performing Arts including audio-related courses in Art, Film and Video Studies, and Theater. The degree is designed to attract a wide spectrum of students and does not require a music performance audition for admission.
Alumna Sonja Phillips-Thomas double majored in Music and Film and hopes to utilize both disciplines to fulfill her love of telling stories. She plays classical guitar but she also composes music and won Best Film Score at the 2022 Mason Film Festival for her work. She hopes to study Music Composition at graduate school.
Admission to this program is a two-step process:
1) apply to George Mason University and
2) submit materials into the Slide Room portal for your audition/portfolio review.
If you are a current student at George Mason, you can begin with step two.