About Us

BE PART OF THE MUSIC.

Welcome to the University of Alberta's Department of Music. Since 1945, we have been an active part of Edmonton's and Alberta's diverse musical community, contributing innovative research and creative activity, inspiring performances, and informed musical leadership at the local, national, and international levels.

UAlberta Music nurtures young musicians and academics from across Canada and around the world. From our vibrant programs to our award-winning faculty and staff, we are constantly working to better equip students with the skills they need to succeed. As a team, we are driven to inspire students, to facilitate opportunities for them, and to broaden their creativity in music and in life - supporting engaged learning from passion to perfection.

Our programs have been developed to ensure rigorous training while encouraging all students to broaden their musical horizons. We are committed to preserving classic traditions while forging new paths: students can explore music history, theory, musicology and ethnomusicology, and develop their skills in classical music, composition, traditional and popular music, and electroacoustic sound art.

Our department is home to up to 60 graduate students annually who are developing creative projects in performance, composition, conducting, ethnomusicology, and musicology. Ncounters, our annual graduate student conference, offers the graduate student body opportunities to disseminate their work and engage with the greater academic community.

We offer a monthly public research Colloquia with our faculty and visiting scholars, and support graduate and undergraduate research and performance through countless public concerts and research presentations. UAlberta Music also hosts weekly events curated by the Sound Studies Institute and the Canadian Centre for Ethnomusicology, which provide a hub for world music study and cultural research. These activities are unique to the University of Alberta and are used regularly by our staff and students as well as by researchers and institutions around the world.

Our graduates live life out loud: in orchestras, bands, choruses, opera companies, and in studios, music schools and universities around the world. UAlberta Music alumni make valuable contributions to the fields of performance, composition, scholarship, arts administration, and music therapy, and in the film, broadcasting and recording arts industries.

Whether you are looking to grow and excel in areas of performance, academic study, conducting, or composition, we invite you to be part of the music!