At the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, there are no musical boundaries. Rigorous classical training intersects with open-minded exploration of the contemporary musical landscape. Performances from musical traditions spanning the globe are complemented by critical analysis and scholarship that place the music in historical and cultural contexts. A faculty of internationally-renowned performers and leading scholars combines expertise and extensive experience with accessibility and a commitment to students. The School of Music is integrated into UCLA, one of the top research universities in the country, and the city of Los Angeles, one of the cultural hubs of the world. This synergy provides students with unparalleled artistic, academic, and social opportunities.

Our faculty are leaders in their fields and include Grammy winners, an NAACP Image Award recipient, Fullbright recipients, a Seaver/NEA Conductors Awardee, and Academy Award winners. Our students work in concert with a boundary-pushing medievalist, a leading scholar of the American musical, jazz legends, masters of traditional world music instruments, a punk scholar, and others who are fostering transformative critical thinking about music and musical practices.

Forty-six ensembles present 350 live music performances each year. Our ensembles include wind ensembles, early music, opera, symphony orchestras, choral ensembles, African American, Anglo American, Bali, Balkans, Charles Mingus, China, India, Irish, Mexico, Near East, Africa, Intercultural Improvisation, Jazz Orchestra, Latin Jazz Big Band, Ellingtonia Orchestra, Jazz Combos, the UCLA Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance Ensemble, and the mighty UCLA Bruin Marching Band. Our students gain real-world experience on campus stages and at LA Opera, LACMA, The Getty Center, jazz clubs, and other cultural hot spots.

The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music offers performance, scholarship, and innovation, all in one place. Combining outstanding departments of Ethnomusicology, Music, and Musicology, our academic opportunities balance cutting-edge scholarship with performance mastery and composition. Students are encouraged to explore music in all its contemporary and historical diversity.

Los Angeles, CA 90095

310-825-6457

The UCLA Career Center is one of the largest and most comprehensive career centers in the nation. It offers a wide range of services that help students develop clarity about professional interests; provide students with the knowledge, skills, resources, and experience necessary to pursue professional goals with confidence and self-assurance; and facilitate connections between students and employers, alumni, and graduate school representatives. The Career Center, in collaboration with the School of Music faculty and staff, meets the unique needs of our students by providing programs and counseling services specific to careers in the arts.

KEY STATISTICS (college level and above)

Music Faculty: 46 full time, 88 adjunct

Applied Music (Performance) • Brass • Composition (Performance) • Guitar • Harp • Jazz Studies & Contemporary Media • Music Education • Orchestral Conducting • Organ • Percussion • Piano • Strings • Voice/Opera • Woodwinds

Other Areas of Study: Choral Conducting • Ethnomusicology • Music History • Music Industry • Musicology • Wind Conducting • World Music