Music Performance program
Undergrad minorStudy music and perform.
If you enjoy learning about music and performing with groups and ensembles, but don't want to commit to the academic requirements of a major or minor in music, the music performance minor is right for you.
UWL's music performance minor allows students to study music and continue to perform in college with flexibility.
Music performance minor vs. music minor?
UWL offers both a music minor and a music performance minor. While the music minor includes more academic requirements, the music performance minor is more flexible, allowing for additional credits in both lessons and ensembles.
Pre-college tips
Get prepared
Get involved in a variety of instrumental and choral groups
Instrument ensembles
- UWL Symphony Orchestra and UWL Wind Ensemble
- UWL Concert Band and UWL Symphonic Band
- Scholarship chamber ensembles: Hoeschler String Quartet, Cordeiro Woodwind Quintet, and Hoefer Brass Quintet.
- Screaming Eagles Marching Band
- Two jazz big bands and two jazz combos.
Choral groups
- The UWL Concert Choir
- The UWL Treble Chorus
- The UWL Choral Union
- The Contemporary/Jazz Vocal Ensemble
What distinguishes UWL's music performance minor?
The Music Department awards more than 50 talent-based scholarships per year to music majors and minors. Ensemble scholarships are available for talented non-majors performing in ensembles and chamber groups. Learn more about scholarship opportunities on the Music Department website or contact music@uwlax.edu.
Part-time student employment opportunities in the Music Office and Listening Lab are available to students eligible for the Federal Work Study program. Other job opportunities, such as recital hall tech crew and ensemble assistantships, are available to all students regardless of financial need. Learn more about student employment opportunities on the Music Department website or contact music@uwlax.edu.
All music majors and minors receive applied music lessons without additional fees. Any student without a music major or music minor may audition to take applied lessons when studio space is available; an additional fee is required for students enrolled in lessons only.
Located in the UWL Center for the Arts, the Music Department features the acoustically-superb and renovated 235-seat Annett Recital Hall, which houses two grand pianos, a two-manual harpsichord and state-of-the-art digital recording equipment. Center for the Arts also houses well-equipped rehearsal facilities, classrooms, and labs, as well as ample practice rooms.
Music faculty and staff members are dedicated to excellence in teaching and performing. They are passionate about providing artistic performance opportunities for students and helping all students attain their musical goals.
Long a marquee program in Wisconsin, the Jazz Studies area features two big bands and two jazz combos. Both music-and non-music majors perform historical and contemporary big band styles in the Jazz Orchestra and the Jazz Ensemble through frequent on-and off-campus concerts. Improvisers learn their craft in jazz improvisation courses and gain small group experience in combo performances at area jazz clubs. Jazz vocalists sing with all instrumental jazz ensembles and have their own dedicated group with the Contemporary/Jazz Vocal Ensemble.
Sample courses
MUS 205 Global Cultures in Music This course surveys the selected musical traditions of the world. By looking at selected communities in detail, students will better understand that music is, in most cases, connected to culture and cannot be understood without an awareness of cultural contexts. Students will also develop a musical vocabulary and listening skills through exposure to recordings, lectures and assignments about stylistic elements, and analysis. The ability to read music is not required for the course, but it is helpful. The lectures will be supplemented with sound recordings, and will include in-class demonstrations when possible. Offered Fall, Spring, Summer.
MUS 266 Theory of Music I This course is an introduction to core music theory concepts. Students review essential concepts by studying them within musical contexts (melody, harmony, counterpoint, etc.). Topics include meter and rhythm, the management of dissonance, the structure of keys, the harmonic function of triads and seventh chords, and basic formal units (phrase, period, cadence, etc.). The course introduces students to applied chords. The students explore these concepts through composition and analysis, using models from the common practice period and some popular 20th-century styles. Prerequisite: MUS 115 or minimum score of 3 on AP music exam or Music Department Theory assessment milestone; concurrent enrollment in MUS 268. Offered Spring.
MUS 268 Aural Skills I In this course students develop aural skills to build their musical literacy by seeing, listening, and transcribing notation. Students complete specialized exercises that develop their hearing skills through the practice of singing using syllables and transcribing what is heard. Exercises include singing and notating increasingly challenging melodies, rhythmic exercises, and identifying harmonies and simple harmonic progressions. Prerequisite: MUS 115 or minimum score of 3 on AP music exam or Music Department Theory assessment milestone; concurrent enrollment in MUS 266. Offered Spring.
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