About - The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
OUR MISSION

Esteeming all musical traditions as vital cultural expressions of our evolving global society, The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music cultivates models for musical studies that integrate exemplary scholarship and practices, and engage through music with diverse communities on campus, throughout Los Angeles, and beyond.

OUR VISION

We envision a school of music that welcomes students from all backgrounds, and provides individual mentorship to ensure their well-being and prepare them to flourish in an evolving musical landscape. We strive to fulfill the promise of our position at the nexus of practice and scholarship by engaging diverse musical traditions within a city of exceptional cultural vibrancy.

OUR VALUES

Voice
Through our voices we express our thoughts, passions, and stories in the most immediate way. Voice has come to represent that expressive capacity more generally; we voice our selves through musical performance, composition, scholarship, and teaching, and strive in our teaching to cultivate the individual voice of each student.

Counterpoint
Individual voices have the greatest impact when they engage others in dialogue, discussion, and debate—in a word, counterpoint—whereby they establish the basis for musical and intellectual communities capable of activating the generative power of diversity.

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Resonance
Resonance provides the space for harmony and rhythm to magnify the impact of the individual. Resonance starts with people listening to each other as the first step toward community, which enables them to engage the world beyond more powerfully.

Virtuosity
By cultivating voice, counterpoint, and resonance, we allow virtuosity—in its dual sense of virtue and skill—to flourish, with each performer, composer, scholar, and educator striving for the highest level of ethical excellence, responsible stewardship, and commitment.

The School of Music by the Numbers

Faculty
Members...
156
Total Students...
692
Student/Faculty
Ratio...
4:1
Students Receiving Scholarships...
53%
Undergraduate Students Receiving Scholarships...
273
Graduate Students Receiving Scholarships...
68
Degree
Programs...
13
Performances
per Year...
350+
Performance
Ensembles...
50+
Instruments in the World
Musical Instrument Collection...
1,200+
Recordings in the
Ethnomusicology Archive...
175k+
Value of
Endowments...
$111 Million

Explore Our Degrees

Conducting
Graduate study and training in choral, orchestral, or wind conducting...
Ethnomusicology
The study of global musical traditions through performance training, research, and field work...
Global Jazz Studies
Jazz performance and musicianship courses are paired with African American Studies...
Music Composition
Mentorship in the creation and realization of music for concerts, opera, and visual media...
Music Education
Preparation for music educators leading to a BA and teaching credential in just four years...
Music Industry
A leadership-focused professional degree which prepares students to transform the creative, entrepreneurial, and executive structures of the music industry...
Musicology
The scholarly study of the histories, cultures, and critical interpretations of music and music-making...
Music Performance
Study and training towards professional performance careers in Western classical music...