About
Our School

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.
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.
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.
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.
Our Strategic Plan
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music’s Strategic Plan will guide our school’s evolution and growth in the years ahead. This blueprint of our shared future closely examines our curricula, student support infrastructure, instructional facilities and our commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, among other important goals. In developing this important analysis, we have identified opportunities for rapid innovation that provide hope, fostering a brighter future where music re-claims its integral and essential place.
Click the image to the right to view the 2021 Strategic Plan.
Progress Report
Our students, faculty and staff worked in 2024 to report our progress on the strategic plan and provide updates where necessary.
Click the report title to the left to read the progress report.
The School of Music by the Numbers
Members
(516 undergrad, 155 grad)
Ratio
Programs
per Year
Ensembles
Musical Instrument Collection
Ethnomusicology Archive
Endowments