We offer students academic opportunities that balance cutting-edge scholarship with performance mastery and composition. Rigorous and improvisational, we encourage and embrace the exploration of music in all its contemporary and historical diversity. Students have a multitude of performance opportunities and access to world-class archives, music collections, dedicated centers of study and stellar faculty. Within UCLA’s interdisciplinary environment, The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music is the portal through which music engages with other disciplines on campus and beyond.
About
Our School
A Magnet
for Talent
Faculty
Members
Members
135
Total
Students
Students
468
Student/Faculty
Ratio
Ratio
4:1
Degree
Programs
Programs
15
Performances
per Year
per Year
350
Performance
Ensembles
Ensembles
45
Instruments in the World
Musical Instrument Collection
Musical Instrument Collection
800+
Recordings in the
Ethnomusicology Archive
Ethnomusicology Archive
150k+
Value of
Endowments
Endowments
$53MM
Judith Smith
A Message from the Dean
Welcome to The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. We are the only school of music in the University of California system. This distinction enables us to provide the highest caliber of music instruction in the context of a great research university. It allows students to take advantage of the resources and experiences offered by a university setting, while receiving world-class musical training and working along-side leading scholars who are fostering transformative critical thinking about music and musical practices. It drives our mission to educate undergraduate and graduate students by nurturing collaborations between performance and scholarly work, embracing the art of all musics throughout the world.
I encourage you to explore our innovative and highly ranked programs in composition, conducting, ethnomusicology, global jazz studies, music education, music industry, musicology, and performance. Our faculty center curricula on what students need to succeed in music and in life and by making connections to the musical life of Los Angeles and beyond.
No matter what area of music study interests you the most, you will find a place here at UCLA where intellectual passions come to life and ideas flow back and forth across disciplines. Our faculty members are among the top in their fields, and our students are passionate and committed to scholarship and performance.
– Judith Smith
Elisabeth Le Guin
Chair of Musicology; Professor
Travis J. Cross
Chair of Music; Professor
Mark Kligman
Chair of Ethnomusicology; Professor
Raymond Knapp
Academic Associate Dean; Professor
Steven Loza
Chair of Global Jazz Studies; Professor
Robert Fink
Chair of Music Industry Minor; Professor
Juliana Gondek
Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion; Professor
Sandra Topete
Director of Academic Personnel
Luis Henao
Director of Music Technology and Production, Director of the Recording Studios
Shannon McGarry
Assistant Dean
Jesse Cano
Chief Financial Officer
Paul Philabaum
Director, Technology Services
Ariane Bicho
Director of Communications
Ava Sadripour
Executive Director of Development
Explore Our Degrees
Composition
Mentorship in the creation and realization of music for concerts, opera, and visual media
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 Education
Preparation for music educators leading to a B.A. and teaching credential in just four years
Music Industry
Industry professionals and UCLA faculty prepare students for music-related careers
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
Music Performance Jazz
A highly selective M.M. program in partnership with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz