The Bachelor of Arts in Ethnomusicology explores the rich variety of musical expressions throughout the world by combining hands-on musical experiences with academic study. Students have the opportunity to take courses that cover the music of virtually every region of the world and of many ethnic groups in the U.S., as well as courses on popular music and film music. The courses combine an interest in music as an art form with questions about how musical art and practice relate to other aspects of culture, society, politics, and economics. Additionally, students take advantage of the department’s one-of-a-kind world musical instrument collection and expert performance faculty to study the performance of musical traditions from around the globe.

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Ethnomusicology Faculty

Armen Adamian
Instructor of Armenian Woodwinds; Ph.D. Student in Ethnomusicology
Supeena Adler
World Music Instrument Curator and Conservator; Director, Music of Thailand Ensemble; Adjunct Associate Professor
Münir Beken
Associate Professor
Mark Kligman
Professor of Musicology, Ethnomusicology, and Humanities; Mickey Katz Chair of Jewish Music; Director of Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience
Chi Li
Adjunct Professor
Steven Loza
Director of the UCLA Center for Latino Arts; Professor and Chair of Global Jazz Studies
Mohsen Mohammadi
Director of Indo-Persian Music
Rahul Neuman
Continuing Lecturer
Roger Savage
Professor and Chair of Ethnomusicology
I Nyoman Wenten
Adjunct Assoc. Professor
Guest Artists & Scholars Offer Students Unique Insights from the City of Angels

A stream of high-profile artists and scholars from around the world have energized and inspired our students, helping to transform their educational experience. Among them are J.H. Kwabena Nketia, considered Africa’s premier musicologist-ethnomusicologist; Akin Euba, a Nigerian composer, musicologist, and pianist; MacArthur Fellow Steven Feld, an American ethnomusicologist, anthropologist, and linguist, who worked for many years with the Kaluli people of Papua New Guinea; Judith Becker, professor emerita of ethnomusicology, University of Michigan; Mark Slobin, the author or editor of books on Afghanistan and Central Asia, eastern European Jewish music, film music, and ethnomusicology theory; Chano Dominguez, award-winning Spanish-born pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator, and Hossein Omoumi, a scholar and teacher of Persian traditional music, among others.

Steven-Feld Steven-Feld Steven Feld
Khon: Thai Masked Dance and Music
Organized by Supeena Adler, this monumental concert brought together internationally acclaimed Thai musicians and dancers with UCLA students and the greater UCLA community.
Music Alive in the Archive: An Exploration of Kulintang Music in the Danongan Kalanduyan
The Ethnomusicology Archive holds one of the world’s great collections of audio and video recordings documenting kulingang gong music and dance around the world. They are now freely accessible to the public on the California Revealed website. Archivist Maureen Russell documented the celebration of the collection’s launch for Ethnomusicology Review.
Freedom First to Feature Student Composition
On Friday, October 6, Schoenberg Hall will witness a special event. A concert for Keith LaMar will feature legendary jazz musicians Salim Washington and multi-Grammy Award winner Arturo O’Farrill. The concert benefits LaMar, currently on death row in Ohio, having been falsely convicted of murder in the aftermath of the 1993 Lucasville Prison uprising. *
Ethnomusicology Student Lauded by Kennedy Center
Isabel Folkers was only four when she unwittingly chanced upon her career trajectory. The occasion was a house party at the home of an Irish family. The band had finished for the night and they were breaking down their equipment. The young Isabel Folkers jumped up on the makeshift stage and took hold of the
For 2023 Undergraduate Student Commencement Speaker, Community is Key
When Yeremiya Wright arrived at UCLA in the Fall of 2019 as a first-year student, he was unaware that a global pandemic was literally right around the corner. Nor was anyone aware of what was in store. “I went home to New Jersey in the Spring quarter of 2020 thinking I would be coming back
Time for the Spring Festival of World Music
It's time for the annual Spring Festival of World Music. Travel the globe with us!
May 10 Fri
1:00pm
Free
world-music
Music Alive in the Archive: Celebrating the Music and Legacy of Rev. Tom Kurai
Join us to celebrate UCLA’s acquisition and digitization of Rev. Shuichi Thomas Kurai’s audiovisual holdings with an afternoon of taiko music and memories.
Lani Hall
May 17 Fri
7:00pm
Free
world-music
Music of Turkey and Korea
The Music of Turkey Ensemble and the Music of Korea Ensemble showcase traditional music from these regions on the same stage. In the Music of Turkey Ensemble class, students learn to perform the vocal and instrumental repertoire from art music, fasil, folk, and other genres found in Turkey and its periphery. Students may choose to sing
Schoenberg Hall
May 18 Sat
7:00pm
Free
world-music
Music of China and Thailand
The Music of China Ensemble and Music of Thailand Ensemble showcase traditional music from these regions on the same stage. The Music of China Ensemble performs arias from Kun opera of the 15th century, silk-and-bamboo music from the Shanghai area, folk dances for festive celebration, zheng zither music in the Keijia style from Canton Province,
Schoenberg Hall

Explore Other Degrees

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