MA / PhD - The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music

The MA/PhD in Ethnomusicology investigates music in cultural and social contexts. In preparing students for careers in studying global music communities, our program assists students in understanding music as social practice from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Students are introduced to the intellectual history of the field and its paradigmatic shifts, and research methodology in preparation for ethnographic fieldwork. Our ethnomusicology program seeks to prepare students for careers in the academy, public sector, the music industry, and/or cultural heritage policy-making. We also offer seminars in select global music cultures as well as topics, which examine music as related to gender, politics, religion, economics, philosophy, aesthetics, and musical practice.

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Student Perspectives:<br />
David Castañeda

Student Perspectives:
David Castañeda

“I enjoyed the connections that I made with my colleagues who have now become family, seeing my approach as a researcher develop substantially in such a short amount of time, and most of all the opportunity to grow as an instructor and educator.” – David Castañeda Ph.D. ’21 | Ethnomusicology

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.

More News

Ethnomusicology Department Hosts 66th Annual Meeting of Society for Ethnomusicology Southern California and Hawai'i Chapter

This year’s meeting marked the 70th anniversary of Mantle Hood’s arrival at UCLA. Hood’s visionary establishment of an institute of ethnomusicology (later to become the ethnomusicology department) made UCLA a

The Past is Present

The UCLA Magazine surveyed the ethnomusicology department’s preservation efforts for global cultural heritage at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

GRAMMY-Nominated Alumna KOLE interviewed in Daily Bruin

KOLE, an ethnomusicology alumna of The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, co-wrote and produced three songs on the GRAMMY nominated album Vantablack.

Samuel Lamontagne Joins UC Riverside as Assistant Professor

Lamontagne, who completed his dissertation in ethnomusicology under the direction of Tim Taylor in 2022, held a UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship at the UCLA Department of History prior to joining

Cheryl L. Keyes's "Sundiata Keita Overture" Wins Global Music Award

Cheryl L. Keyes, professor of ethnomusicology and global jazz studies and chair of the African American studies department, was recently awarded the silver medal in the Global Music Awards for her “Sundiata Keita Overture.” The overture received its world premiere in Royce Hall on June 5 during a multimedia event, “Prelude to Juneteenth.”

Sumeet Anand Pandey Brings Dhrupad Music, Indian Traditions to UCLA

The Daily Bruin interviewed Sumeet Anand Pandley, in residence at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music as a Fulbright Working Fellow in the Fall of 2024.

EXPLORE ALL SCHOOL OF MUSIC EVENTS

Apr 16 Wed

1:00pm
Free

lectures-symposia

“The Land where Life is Good”: Naga Song Responses to Political Conflict

Considering theoretical frameworks of historical and colonial trauma, the talk explores how Naga artists have processed experiences of political conflict and military violence in their homelands through their music.

Room B544, Schoenberg Music Building

May 6 Tue

5:00pm
Free

classical, lectures-symposia, world-music

Lecture and Concert Dedicated to Koharik Gazarossian

The Armenian Music Program presents a lecture and concert dedicated to Koharik Gazarossian, Armenian composer and pianist. The event will feature acclaimed pianist Nare Karoyan, who is traveling from Germany

Lani Hall

May 17 Sat

7:00pm
Free

world-music

Music of India Ensemble and Music of China Ensemble

The Music of India Ensemble and the Music of China Ensemble showcase traditional music from these regions on the same stage.

Schoenberg Hall

Conducting

Graduate study and training in choral, orchestral, or wind conducting

MM/DMA

Ethnomusicology

The study of global musical traditions through performance training, research, and field work

BA MA / PhD Minor Iranian Music Minor

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

BA MA / PhD

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

BA Minor

Musicology

The scholarly study of the histories, cultures, and critical interpretations of music and music-making

BA MA / PhD Minor

Music Performance

Study and training towards professional performance careers in Western classical music

BM MM/DMA