What is Musicology?

Musicology studies the history, cultural contexts, and interpretation of music, and in recent decades has expanded its coverage to extend beyond European art-music to other traditions and regions. The Department of Musicology at UCLA has long been the recognized leader in the study of popular music, in studying music in relation to power and difference, and approaching traditional repertories and musical practices in innovative ways. The National Research Council ranks UCLA Musicology as the number one program in the country.

Musicology offers undergraduates a Major and a Minor, with courses ranging across European and American music, including specialized courses in EDM, Motown, blues, medievalism, musicals, rock, punk, film music, sound studies, and performance studies, and studying music in relation to politics, gender, and postcolonialism. Musicology is also the home of UCLA’s Early Music Ensemble, serving the larger UCLA community and offering several public concerts each year.

How AI and Musicians Collaborate, a TedTalk with Judith Finell
Music creation is one of the most distinguishing features of humanity. So what does it mean that AI has entered the picture? Judith Finell, lecturer in music industry at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music offers a fresh perspective on how human creativity and artificial intelligence charts new territory in music composition.
Trailblazing Composer Anne LeBaron Honored with Concert at UCLA
Internationally-acclaimed composer and harpist Anne LeBaron marks her illustrious tenure at CalArts with a retrospective concert at UCLA’s Lani Hall, on Wednesday, February 7, at 7 PM. The program, encapsulating four decades of pioneering music, will be followed by an enlightening talkback and reception.
UCLA Musicologist’s New Book Explores the Sublime
Cesar Favila, assistant professor of Musicology, has just published his first book. Immaculate Sounds: The Musical Lives of Nuns in New Spain breaks new ground in its imaginative approach to recovering the lives of women who sang devotional music in Catholic churches. Oxford University Press has published the book in hardback. The UCLA Library has partnered with the
Marylin Winkle Publishes Rare Edition of Eighteenth-Century Cantata
School of Music musicologist Marylin Winkle has just published what promises to be the definitive version of Camilla de Rossi's Fra Dori, e Fileno (c. 1710). Dulcamara Press, a company devoted to producing performance editions of historically underrepresented works, has produced the work with the goal of making it accessible both to student and professional performers.
Stornoway Drops New Album
Dig the Mountain is the new LP by British Indie band Stornoway. Musicologist Thomas Hodgson plays trumpet with the band, which has sold tens of thousands of albums worldwide. The digital download version contains a remix that Hodgson completed at UCLA.
Transfer Student Blazes Trails for Others
Antonio Estrada dreamed of going to a big university, big in every way. Raised in Sacramento, Estrada was encouraged by his parents to be the first in his family to graduate from college. After trying out several different pathways in community college, he decided on a career in music and applied to transfer to UCLA.
Apr 19 Fri
3:00pm
Free
classical, lectures-symposia, talks
Encounters with Schoenberg and Stein: A Symposium
This year is Arnold Schoenberg’s 150th birthday, and the Arnold Schoenberg Center in Vienna is coordinating and promoting events worldwide to mark the occasion. This half-day symposium is dedicated to new directions in Schoenberg scholarship that will consist of two sessions, divided by a coffee break, and followed by a reception. One session will showcase
Lani Hall
Apr 29 Mon
5:15pm
Free
talks
Distinguished Lecture Series with Teresita Lozano
Specters of Survival and Persecution: Ghost Smuggling Ballads, Hauntology, and the Undocumented Migrant Experience Many ghost stories utilize themes of apparitions and haunting to elicit terror, warning listeners to abide by moral codes. However, since 2007, a phenomenon of Mexican corrido (ballad) composition, which I define as ghost smuggling ballads, shares a collective ghost story
Ostin 110A

Explore 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
BA
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
BA
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