The Bachelor of Arts in Musicology welcomes students from diverse musical backgrounds and allows them to shape programs of study that reflect their individual interests and goals. In groundbreaking, unique courses that cover virtually every period, style, and genre, students learn to research, analyze, and understand many different musics: ancient and recent, classical and popular, Western and global, within culture and through a critical lens.

The major culminates in a year-long capstone project in which each student conceives and executes individual research on a specialized topic, ultimately presented as a substantial written essay or in an alternate format, such as a lecture-recital or video/audio presentation. Graduating seniors organize a public conference presenting their capstone work each spring. The major also includes a performance requirement, which can be fulfilled in a number of ways and does not require formal musical training.

Musicology Professor Ray Knapp to Deliver UCLA's 138th Annual Faculty Research Lecture
In 1925, UCLA established the annual Faculty Research Lectures to recognize two Academic Senate members with exceptional achievement in research and creative endeavors. Ray Knapp, distinguished professor of musicology, disability studies and humanities at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, will deliver the 138th lecture, entitled "How Music(ology) Saves Lives."
A Conversation with Pulitzer Prize-Winner Michael Abels
The compositions of Michael Abels are marked by eclectic themes and sounds, creating rich soundscapes that explore connections between global musical traditions. In 2023 he won the Pulitzer Prize for
Musicology Postdoctoral Scholar Named Area Editor for Grove Dictionary
Bernard Gordillo, chancellor’s postdoctoral scholar in history, musicology, and the Chicano Studies Research Center, has been named the Central America Area Editor for the Grove Music Online: Latin American and Iberian Music.
May 7 Wed
5:00pm
Free
lectures-symposia
"Driven into Paradise": Schoenberg in Los Angeles
This online event panel gathers venerated historians, musicologists and composers to explore Schoenberg’s complex relationship with Los Angeles. Participants –Sabine Feisst – ASU Evelyn Smith Professor of Musicology. Feisst’s publications
May 8 Thu
7:30pm
Free
classical, contemporary, lectures-symposia
Exiled in Los Angeles: Thomas Mann and Arnold Schoenberg at 150
A Conversation with Doris Berger, Hans Vaget, and Alex Ross, moderated by Lily E. Hirsch, with music performance by UCLA Professor of Piano Inna Faliks. To honor Thomas Mann’s 150th birthday anniversary and to
UCLA Faculty Center Learn More
May 15 Thu
4:00pm
Free
lectures-symposia
Schoenberg in Hollywood and Representations of Jewishness in Opera
Lowell Milken Lecture in Jewish Music by Professor Joy H. Calico   There is a long history of representing Jewishness on the operatic stage. Calico’s talk situates Tod Machover’s Schoenberg in

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