Department of Music : Welcome

Welcome to Music at Wake Forest! We are proud to offer our students a combination of excellent faculty, program and facilities. Wake Forest’s Department of Music distinguishes itself in many ways. We are a liberal arts program dedicated to provide all qualified students the opportunity to participate in individual or class study of voice, guitar, piano, organ, and all orchestral and band instruments. Even more, we encourage all students to participate in one or more of our ensembles--orchestra, wind ensemble, symphonic band, jazz ensemble, athletic band (marching band and pep bands), collegium musicum (early music), flute choir and other chamber groups, and concert choir. Few collegiate programs can match our array of challenging classes, taught by world-class performers and scholars in the James Ralph Scales Fine Art Center, one of the finest music facilities in the Southeast. Twenty-four practice modules, ample locker space, and a music student lounge, provide our students with a splendid environment for practice, study, and community activities. Brendle Recital Hall, our premiere concert venue, is one of the most sought-after concert halls in the region. Wake Forest’s recent technology initiative has enabled us to acquire a first-rate Music Computer Lab, and our major classrooms are equipped with the best multimedia presentation hardware. Our library holdings, housed in the Music Wing of the Scales Fine Arts Center and the Z. Smith Reynolds Library, include an excellent collection of teaching and research material.

The Department also offers an opportunity to pursue a major or minor in music. Our program is small enough to accommodate a variety of student interests. All students receive a solid grounding in music theory and history, with additional coursework in performance and ensembles. More specific interests are served through elective courses in performance, church music, theory and history. Most of our majors have gone on to some of the best graduate programs in the nation, including the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon, University of North Carolina-Greensboro, Westminster Choir College, Notre Dame, and Stanford.

Music students at Wake Forest also have opportunities to learn from distinguished guest performers and scholars, some of whom are brought to campus by the Secrest Artists Series (recent performers have included soprano Julianne Baird, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, violinist Itzhak Perlman, and pianist Richard Goode). The city of Winston-Salem boasts a remarkably active musical life that centers around the Winston-Salem Symphony, the Piedmont Opera Company, and the musical culture of the Moravian Church. Our sister institutions--the North Carolina School of the Arts, Salem College and Winston-Salem State University--offer a wide variety of excellent musical offerings.

Please feel free to contact us via phone, email, or fax. Better still, come see for yourself what Music at Wake Forest is all about. We’d love to meet you!