Music Business

Note: Audition on primary instrument or classical voice for admission to the School of Music is required.

A Bachelor of Music (B. Mus.) in Music Business from the nationally accredited Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho combines extensive classical music study with broad training in business and finance. The degree program gives you the in-depth musical knowledge and strong business-savvy you need for an exciting career in the multibillion dollar arts industry.

As a music major, you’ll learn by performing, listening to, analyzing and creating music. Courses in theory and history give you a broad understanding of musical styles and techniques of all eras, including contemporary music. You will build on your passion for music by forming a strong foundation in business. The program includes courses in finance, management, economics and marketing. You will work closely with first-class business professors from the highly regarded College of Business and Economics.

The Lionel Hampton School of Music, accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music, offers opportunities to perform in an array of ensembles and performance groups, with the flexibility to explore a wide variety of performing media – which is sometimes not an option in larger music schools.

Additionally, the annual University of Idaho Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival and performances by other guest artists give you the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the greatest professional musicians in the world.

Prepare for Success

Note: Audition on primary instrument or classical voice for admission to the School of Music is required.

Do you have a love for classical music? The Bachelor of Music in Music Business is an excellent way to transform this passion into a viable musical career. To succeed, you must build a broad knowledge of both classical music and business. This fast-paced, growing field demands excellent organization, communication and interpersonal skills.

The music program at the University of Idaho Lionel Hampton School of Music is not just a course of study, it’s a lifestyle. The Bachelor of Music is an extremely rigorous classical music program that demands tremendous dedication and unwavering focus.

To prepare while still in high school, take private classical music lessons. Candidates for the Bachelor of Music must be capable performers on at least one classical instrument or voice. Admission into the program requires an audition.

Your First Year

During your first year in the Bachelor of Music program, you will enroll in university general requirements, music foundation courses, and studio instruction. You are also required to attend recitals throughout the year. You may take:

• MusC 139 and 140 – Aural Skills I & II
• MusC 141 and 142 – Theory I & II
• MusA 115 and 124 – Studio Instruction
• MusA 145 and 146 – Class Piano
• MusA – Major Ensemble
• MusX 101 – Orientation for Majors
• MusX 140 – Convocation
• MusH 111 – Intro to Music
• English 101 and 102 – College Writing
• ISEM - Integrated Seminar 

The program also requires the following business courses:

• Econ 201 and 202 (or 205) – Principles of Economics
• Acct 201 – Intro to Financial Accounting
• Acct 202 – Intro to Managerial Accounting
• Bus 301 – Financial Management
• Bus 311 – Intro to Management Theory
• Bus 321 – Marketing
• Stat 25 – Principles of Statistics
• Business electives

Printable four-year plan

What You Can Do

Note: Audition on primary instrument or classical voice for admission to the School of Music is required.

With a Bachelor of Music in Music Business, you may pursue a career as a:

• Business manager
• Concert manager
• Facilities manager
• Nonprofit director
• Arts manager
• Talent agent
• Record producer
• Music publisher
• Label producer
• Promoter
• Booking agent
• Fundraiser
• Sales manager
• Publicist
• Marketing representative
• Finance manager
• Music supervisor
• Tour manager

The degree is also excellent preparation for graduate study in music, business and arts management. The University of Idaho offers the following graduate programs:

• Master of Music
• Master of Arts in Music History

Opportunities

A degree from the renowned Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho will open doors to exciting opportunities. While many music students dream of becoming a successful professional performer, the Bachelor of Music in Music Business will greatly enhance your career opportunities in the music industry. Your musical knowledge and talents, combined with a strong background in business, could lead to careers in:

• Record label companies
• Radio stations
  
• Marketing and public relations firms
• Concert venues
• Record distribution companies
  
• Arts organizations
• Nonprofits
• Publishing companies
• Product manufacturing companies
  

A degree in music, however, also prepares you to succeed in many other fields. When you study music, you develop valuable transferable skills – creativity, leadership, analytical and critical thinking, attention to detail, discipline, perseverance – highly desired traits in general business, law and other professions.

Current Research

University of Idaho faculty members in the Lionel Hampton School of Music are recognized worldwide as accomplished soloists, chamber musicians, conductors, composers and teachers. They are leading experts in education, piano, voice, guitar, and orchestra and band instruments, with extensive experience performing professionally in classical, jazz, operatic and popular ensembles. Current faculty research interests and areas of expertise include:

Composition and Theory

• Byzantine music notation
• Composition of music for video documentaries and interactive CD ROM educational software, and chamber music
• Compositions and arrangements for symphonic bands, wind ensembles, orchestral winds, choirs, jazz bands, symphony orchestras and marching bands
• Theory pedagogy and analysis
• Theory, history and criticism of film music

Music Education

• Cultural Diversity in Music Education
• Developing and understanding University-Community Partnerships
• Effects of instrumental music participation on middle and high school students and on senior adults
• Investigating the bimusical sensibilities of children
• Jazz performance and education
• Music and K-12 Student Academic Achievement
• Music education in one-room schools
• School Music Advocacy
• Stages of growth of new teachers
• Technology in the Music Classroom

Musicology

• 19th and 20th century American music, including historiography, criticism and the community band movement in the West
• Early 19th-century woodwind literature and pedagogy
• Music of the 19th century virtuoso-composer Johann Kaspar Mertz
• Viennese opera and opera singers, 1792-1810

Pedagogy

• Cello repertoire and pedagogy
• Mental skills and techniques for training and presentation 
• Mouthpiece pitch and fluoroscopic study
• Pedagogical works of Godowsky, the transcriptions of Franz Liszt
• Piano teaching and performance
• Theory pedagogy and analysis
• Use of technology in studio teaching
• Vocal physiology
• Woodwind Pedagogy
• World Music Pedagogy

Performance

• Cello repertoire and pedagogy
• Jazz performance and education
• Music of Abel Carlevaro, Maximo Diego Pujol and Bryan Johanson
• Performances with Spokane Symphony, Tacoma Symphony, Walla Walla Symphony, Washington Idaho Symphony and other regional and national ensembles
• Piano teaching and performance

Other Research

• Music entrepreneurship
• Neurological and physical bases for human finger independence
• Research on regional musics of South Texas and of Mexican Music

CDs by U-Idaho music faculty

• Looking Back: Leonard Garrison, flute and alto flute; Jay Mauchley, piano. 2011.
• East Meets West: Leonard Garrison, flute and piccolo; Kay Zavislak, piano. 2011.
• Barn Dances: Leonard Garrison, flute and piccolo; Shannon Scott, clarinet; Jay Mauchley, piano. 2010.
• American Reflections: Leonard Garrison, flute and piccolo; Jonathan Sokasits, piano. 2008.
• Superflute: Leonard Garrison, flute, piccolo, and alto flute; Roger Price, piano. 2005.
• Guitarra Americana: James Reid. 2011.
• Birds: James Reid. 2007.
• Portraits: James Reid. 2004.
• Tristango: James Reid. 2001.
• Sounds of the Bard: James Reid. 1999.
• Higher Ground: James Reid. 1997.
• Guitar Lullabies: James Reid. 1995.
• Elegant Guitar: James Reid. 1993
• Free Range Saxophone Quartet – Fireflies. with Vanessa Sielert. 2011.
• America’s Tribute to Adolphe Sax, Vol. XIV. with Vanessa Sielert. 2008.
• America’s Tribute to Adolphe Sax, Vol. XIII. with Vanessa Sielert. 2007.
• Vern Sielert Dektet - From There to Here. with Vanessa Sielert and Vern Sielert. 2007.
• Bob Curnow Big Band – Sierra Music Publications. with Vanessa Sielert and Vern Sielert. 2007-2011
• Tristan Carter: ...murmur... for string quartet. Tasman String Quartet (Anna van der Zee, violin; James Andrewes, violin; Christiaan van der Zee, viola; Miranda Wilson, cello). 2010.
• Sofia Gubaidulina: Quaternion for four cellos. Alexander Ivashkin, cello; Natalia Pavlutskaya, cello; Rachel Johnston, cello; Miranda Wilson, cello. 2001.

Activities

• Sigma Alpha Iota (SAI): Sigma Zeta Chapter, the international fraternity for women in music
• Phi Mu Alpha: A music fraternity for men
• Collegiate Music Educators' National Conference (CMENC), University of Idaho Chapter
• Pi Kappa Lambda: An honorary music society
• Student Advisory Board: Acts as liaison between students and music administration

Hands-On Experience

Musical performance, both as a listener and performer, and teaching is an integral part of student and campus life at the University of Idaho. You’ll have many opportunities to hear professional ensembles, to perform and to teach on and off campus.

 

• Auditorium Chamber Music Series: The series presents some of the world's finest chamber ensembles in concert, and places these extraordinary musicians in university and public school classrooms and community centers in our region.
• Community Performances: The region’s active arts community creates many opportunities for students to perform in a variety of venues.

• Convocation-Recital Attendance: Because listening experiences are important in the study of music, all music majors are required to attend 10 recitals per semester for seven semesters. We produce more than 170 recitals per year.
• Ensembles: We have musical organizations to fit the interests of almost everyone, including the University Chorus, Vandaleers Concert Choir, opera/musical theatre studio, Vandal Marching Band, concert band, wind ensemble, symphony orchestra, jazz ensembles and many other performing groups. We produce more than 170 concerts per year.
• School of Music Internships: Internships include arts management, choral administration, jazz festival audio technician, jazz festival site management and production management.
• Student Teaching: All music education students will complete a semester-long student teaching apprenticeship during their senior year. You’ll receive mentoring from a certified music teacher and gain valuable experience working directly with students in the classroom.
• Undergraduate Teaching Assistants: Students may apply as teaching assistants in music theory, aural skills and music history.

• Dancers, Drummers and Dreamers: This spring performance is presented in collaboration with the University of Idaho Department of Dance. All dances are performed to original, live music composed by faculty and students in the Lionel Hampton School of Music.

• In The Real Music Classroom:  Music education majors get to practice and teach real children at the elementary and secondary level as part of their music education method courses and for other university collaborations with local schools.
• Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival: This widely popular, four-day event draws hundreds of top jazz artists and spectators from around the world to the University of Idaho each year. Visiting professionals and students in the Lionel Hampton School of Music give evening concert performances and conduct clinics for elementary, junior high and high school students. Lionel Hampton School of Music students perform throughout the event.
• Preparatory Division – The Preparatory Division offers exceptional pre-college music instruction for the Greater Palouse Region and provides teaching and pedagogy opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.

Facilities

The Music Building houses the Schuldt Music Listening and Resource Center, faculty studios, ensemble rehearsal areas, classrooms, an electronic music lab, a music education materials center, a listening center and the newly renovated Haddock Performance Hall. Individual practice rooms are available in nearby Ridenbaugh Hall. Recording, radio-television, language listening lab, and computer facilities on the campus are also available to music students.

In addition to organ, harpsichord and piano practice instruments, the school maintains two performance pipe organs, three concert grand pianos and a concert harpsichord.