BACHELOR OF MUSIC
The bachelor of music degree is the undergraduate degree offered by the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester. Recognized as one of the premier music credentials in the country, Eastman’s BM degree program provides a curriculum grounded in music performance skills and literacy.
Majors are offered in:
- Applied music (performance)
- Composition
- Jazz studies and contemporary media
- Music education
- Musical arts
- Theory
The What and Why of a BM Degree
The BM is a professional music degree. This means that the curriculum is focused on teaching not only the performance side of music, but also practical and academic skills. The BM core curriculum centers on applied lessons, ensemble participation, music theory, music history, humanities, and keyboard proficiency. Within the focus of this core curriculum, Eastman students are given a solid musical grounding that prepares them for a professional career in music.
A student who chooses the BM degree program is typically preparing to become a performing musician (symphony musician, opera musician, church musician, chamber musician, jazz musician, soloist, etc.), music educator (in the public schools, at a college or university, or at a community music school), composer, theorist, or musicologist. Students choose the BM because it allows them to concentrate on achieving these goals. (The University of Rochester offers a BA in music, which has a different focus, and aims to prepare students for different goals.)
Many Eastman alumni live entrepreneurial lives, combining different aspects of music into a satisfying whole. Such musicians may play in a symphony orchestra while teaching in a college; have a studio of private students while directing a church music program; or free-lance on a steady basis while presenting solo and chamber recitals. Eastman students go on to fill all of the roles just described. They also go on to become lawyers and doctors, consultants and engineers, ministers and music administrators, because the discipline they develop through their BM training carries over into every part of their lives.
