SCHOOL OF MUSIC

ADMISSIONS &
FINANCIAL AID

ACADEMICS

FACULTY & STAFF
DIRECTORY

ENSEMBLES

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

COMMUNITY PROGRAMS

CENTERS & INSTITUTES

MUSIC LIBRARY

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About the School of Music

The University of South Carolina School of Music has established a national reputation for artistic and scholarly excellence. An acclaimed faculty teach 500 undergraduate and graduate music majors, including students specializing in virtually every orchestra and band instrument, and in voice, piano, organ, and guitar. As a comprehensive program, the School of Music offers more than twenty degree programs including music education, performance, jazz, composition, theory, history, and conducting. Additionally, more than 1,500 university students who pursue degrees outside of music participate in School of Music ensembles and classes every year.

The USC School of Music is housed in a state-of-the-art facility that features more than 100 acoustically designed rooms for practicing, rehearsing, and teaching; an intimate Recital Hall that is an ideal venue for solo recitals and chamber music; a comprehensive music library that contains more than 90,000 books and scores and 60,000 sound recordings; a music technology center; and a fully-equipped recording studio. USC music ensembles perform regularly in the beautiful 2,200-seat Koger Center for the Arts, which adjoins the School of Music. A separate music annex houses the 300-member marching band (The Mighty Sound of the Southeast), and the nationally-acclaimed USC String Project. This innovative program, which serves as a hands-on teaching laboratory for future music teachers, was described by The New York Times as a “significant success” in a feature article that highlighted the USC String Project as the model program for the National String Project Consortium.

The excellence of the school is a direct result of the resident faculty members who combine distinguished backgrounds as performers and scholars with a dedication to teaching. USC music faculty perform regularly on campus and throughout the nation -- and world -- in recitals and concerts, they contribute to publications and professional organizations, and they make presentations at regional, national, and international conferences. Faculty members also engage in community outreach activities by organizing and teaching workshops, classes, camps, and clinics that enroll more than 2,000 participants annually.

The School of Music enriches the musical life of the university and the City of Columbia by offering approximately 250 concerts a year. Concerts offered include symphony orchestra, chamber orchestra, numerous choirs and wind bands, opera, jazz ensembles, percussion ensembles, chamber music, and solo recitals by students, faculty, and world-renowned guest artists.

Located just two blocks from the historic Statehouse in Columbia, USC is in the middle of a thriving mid-size city that is rich with cultural and entertainment opportunities. The University offers more than 70 undergraduate majors, 150 master's programs, and 60 doctoral programs to more than 25,000 students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries.

To learn more about the School of Music, or to receive the School of Music Calendar of Events, please call 803-576-5763 or visit us on the web at www.music.sc.edu.