Founded in 1933, the Department of Music at the University of Chicago came to prominence in the 1960's as a major center of musical research and composition. Once the institutional home of such leading scholars and composers as Leonard B. Meyer, Edward Lowinsky, Ralph Shapey, and Howard Mayer Brown, today its time-honored emphases on composition and historical musicology are combined with more recently developed strengths in theory, analysis, and ethnomusicology. Both graduate and undergraduate programs encourage training in all areas of musical scholarship and in cross-disciplinary research.

(L to R) Professors Martha Feldman, Shulamit Ran, Marta Ptaszynska and Kotoka Suzuki after a Contempo Performance.

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Professors in Chicago’s Music Department have been lauded, collectively and individually, as preeminent worldwide among members of their fields. Included among them are scholars of ethnomusicology, music history, and music theory, as well as composers of new music. Also among the ranks are experts in computer music and performance. Together this cohort sets the highest standards of expertise and originality, making the Department a sought-after destination for students looking to pursue education in music scholarship, composition, and computing, complemented by rich activities in performance.

Additionally, the Department hosts some of the most highly acclaimed groups in today’s musical world as its ensembles-in-residence, which variously perform, coach, lead student ensembles, and do readings of new compositions: the Pacifica String Quartet, the new music sextet eighth blackbird, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; and the early music group The Newberry Consort.

The Pacifica Quartet and eighth blackbird constitute the core players of one of the world’s oldest new music groups, Contempo, known between 1964 and 2004 as the Contemporary Chamber Players.  Under the direction of composer and Artistic Director Shulamit Ran, the Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor of Music, and the baton of conductor Cliff Colnot, Contempo has extended the legacy of founding University of Chicago composer and conductor Ralph Shapey. To read about Contempo’s role in the Graduate Program in Composition, click here.

In addition to their work with Contempo, the Pacifica Quartet and eighth blackbird perform do quarterly coachings and readings for undergraduates and graduate students and play their own concerts.  Members of the Newberry Consort, violinist David Douglass and soprano Ellen Hargis, lead the Department’s Early Music Ensemble, give lessons, and bring their expertise in early music performance techniques and historical sources, 13th through 18th centuries, to ad hoc consultations with graduate students in music history and theory, especially those studying sources in the rich holdings of Chicago’s Newberry Library. And the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra provides readings to graduate student composers of their orchestral works. 

Many other departmentally-based ensembles are guided by highly proficient Chicago conductors and directors, some of whom also teach classes. Specialized coaches in chamber music, string-playing, and piano performance round out the musical offerings. 

Performance faculty can help you ascertain the best way to embark on or continue your studies in performance. For information about who to contact, please see the directory for Performance Staff and Administrative Staff.