Music Lessons & Lesson Awards
The Department of Music maintains a growing roster of experienced private instructors available to teach University of Chicago students on campus. Our affiliated private instructors hold advanced degrees from such prestigious conservatories as Indiana University, the Juilliard School, the Ryan Opera Center, the Manhattan School of Music, Paris Conservatoire, San Francisco Conservatory, and more. Many of the Performance Program faculty members and all of the Artists-in-Residence affiliated with the Department of Music teach private lessons, in addition to leading the various ensembles and programs.
Student musicians who are active members of the Chamber Music Program, Piano Program, or Vocal Studies Program should be sure to take advantage of the free coaching sessions that are available through their program participation. Guidelines for signing up for these free coachings, as well as quarterly limits for the number of free coachings allowed for each student musician, vary slightly for each program. Consult the program directors for more information.
Some University of Chicago students choose to study with other acclaimed musicians in the Chicago area. If you are interested in finding an appropriate private instructor, you should first ask your ensemble or program director for recommendations. For additional suggestions, please send an inquiry to musicops@uchicago.edu. At this time, we are not able to provide private instructor recommendations for beginners.
Music Lesson Awards
Music Department Lesson Awards are grants presented to registered University of Chicago students who are current participants in the Performance Program to help defray the cost of private lessons in applied music. The grants are awarded on the basis of competitive auditions and may be used to cover up to 75% of the total cost of a student's private lessons in the 2026-27 academic year. Read the full details below.
Information on 2026-27 Music Lesson Awards will be announced soon.
*Before scheduling your Music Lesson Award audition, please read the complete details, including important notes about what to include in your application.*
Many of the Performance Program directors and the Chamber Music coaches affiliated with the Department of Music teach private lessons in addition to leading ensembles and programs. The Department of Music also maintains a list of additional private teachers who teach on campus and in the Chicago area, covering a wide range of instruments and musical traditions. UChicago student musicians who are interested in taking private music lessons need to make arrangements directly with their chosen instructor. In some but not all cases, you will need to audition for acceptance by a particular teacher.
If you are interested in finding an appropriate private instructor, you should first ask your ensemble or program director for recommendations. For additional suggestions, please send an inquiry to: musicops@uchicago.edu.
Most teachers will accommodate a variety of lesson plans: e.g., 30–, 45–, or 60–minute lessons, on a weekly, biweekly, or intermittent basis. You should discuss schedule options and fee structure with your chosen teacher. Most instructors charge $60–$100 per hour for teaching private lessons.
When you do schedule a lesson or a series of lessons with a private teacher, you will be expected to follow through with the lesson(s) as scheduled. Out of courtesy to the instructor, you should never cancel a lesson at the last minute. Cancellations should be made at least 24 hours before a scheduled appointment. If that 24–hour cancellation deadline is not observed, the instructor is under no obligation to reschedule the lesson, and you will be expected to compensate the instructor the normal lesson fee, at your own expense.
Note that the 2025–26 Lesson Awards Program will support in-person lessons only. Virtual instruction will not be supported.
In order to receive a 2025–26 Music Lesson Award, you must be a currently registered student (undergraduate or graduate) as well as a current participant in the Music Department Performance Program.
2025–26 awards may pay up to 75% of the cost of private lessons, up to the point that the full amount of your award is utilized.
If you are studying with a teacher who is a member of our Performance Program, you should plan to pay your teacher the 25% cost due for each lesson at the time of that lesson. The Department will pay the other 75% directly to the teacher, until the full amount of your award is used. The Performance Program faculty member will confirm the number of lessons taught directly with Performance Program staff at the end of each quarter. You are encouraged likewise to keep track of your award usage.
If you are studying with a teacher who is NOT a member of our Performance Program, you should pay 100% of the cost of your lesson at the time of each lesson; the Department of Music will then reimburse you up to 75% of the total cost at the end of each quarter, until the full amount of your award is used. At the end of each academic quarter each award recipient studying with a teacher outside of the Performance Program must submit a Music Lesson Award attestation form, signed by both the awardee and the teacher, in order to receive reimbursement.
The specific quarterly due dates for Music Lesson Award attestation forms are:
- Friday, December 5, 2025 – Autumn Quarter
- Friday, March 6, 2026 – Winter Quarter
- Friday, May 15, 2026 – Spring Quarter
Final reimbursement requests for the 2025–26 season must be submitted by May 15, 2026. Please note that this deadline is firm, and reimbursement requests received after that date will not be honored.
Note that in recent years the average Music Lesson Award has totaled approximately $850, and the maximum lesson award has totaled $1500. The Department of Music is allocating substantial funding to the Music Lesson Awards program for 2025–26, but if you are planning to take weekly lessons throughout the year, it is likely that your Music Lesson Award will not cover the full 75% of that cost. Once the lesson award is used in its entirety, the award recipient will need to pay the full amount of any subsequent lesson fees incurred. It is your responsibility to keep track of your award usage during the course of the year.
Students who do not use their 2025–26 Music Lesson Awards will be ineligible for an award in 2026–2027. All requests to defer unused funds from a 2025–26 Music Lesson Award to the Summer Quarter 2026 must be submitted in writing to Barbara Schubert, Director of Performance Programs, by April 15, 2026`.
Auditions for 2025–26 Music Lesson Awards will be conducted in two stages:
- Vocal Auditions: Saturday, October 18, 2025.
The deadline to register for a Vocal Lesson Award Auditions is Friday, October 17, at noon. Vocalists who wish to perform an audition with the staff accompanist will need to sign up to perform with the staff accompanist by Thursday, October 16, at noon. You can choose a rehearsal time with the staff accompanist when registering for your lesson award audition. Please note that there will be no exceptions. - Instrumental Auditions (including Piano): Sunday, November 2, 2025.
The deadline to register for an Instrumental Lesson Award Audition time is Saturday, November 1, at noon. Instrumentalists who wish to perform an audition with the staff accompanist will need to sign up to perform with the staff accompanist by Friday, October 31, at noon. Please note that there will be no exceptions.
Students will be informed of their 2025–26 Music Lesson Awards by e-mail within a week following the audition date.
To complete your online application form and schedule your Music Lesson Award audition, you will need to complete the following steps:
- Confirm arrangements with a private teacher (including acceptance by that teacher, the number of lessons anticipated during the 2025–26 academic year, and the cost per lesson);
- Confirm your participation in the Department of Music Performance Program;
- Prepare a brief summary of your reasons for taking private lessons this year and your specific goals (e.g., technical issues you want to address, specific repertoire or types of music you want to study, etc.);
- Select an appropriate audition time. Please note that if you need an accompanist for your audition, as is the case for most vocalists, you will need to provide your own accompanist OR select an appropriate audition time that indicates the staff accompanist is available.
Vocal auditions will be 5 minutes in duration. Instrumental auditions will be 7 minutes in duration.
- Prepare one or two musical selections that demonstrate both your technical abilities and your musical skills. Contrasting excerpts — something fast, something slow — are recommended, or choose one excerpt that includes both types of playing or singing.
- The audition material does not have to be memorized, but memorization (which is customary for singers and pianists) reflects well on the auditionee.
- No sight reading will be included in this audition.