Program type:

Major
Format:

On Campus
Est. time to complete:

4 years
Credit Hours:

129 hours
The Sacred Music program at UNT will train you for a career in musical leadership in today's church.
The Sacred Music program at UNT is a unique program established to prepare students for music, worship and arts leadership positions in today’s church. It attracts a diverse array of students from a variety of denominational contexts and musical interests - organists, choral directors, vocalists, worship leaders, instrumentalists, and more.

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Why earn a degree in Organ Church Music Performance?

The Bachelor of Music with a major in performance and a specialization in orchestral instruments organ with an emphasis in church musicprovides students with the tools necessary to develop their technique and musicianship through the study and performance of music from various periods and genres; to familiarize students with various aspects of the performance profession. Our program also prepares students for continued study in master’s graduate performance degrees at the highest quality institutions and helps especially gifted students prepare for immediate entry upon graduation into the professional arena as performers and teachers. We encourage students to investigate an expanded array of professional opportunities in the field of music and prepare students for professional careers in music through student participation in external performances, lectures/master classes and cultural exchanges.

The program is an interdisciplinary and ecumenical approach is designed to foster critical thinking as students explore, analyze and engage Christian music in a variety of contexts.

Recognizing the existence of several models of professional church music leadership, this program provides a wide range of training in performance, professional, and academic skills. Every course features opportunities to learn from and interact with guest lecturers from the DFW area who are experts in their respective fields.

Faculty instructing courses supported by the organ program include Jesse Eschbach, Paul Leenhouts, Brad Bennight, Michael Conrady and Teaching Fellow Sungyun Kim. See recent successes of our current students and alumni from Hentus van Rooyen, Destin Wernicke, Sungyun Kim, Jonathan Story, Samuel Gaskin and Christoph Hintermüller.

Marketable Skills
  • Performance communication
  • Excellent memory capability
  • Command of music computer programs
  • Pattern understanding
  • Improvisation and analytical capabilities

Organ Church Music Performance Degree Highlights

The UNT Organ program boasts faculty members with credentials from some of the top organ programs in the United States and Europe. In addition to being outstanding educators, organ faculty members are equally well regarded as performers, researchers, and composers.
Our faculty members are dedicated teachers and nationally and internationally known performers who have performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Symphony, Minnesota Opera Orchestra, Dallas Opera Orchestra and many others.
We're one of the nation's most comprehensive music colleges and offer opportunities to meet some of the world's top music scholars and artists through specialized lectures and events hosted by various divisions in the college.
Being near Dallas and Fort Worth gives students additional performance opportunities including those with the Dallas Bach Society, Texas Camerata, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Opera Orchestra and symphony orchestras in Irving, Plano and Richardson.
Our facilities include the Murchison Performing Arts Center, which houses the Winspear PerformanceHall and the Lyric Theater. Both performance halls, as well as the center's large rehearsal space, have state-of-the-art acoustics.
The College of Music has a rich tradition in music and is attended by talented musicians from all over the world.

What Can You Do With A Degree in Organ Church Music Performance?

This major will prepare you for a career as a member of a symphony orchestra, a professional band, and as a soloist or a chamber musician. You can also work as a studio musician for movies and television, become a church musician or teach lessons in a private studio.

Our instrumental performance alumni include:

  • Assistant principal oboist with the Cleveland Orchestra
  • Principal timpanist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
  • Second flutist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra
  • Principal cellist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra
  • Principal euphoniumist with the United States Marine Band

Other alumni perform with symphony orchestras in Fort Worth, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Houston and Kansas City, as well as major orchestras on five continents and with all major U.S. military bands.

Organ Church Music Performance Degree Courses You Could Take

Aural Skills IV (1 hr)
Reinforcement of theoretical concepts presented in MUTH 2500 via singing, ear training, keyboard and conducting experiences.
Organ (1-5hrs)
Lower-level applied music, private lessons. Variable credit for majors.
Organ Literature and Pedagogy (3 hrs)
Survey of organ repertories and styles from the Renaissance through the early 21st century with emphasis on representative masterpieces from the important national schools of composition. Aligned with this study will be due consideration of the instruments influencing the performance and registration of these repertories and pedagogical issues relevant to the teaching of this music.
Keyboard Senior Recital Capstone(3 hrs)
Public performance of music by each student completing undergraduate studies in keyboard performance. The culmination of at least four years of work in academic and applied music, it represents the academic, musical and artistic growth the student has experienced throughout the undergraduate career.
Seminar in Church Music (3 hrs)
For interests and talents of students; class and private conferences. Topics include historical and contemporary developments in hymnody; liturgical music; church choir literature and techniques; and church music philosophy, education and administration.

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