Piano Performance B.M.

Program type:

Major

Format:

On Campus

Est. time to complete:

4 years

Credit Hours:

129

Immerse yourself in piano performance and prepare for a musical career.

With the training offered at UNT, you might play as a solo guest performer with an orchestra, perform with a smaller group or become a church musician or recitalist. Many keyboard musicians also teach private lessons in schools or colleges.

Requirements Tuition & Aid How to apply

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Why earn a degree in Piano Performance?

Majoring in piano performance provides 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 being a musician and performer.

This course of study will prepare students for entrance into graduate performance degrees at the highest quality institutions or professional musical careers.

The piano performance major prepares students for professional careers in music through participation in performances, lectures, masterclasses, national and international competitions, and cultural exchanges.

Marketable Skills

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

Piano Performance Degree Highlights

Our alumni enjoy successful performance teaching careers around the world.

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.

Students with minimal or no piano skills should enroll in the first semester skills class, but music majors interested in being considered for placement in a higher level piano course can sign up for a piano placement examination.

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 Piano Performance?

This major will prepare you for a career as a member of a symphony orchestra, a professional band, 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.

Piano Performance Degree Courses You Could Take

Bach through the early romantics. Survey of major composers, styles and forms; individual topics.

Approaches for children and adult beginners; technique, style and musicianship; review and recommendation of materials for all grades. Supervised student teaching.

This course explores various intersections between music, activism, and politics. Previous experience with musical performance (including the ability to read music) is not required or expected.

Fundamentals of conducting, including beat patterns, various gestures for attack, release and phrasing. Includes the use of the left hand, score reading, development of aural skills, rehearsal techniques and interpretation.

Large-lecture format. Introduction to analysis, part writing, figured bass realization, and harmonization beginning with melody and two-part exercises.

Lower-level applied music, private lessons. Variable credit for majors.