Music at NSU

About Us

Welcome to the NSULA Department of Music at the Mrs. H. D. Dear, Sr. and Alice E. Dear School of Creative and Performing Arts!

Here you can find information on our degree programs, our outstanding faculty, upcoming concerts, and facilities for Music here at Northwestern State University. CAPA’s Department of Music offers a fully-accredited Bachelor of Music Education degree, as well as a Bachelor of Music degree with concentrations in Performance, Sacred Music, or Music Business.  A fully-accredited Master of Music degree with concentrations in Performance or Education is also offered. The Department of Music at Northwestern State University also provides multiple opportunities for majors and non-majors to participate in a variety of musical activities on the University level.

Accreditation

Northwestern State University of Louisiana is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) to offer degrees in Music and Music Education. These degrees are designed to prepare students for professional careers or the pursuit of higher degrees in their chosen field.

Facilities

With the beautiful and acoustically exciting Magale Recital Hall at the heart of the Creative and Performing Arts Center, Northwestern State has some of the most outstanding performing and rehearsing facilities in the South. A magnificent 40-rank Reuter organ graces Magale Recital Hall which has a large concert stage, two 9-foot Concert Grand Pianos, an Eric Hertz harpsichord, and seats approximately 400. The red oak decor and a design for listening to live concerts make this one of the most gratifying performance venues in the South.

NSU also boasts numerous classrooms, a state-of-the-art Multi-media Center, large individual studios for private lessons, and separate and unique rehearsal halls for each band, choir, and orchestra all provide a positive and functional environment for instruction, learning, and rehearsing.

Mission Statement

Northwestern State University of Louisiana is a friendly, vibrant, student-oriented institution of higher learning committed to preparing students to adapt to change throughout life. The University places the highest premium on excellence in teaching. It also maintains a firm commitment to the economic, social and cultural development and diversification of the state and the region.

Consistent with this mission, the School of Creative and Performing Arts seeks to assist students in acquiring skills and knowledge necessary to meet their professional, social and personal needs. Through the interaction of the arts, the School desires to broaden the possibilities of self-development for all students and extend its influence culturally in the region served by the University.

Music is one of four artistic disciplines represented in the School of Creative and Performing Arts, the others being Fine and Graphic Art, Theatre and Dance, and New Media, Journalism, and Communication. The Music Department desires though its various programs to achieve the following:

Prepare students for careers in music. Encourage development of creativity and performance capabilities of students and faculty. Provide cultural enrichment and artistic services to the individual student, university, and community.

In realizing these goals, the School must provide a comprehensive musical course of study that prepares the student for the ever-changing climate of the music profession. Through applied work, the music student is offered the opportunity to work individually with professors, providing expert training in technical and artistic skills. Faculty and students refine these skills through numerous performance opportunities, involving the various large ensembles, as well as chamber music and recital performances.

The music faculty, staff, students and administrators should be anxious to make their service and scholarship available to the community and region. The School believes the earnest pursuit of this mission will have a strong effect in promoting and cultivating the arts in our community and will greatly enhance Northwestern State University’s influence throughout the region.

Northwestern State University is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music to offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in Music.