Making music at JU is more than rehearsals; it’s about cultivating relevant skills and meaningful friendships for your career and life. JU has a low student-teacher ratio, and is the perfect environment for you to know your professors closely as mentors and friends, and shine in your own way in our creative environment. Working closely with our distinguished faculty of professional performing artists and researchers, you can focus and refine your skills while you deepen your appreciation for the art. We live our mission – personalized attention and professional preparation for your career.

JU’s College of Fine Arts houses a Division of Music, and Departments of Theatre, Dance, and Art.  As a Music major, your daily interactions with friends could include singer-actors, glass sculptors, instrumentalists, painters, educators, actors, dancers, and ceramic artists, just to name a few. Our students are encouraged to be a part of the creative process, and cooperate across disciplines to find new ways of bringing live music to the public.

Our mission is to produce educated, thinking artists with experience in their field and a desire to create. The integration of knowledge, skill and practice gives our graduates a competitive edge whether they pursue graduate studies or enter the music profession as performers, educators, or business people.  Our professors are working creative artists in your field, and are dedicated to your undergraduate education.  You will not have to compete with graduate students for attention or creative work. 

Our professors are working creative artists in your field, and are dedicated to your undergraduate education.  You will not have to compete with graduate students for attention or creative work.

Music students at Jacksonville University may pursue a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), Bachelor of Music (B.M.), Bachelor of Music Education (B.M.E.),  or a Bachelor of Science (B.S.)  degree. The music core is required of all music students with modifications for specific areas of interest.


The Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) offers emphases in a typical liberal arts curriculum. These generalist degrees prepare students for careers or further study on advanced degrees that require a more general background.  Students are also required to identify and pursue a 16-hour area of emphasis in music such as jazz, commercial music, musical performance, or music theatre.


The Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree in Music Theater is a professional interdisciplinary degree that provides immersive study in the areas of music and vocal performance, theatre, and dance.  This degree prepares students for careers as performers or for further advanced study.

The Bachelor of Music (B.M.) in Performance is a professional program which prepares students for careers in professional performance, private studio teaching, or preparation for study toward advanced degrees. 


The Bachelor of Music (B.M.) in Music Composition and Theory is a professional program which prepares students for careers as composers, arrangers, and editors of contemporary music of many genres (including classical, film-scoring, American & World Music, and popular styles); specialists in classical and contemporary music analysis and instruction; and/or preparation for study toward advanced degrees.


The Bachelor of Music Education (B.M.E.) degree is to prepare students to teach music in kindergarten through twelfth grades of the public schools of Florida, and most other states.  The curriculum contains a strong music concentration in any instrument or voice, with general distribution requirements to ensure a liberal arts education.


The Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree with a concentration in Music Business is a generalist degree in music business. Students are also required to complete an option in management or music technology. This degree prepares students for careers in the music business or for further advanced study. 


Students are encouraged to perform throughout the year in events on and off campus, and to take advantage of Study Abroad opportunities.  Minors in music also are available, and general music courses are open to all students, regardless of major.


An audition is required for admission to the student's chosen program. Auditions also are required for music scholarships and music service grants.  Auditions may be accomplished in person or by videotape recording. Placement tests in theory and keyboard are administered to admitted students upon initial registration for classes. Students planning to major in music education, music performance, or composition and theory must enroll in piano each semester until the keyboard proficiency examination has been passed.


Scholarships

Jacksonville University offers competitive talent scholarships in all areas.  Full-tuition music scholarships are available for positions in our Honors Brass and Woodwind Quintets, and Honors String Quartet and Honors Jazz and Percussion ensembles (subject to position vacancy).​



Jacksonville University is a comprehensive, private university in a great American city.  JU is a community of people and ideas where you can stretch yourself and discover who you are.  More than 70 respected academic programs attract nearly 3,000 students from all over Florida, across the nation, and around the world.

Jacksonville is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States, ranking as the 14th largest city in the United States in population with more than 800,000 residents.

The Jacksonville metropolitan area includes three beach cities, and the largest urban park system in the United States.

Jacksonville International Airport (JIA) is 15 minutes from downtown by car. It is served by 15 major and regional airlines that offer 250 daily flights to and from most major cities in the country and is an international gateway.  By air, Jacksonville is 60 minutes from Atlanta, 45 minutes from Orlando, two hours and 15-minutes from New York, and nine hours from London.