VALUES AND EDUCATIONAL PRIORITIES
At the Mead Witter School of Music
- we teach by example offering participatory, mentor-driven education;
- we provide individualized instruction and flexible curricula that encourage students to find their own musical pathways;
- we foster musical excellence and high academic standards;
- our faculty exhibit the best of their respective fields, are deeply engaged in artistic scholarship and research, and are committed to teaching at all levels;
- we whole-heartedly embrace the Wisconsin Idea;
- our department is a dynamic educational community, part of a large and vibrant research university within a city that values and supports the arts.
The Mead Witter School of Music enriches students' educational experience by hosting guest artists and scholars for master classes, recitals, colloquia, seminars, and festivals. Its performing organizations and ensembles perform more than 350 recitals and concerts every year, making a significant contribution to the cultural life of the university and the wider Madison community. Facilities specifically designed for music study and performance offer excellent resources for students to pursue their interests.
In addition to a thriving undergraduate student body, music students have the advantage of working side-by-side with master's-level and doctoral-level music students. Working collegially in class and studio, making music together on stage and off, and building professional relationships across program boundaries all enable the sharing of expertise, experience, and perspectives and add immeasurably to every student's development.
The music degree programs are demanding and require care in taking courses in the proper sequence. Graduation could be delayed if a course is not taken in the appropriate semester. Refer to the Requirements tab for details on the coursework and sequences of study in specific majors.
Mead Witter School of Music views its goals and objectives as complementary to those of the University of WisconsinMadison, which include "to provide an environment in which faculty and students can discover, examine critically, preserve and transmit the knowledge, wisdom and values that will help ensure the survival of the present and future generations with improvement in the quality of life."
The University of WisconsinMadison School of Music is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), and has been an institutional member of NASM since 1966.
PEOPLE AND FACILITIES
The greatest asset of Mead Witter School of Music is its peoplestaff, faculty, and studentswho are daily immersed in learning, building, researching, writing, and making music. Mentoring is the core of our teaching, manifest in one-on-one applied instruction as well as in small-group coaching and classes. Undergraduate students will build professional relationships with many faculty, form friendships with peers across the boundaries of degree programs, and collaborate with staff in addressing the practical matters of academic study. Extensive information on faculty, including biographies, is available here.
The Mosse Humanities Building, built in 1969, houses most of the music classrooms, rehearsal rooms, faculty studios, and 111 practice rooms. Most recitals and concerts take place in one of three performance spaces: Mills Concert Hall, Morphy Recital Hall, and Eastman Organ Recital Hall. The school's extensive collection of instruments, both common and unusual, is available to both faculty and students. Music Hall with its clock tower, built in 1879, is a campus landmark. Renovated in 1985, it is the home of the opera program. The new Hamel Music Center includes a concert hall, a recital hall, and a large ensemble rehearsal space.
Memorial Library is the home of the Mills Music Library, which offers extensive research and circulating collections, attractive study space, and personal staff assistance with research. Music materials on campus number over half a million, ranging from scores and sheet music to archival collections and historic audio recordings. Through Mills Music Library and other UWMadison libraries, students have access to a wide range of online research databases as well as millions of articles, books, and streaming media. All genres of music are represented, with notably strong collections in Americana and ethnic music. Nationally known special collections include the TamsWitmark Collection, a treasury of early American musical theater materials, and the Wisconsin Music Archives.
CHOOSING A MUSIC MAJOR
Mead Witter School of Music offers several degree programs at the undergraduate level. The bachelor of arts and bachelor of science curricula are liberal arts majors in the College of Letters & Science and are excellent programs for students interested in exploring the wide array of course offerings in the college or in two or more major areas of study. In these programs music courses comprise one-third of a student's work toward the degree. By comparison, the bachelor of music curriculum, a professional degree in music, requires 75 percent of total coursework within the Mead Witter School of Music. Students in this program are looking for depth in performance study along with a large complement of other musical studies at advanced level. A number of alumni from both B.A. and B.S. have completed two majors at UWMadison. Both of these programs may provide a foundation for graduate study and sometimes for a career in music. We encourage conversations with Mead Witter School of Music professors at any point during your first two years as a music major to learn as much as possible about options that are available to you.
GRADES AND ADVISING
Mead Witter School of Music is a department of the UWMadison College of Letters & Science. Information on the grading system and academic procedures/policies is available in the College of Letters & Science section of this Guide under the policies and regulations tab.
The undergraduate advisor of the Mead Witter School of Music serves as the advisor for every music major. The advisor maintains records and assists students in determining an appropriate course schedule each semester.

