Undergrad female taking notes.

Music Promotion and Industry

The Music Department at Edgewood College offers a diverse course of study that will help you prepare for a career as a performer, educator, or music business professional. Our alumni are involved in all aspects of the music industry, from opera performance, to radio broadcasting, to teaching in public and private schools.

The diversity of our curricular choices is further enhanced by our location in Madison, WI, a community rich in outstanding art, popular, and ethnic music performances. The superb professional performers on our faculty are joined by some of the finest performers and guest artists in the area to ensure excellence in applied instruction for all instruments.

The curriculum for the music major is aligned with the standards for the National Association of Schools of Music and the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. The development of performing skills, critical thinking and music literacy are goals of each area of private and class instruction, music appreciation, music theory, music history and performing ensembles.

You also have the option of earning a degree in Music Education.

Career Outcomes

In America and around the globe, the music industry adds billions of dollars to the economy and employs an astonishing number of people. Within the last decade, the global value of retail sales of recorded music alone was estimated at over $37 billion per year. A recent economic study in Nashville reported that the local music industry there supported 54,000 jobs with an estimated labor income of $722 million annually.

Aspiring musicians may be surprised to learn about the number of careers that exist, including: musicians who compose, conduct, and perform; professionals who create and sell recorded music; personnel associated with live performance, including promoters, advertisers, sales, booking agents, grant writers, business managers, talent scouts; personnel who broadcast music; music journalists, critics, book editors; educators; personnel that support music education, including instrument manufacturers, distributers, salespersons, school ensemble arrangers, and more.

Just a few career ideas to explore:

Free-lance musician
Opera performer
Music store sales and marketing representative
Church music director
Private music instructor
Member of a professional choir/instrumental ensemble
Accompanist

Other Information

Internships: If you are a music major with a business emphasis, an internship is required. Our location in Madison, Wisconsin affords you access to outstanding opportunities. Some of our most recent internship placements include:

Wisconsin Center for Music Education
St. Mary’s Hospital
Midwest Family Broadcasting
Madison Symphony Orchestra
Wisconsin Public Radio
Ward-Broad music
Opera for the young
Madison Metropolitan School District

Why Edgewood College

There are many reasons to study music at Edgewood College!

Travel! In March 2016, the Edgewood College Chamber Singers traveled to Quito, Ecuador as the first American collegiate choir to be invited to the International Sacred Music Festival, one of the most prestigious music festivals in South America. Dr. Beatriz Aguilar has taken music students to Mexico to research and observe traditional youth Huapango and wind bands that have the goal of preserving cultural identity through music in Queretaro and Oaxaca. While in Mexico and in the US, the groups have also explored immigration issues.
Get published! In 2015, nine honors students assisted with researching, editing, and writing portions of Women, Music, Culture: An Introduction, 2nd edition, an internationally selling textbook authored by Dr. Julie Dunbar. Edgewood College students have also had graphic design work and music notation published in faculty publications.
Perform! Edgewood College has three choirs, a concert band, a jazz ensemble, two orchestras, a guitar ensemble, and many chamber music opportunities, all open to students of all majors.
Thrive! No doubt about it, being in Madison, Wisconsin is a perk for music lovers. Edgewood College students have:

- Participated in a master class with jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis.
- Attended a performance by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, then met the performers afterward at a private gathering.
- Performed at the Overture Center as part of a jazz combo.
- Attended the annual Pow Wow at Madison College.
- Performed in the Isthmus Jazz Festival.
- Attended Operas, Musicals, and Madison Symphony performances at the Overture Center.
- Danced at the World Music Festival at UW-Madison.
- Toured AR Editions and musicnotes.com, local sheet music companies.

Talent Scholarships

Talent Scholarships are available for students planning to participate in one of Edgewood College's musical ensembles. Admission to the College and an audition are required.

Visit our website for more information.

Testimonial:

The Music Department at Edgewood College gave me an incredibly diverse perspective on music education. The skills and knowledge I acquired have allowed me not only to learn about music, but also how to make a living as a performer. I feel very lucky to have spent my college career at Edgewood College.

Lucas Koehler '10, Freelance Bassist

Music Fact Sheet

Music Department

School of Arts and Sciences