Music Education

Music education faculty and degree programs provide students with broadening experiences based on the most current knowledge and practice in respective fields.
Courses of study may draw on the entire range of resources and offerings of a major comprehensive university school of music. Program flexibility provides the latitude to accommodate individual needs and aspirations and to serve a broad range of professional and scholarly goals. Responsibilities to in-service professionals are met through master's programs directed toward the latest practice as well as the understanding and applications of theory to enhance competence and creativity in practice. Responsibilities to scholarly development and the knowledge base of the profession are met through doctoral programs that stimulate creative thought in applied as well as theoretical research. The emphasis in doctoral work is on the development of abilities for high-level scholarship and professional leadership.
Degrees
- BMus in music education
- MM in music education
- PhD in music education
- Music Education Licensure Program
The Research Base: In the music education program, we believe that inquiry and theory guide practice, while practice informs theory and inquiry.
Results orientation: The music education program is committed to nurturing teacher candidates who can teach music as a fundamental right of all children and encourage their future students' lifelong artistic and intellectual development. Our graduates model a love of lifelong learning so that their future students can develop the same habits of mind, which include a thirst for being musically literate, aesthetically sensitive, historically conscious, community-facing, and an expert in the field.
Skills: Music educators need the flexibility and discipline to adapt to the ever-changing society through skills and knowledge limited to the music field, but that knowledge of the social and cultural contexts where teaching and learning occur and evolving understanding of methodologies, technologies, and resources.
Threads: In the UMN undergraduate program in music education, students simultaneously develop research-informed subject matter expertise and professional-pedagogical knowledge. We weave together a complex curriculum that includes music theory, music history, conducting, solo performance, ensemble performance, and music education-specific content.
In order to be recommended for your Minnesota k-12 instrumental and Classroom Music License or Vocal and Classroom Music License, you must successfully complete these licensure requirements mandated by the state of Minnesota.
Music Education Faculty

Akosua Addo
Specialties
Elementary music methods; International music education; Play; World music; International teacher education; Arts Integration; African Music




Keitha Lucas Hamann
Specialties
rural music education; arts assessment; history of music education; music teacher development; sight singing; middle level music education; choral music education


Brian McCullough

Recent Program Achievements
Presentations at the Biennial NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, September 2024.
Tsai-Rung Li, doctoral student “Foreign Music Educators Working in Higher Education Institutions in the United States of America”
Zaiyang Xu, doctoral student “The Academic Identity Among Chinese Music Education Undergraduates”
Dr. Adrian Davis, faculty “Defining What it Means to be a Music Educator Today” and “A Critical Exploration into the Rhythm and Pitch of Capitalism in Music Education”
Dr. Danni Gilbert, faculty, and Catherine Grimm, doctoral student “A Comparison of Self-Reported Anxiety & Depression Among Music Majors & Non-Music Majors: A Current Perspective”
Dr. Danni Gilbert, faculty “Prioritizing the Health and Wellness of Pre-Service Music Educators” and “Pre-Service Music Educators’ Self-Efficacy Toward Teaching in Secondary Instrumental Music Settings: An Action Research Study”
Presentations at the BTAA Academic Alliance Music Education Conference in Columbus, Ohio, October 2024.
Graduate students Tsai-Rung Li, Catherine Grimm, Matthew Silpot, and Zaiyang Xu presented research posters and Catherine Grimm was accepted to share her research in an oral presentation. Faculty member Danni Gilbert was a panelist during a session for pre-tenured faculty. Doctoral students and faculty also shared their collaborative research project.