School of Music

Gary Wurtz, director
Wright Music Building, Room 150
Phone: (936) 468-4602
Fax: (936) 468-5810
P.O. Box 13043, SFA Station
Nacogdoches, TX 75962
Web: music.sfasu.edu

Associate Directors

Scott LaGraff, Graduate Studies and Assessment
Nathan Nabb, Undergraduate Studies

Assistant Director

Jorge Salas, Assessment

Faculty

Professors
Mario Ajero, Christopher Ayer, Richard Berry, Jennifer Dalmas, Christina Guenther, Scott LaGraff, Stephen Lias, Nathan Nabb, Ronald Petti, Deb Scott, Gary Wurtz

Associate Professors
Tamey Anglley, Deborah Dalton, Tod Fish, Brad Meyer, Michael Murphy, Jorge Salas, Jamie Weaver

Assistant Professors
James Adams, Alex Amato, Greg Grabowski, Samantha Inman, Claire Murphy, Chris Turner, Jacob Walburn

Senior Lecturer
Kirsten Nelson

Lecturers
Debbie Berry, Carlos Gaviria, Nita Hudson, Herbert Midgley, James Taylor

Instructor
Christopher Kaatz

Adjuncts
Sue Bugg, Joshua Coe, James Faucett, Oswaldo Garza, Larry Greer, Abby Held, James Held, Weston Jennings, Ping-Ting Lan, Erica Lopez, Alba Madrid, Michael McGowan, Max Muciño, Melissa Nabb, Evgeni Raychev, Kayla Roth, Ben Tomlinson, Seth Vatt

Staff Accompanists
Thomas Nixon, James Pitts

Piano Technician
Paco Morales

Areas of Study and Degrees

The School of Music offers degree programs for students interested in performance, composition, music education, pedagogy and sound recording technology. These programs can help students prepare for continuing graduate study or for careers in music business, music technology, church music, private studio teaching and many other allied fields.

Specifically, the school offers a Bachelor of Music in performance (with keyboard, keyboard pedagogy, orchestral instrument and voice concentrations), a Bachelor of Music in composition, a Bachelor of Music in sound recording technology, a Bachelor of Music with all-level teacher certification options, and a Bachelor of Music with all-level pre-certification options (with elementary, instrumental and choral/keyboard concentrations). The school also offers a 23-hour music minor program of study.

Objectives

The School of Music at SFA is committed to providing undergraduate and graduate curricula with a wide variety of musical experiences designed to prepare students to confidently begin or continue careers in music education, performance, sound recording technology and composition. Its goal is to graduate highly competent musicians, accomplished performers, sensitive artists and articulate musical leaders who clearly understand the value and role of music as part of our cultural heritage, our welfare and the very essence of human existence.

To this end, the School of Music is committed to attracting and retaining students and faculty of the highest quality and dedicated to the creation of an academic climate in which both may work and interact with broad creative freedom.

Furthermore, the School of Music is committed to broadening the musical experience and knowledge of the general student at the university and is dedicated to serving the university, community and region by enriching the quality of life through presentation of numerous concerts, recitals and other musical programs.

Transfer Students

All transfer students will enter in lower-division applied instruction (MUAP 1219 or MUAP 1329 ) unless approved for upper-division instruction through audition. Students should be prepared to supply a list of repertoire previously studied at the time of the placement audition.

In accordance with the “Field of Study Curriculum for Music” approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the School of Music will accept four semesters of ensemble, four semesters of applied study, four semesters of theory/aural skills and one semester of music literature from community colleges. The transfer of courses in vocal diction, instrumental methods or courses designed to promote keyboard competency will be evaluated on an individual basis as described in the “Field of Study” document. Students wishing to transfer additional courses in the three areas mentioned above should provide course syllabi and catalog descriptions of the courses in question. Finally, students wishing to transfer credits toward the recital attendance requirements at SFA must show:

satisfactory completion of the requirements on the student’s transcript
clear indications in course syllabi and/or catalog materials that the requirement has been fulfilled as part of another course
or a clear statement from the chair/director of the sending school as to the attendance requirement of the school and specifically how the requirements were satisfied by the student in question. A maximum of four semesters of recital attendance will be accepted from the sending school.

Students who transfer from an institution that had no recital attendance requirements will be required to enroll in MUSI 1000 - Recital Attendance, every semester they are enrolled at SFA until they pass seven times or they enroll in student teaching.

Ensembles

Each degree program has its own major ensemble requirements, which can be viewed on the degree check sheets that are available on the School of Music website. Vocal majors are required to participate in choir during each semester they are enrolled in applied instruction as a major. Keyboard majors in degree programs not designed for teacher certification must enroll in accompanying (MUEN 1138 ) instead of one of the major ensembles listed above. Chamber music ensembles (MUEN 1139 ) are available to qualified students through invitation or audition.

Recital Attendance

Frequently throughout the year, students, faculty and guest artists are presented in recitals by the School of Music and College of Fine Arts . These recitals are open to the public. Because performance and listening experiences constitute an area of major importance in the study of music, all music majors are required to enroll in and pass MUSI 1000 for six semesters with a minimum of 10 recitals and all convocations attended each semester. Music minors are required to enroll for two semesters in MUSI 1000 with a minimum of 10 recitals attended each semester.

Degree/Time Requirements

All music degree programs require a minimum of 120 to 133 semester hours for graduation. For students in music education, it is possible to complete the degree program in eight semesters; however, nine semesters is more realistic unless students attend summer sessions or arrive with significant AP or dual credit hours. A minimum grade of C is required for the following courses in all degree programs: MUTC 1116 , MUTC 1117 , MUTC 1211 , MUTC 1212 , MUTC 2116 , MUTC 2117 , MUTC 2211 , MUTC 2212 ; MUSI 1281 , MUSI 1282 , MUSI 2181 , MUSI 2182 and MUMH 1307 . This requirement applies to comparable transfer hours and music minors as well.

Policy on Repeated Music Courses

Students who fail on their second attempt to pass or meet the minimum grade requirements (see above) for any music course required on the student’s degree program/plan (whether formally completed or implied):

will no longer be allowed to continue in courses restricted to music majors or minors (except applied study, which may be taken at the minor level if approved by the applied teacher)
but may continue in music courses open to non-majors under the same terms open to all students on campus.

Definition of Majors, Minors and Certificates

Majors
Students who wish to major in music must present evidence of talent and previous experience in music and must complete a satisfactory audition to enter the program. All entering music majors must register for recital attendance, music theory, aural skills, applied instruction and a major ensemble as required by their degree. Entering music majors (except keyboard majors) must also register for class piano, following a placement audition, until the successful completion of the keyboard proficiency exam.

Minors
The School of Music offers a minor in music that is complementary to many undergraduate majors. Students who wish to pursue a minor in music may pursue the program of study detailed below. Applied music auditions are required of all music minors.

Certificate
The School of Music offers a 30-hour performing artist certificate as well as a 30-hour certificate in piano pedagogy, designed for private teachers in the field who want to supplement or update their teaching skills or for students who wish to add this credential to their undergraduate degree program.

Pre-Certification Concentrations

The Bachelor of Music All-level Pre-certification options follow the same curriculum as the Bachelor of Music Teacher Certification options with the following exceptions:

The degree options require 120 hours to graduate instead of 133 hours.
Eighteen hours of professional education courses are not required to complete the degree options.
Five hours of general electives are added to the degree options. The five elective hours may include additional music courses and/or professional education courses.
MUMH 1307 does NOT count as the humanities core curriculum requirement. Students in these degree options need to take ART, THR or DAN to fulfill the core curriculum requirements.
It should be noted that the actual number of required music electives for these degree options might vary according to each plan to reach the required 76 credit hours of music and 120 total credit hours.

Programs

Program Overview

Major

Minor

Certification

Piano Pedagogy Certificate