Department website: http://music.umsl.edu
General Information
Degrees and Areas of Concentration
The Department of Music offers programs of study leading to the B.M. degrees in Jazz Studies; Music Education (and state teaching certification in grades K-12); Music Performance; Music Composition; Music Theory; Music with Elective Studies in Business; and the B.A. degree in Music.
Music Minors
Minors in music and jazz studies are available.
Faculty
Music faculty members have received recognition for distinguished achievements in conducting, composition, performance, and teaching. The faculty is also recognized for high-profile research in musicology, music theory, and music education.
Applied instruction in piano, organ, voice, jazz/classical guitar and all band and orchestral instruments is provided by full-time and adjunct faculty, all of whom are actively performing and/or recording musicians in the St. Louis region and beyond. Faculty recitals are regularly scheduled and are free for students to attend.
Facilities
The Department has teaching, rehearsal, classroom, practice, and study spaces in the Music Building, the Arts Administration Building, and the nationally-renowned Touhill Performing Arts Center.
Ensembles
Membership in Music Department performing ensembles (choral, orchestral, concert band, pep band, jazz, chamber) is open to UMSL students in all majors and minors. Admission to most ensembles is by audition (contact the individual ensemble’s director for more information about participation guidelines).
Career Outlook
A degree in music prepares students for careers in a wide range of specialties such as professional performance, teaching in public schools, holding positions in the music industry (e.g. recording, publishing, radio programming, manufacturing), or working as a musical entrepreneur carving out your own niche in the field. Additionally, employers in many fields outside of music take notice of applicants with music degrees because they understand that self-discipline, collaboration, creativity, and adaptability to new and unfamiliar scenarios are central to the work of musicians, and these skills transfer to non-musical areas in beneficial ways.
UMSL music graduates are highly sought-after in the job market, particularly in K-12 school music programs in Missouri and Illinois. Many others develop busy careers as professional performers and composers. Those graduates who choose to seek further study in music have been readily accepted into many of the nation’s top graduate programs. Others still are applying what they learned in their musical studies at UMSL in careers outside of music.
Additional information may be obtained by contacting the Department of Music 314-516-5981.
The University of Missouri - St. Louis is an All-Steinway School and is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.
Joanna Mendoza
Chair, Professor and Member, Arianna String Quartet
M.M., Julliard School of Music
Michael V. Smith
E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor of Music
Ph.D., University of Minnesota
Kurt S. Baldwin
Professor and Member, Arianna String Quartet
M.M., New England Conservatory of Music
J. Andy Goodman
Professor
Ed.D., University of Illinois - Champaign/Urbana
Music Education
John McGrosso
Professor and Member, Arianna String Quartet
M.M., Julliard School of Music
Joanna Mendoza
Professor and Member, Arianna String Quartet
M.M., Julliard School of Music
Zachary Cairns
Associate Professors and Coordinator of Theory
Ph.D., University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music
James Henry
Associate Professors and Director of Choral Studies
Ph.D., Washington University
Julia Sakharova
Associate Professors and Member, Arianna String Quartet
M.M., Julliard School of Music
Alla Voskoboynikova
Teaching Professor and Director of Keyboard Studies
M.M., Gnessins Academy of Music-Moscow, Russia
Matthew Henry
Associate Teaching Professor of Percussion
M.M., Webster University
Adaron Jackson
Assistant Teaching Professor for Jazz Studies
M.M. , Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville
David Wacyk
Assistant Teaching Professor of Music
D.M.A., University of Maryland
Aurelia Hartenberger
Adjunct Associate Professor of Music Education
Ed.D., Washington University
Neil Ostercamp
Adjunct Instructor of Applied Saxophone
D.M.A., University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Alan Rosenkoetter
Adjunct Instructor of Applied Classical Guitar
B.S., Washington University
Jeanine York-Garesche
Adjunct Instructor of Applied Clarinet
M.M., St. Louis Conservatory of Music
Jennifer Mazzoni
Adjunct Instructor of Applied Flute
Christina Schemph
Adjunct Instructor of Applied French Horn
Travis Lewis
Adjunct Instructor of Applied Jazz Guitar
D.M.A., University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana
Dawn Weber
Adjunct Instructor of Applied Trumpet
Mieko Hironaka-Bergt
Specialist and Accompanist
M.M., Toho Academy of Music
John Hylton
Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus
D.Ed., Penn State University
Kenneth E. Miller
Professor Emeritus
Ph.D., Northwestern University
Evelyn Mitchell
Professor Emeritus
Arnold Perris
Professor Emeritus
Ph.D., Northwestern University
Robert J. Ray
Professor Emeritus
B.M., Northwestern University
James Richards
Professor Emeritus
Ph.D., University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music
Diane Touliatos
Professor Emeritus
Ph.D., The Ohio State University
Robert Nordman
E. Desmond Lee and Professor Emeritus
M.M., St. Louis Conservatory of Music
Douglas Turpin
E. Desmond Lee and Professor Emeritus
D.Ed., Washington University