Abstracts of issue 18 (2003)

The University Musical Education in the U.S.A.

After research on a small but highly representative sample – including most of the leading American educational institutions – this paper presents information concerning the musical education in U.S. universities and, particularly, concerning the operational structure of music departments, the programs of undergraduate and graduate studies, the scientific profiles of the members of their faculties, and the career opportunities for their graduates. The research shows that university-level musical studies in the U.S. are mainly organized according to two leading models: some universities (among them the universities of Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Berkeley, Pennsylvania, Brendeis, Chicago) have a music department in which one can pursue studies in musicology, music theory or composition exclusively, while others (such as the universities of Rochester, Michigan, Illinois, Austin), where Schools of Music operate, comprise many autonomous and completely separate music departments, that focus either on theoretical or on practical (instruments or voice) undergraduate and graduate studies.

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