Welcome to The McIntire Department of Music! We are a liberal arts program with a strong performance component. As you will find on our site, we are home to many activities. The particular strengths of our program lie in two major areas.

The first is in what we call Critical and Comparative Studies in Music, and this represents our effort to break the barriers between traditional musicological studies and ethnomusicology, and to understand music as an expression of culture. Areas of study range from traditional western art music to feminist and critical theory and jazz.

The second major area of focus is composition, with special emphasis on the creative potential of new technologies. The Virginia Center for Computer Music is a terrific resource for work in this area. And our large and excellent music library provides a great deal of support for every aspect of our program.

We also have an active performance program. Our Artist Faculty participate on our McIntire Chamber Series, in directing student ensembles, and in offering individual instruction. We are increasingly integrating performance into our academic program, with in-class performances as well as concerts of student work. Our symphony has professional principals, who have formed the Albemarle Ensemble (wind quintet) and Rivanna Quartet (string quartet). In addition, we have recently added a faculty jazz ensemble, the Freebridge Quintet.

We delight in the students in our program, and work hard to ensure a great deal of individual attention to our students. We also nurture many curricular ensembles, and provide rehearsal and other support to many of the student performance groups.

I invite you to browse our site, and please contact us with any questions or comments(music@virginia.edu).

Sincerely,
Judith Shatin
William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor
McIntire Department of Music