Department of Music

Department of Music

The Department of Music is a community of scholars, creators, and performers dedicated to exploring music’s past, present, and future.

Through multiple modes of inquiry and experience, the department advances new ways of understanding music as both creative expression and cultural practice throughout the world. The department promotes musical education, research, and engagement at the highest standards of excellence on an open and inclusive basis.

About

The Department of Music is a community of scholars, creators, and performers dedicated to exploring music’s past, present, and future.

Academics

Music Making

The Department of Music at Brown offers a huge array of performing opportunities, all available for academic credit.

Students may choose to join one of the department's many performing groups
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Students seeking to improve their playing or singing ability have the option of taking individual private lessons with about thirty professional musicians from the greater Boston-Providence area.
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Recent News

Maureen Loughran, Brown University PhD in Ethnomusicology '08, was named Director and Curator of Smithsonian Folkways effective March 27, 2023. Loughran, a career music producer, archivist and scholar, is currently the senior producer of American Routes, a nationally distributed public radio series featuring the diversity of vernacular musical traditions. Loughran becomes the fourth director and curator of Smithsonian Folkways since it was established in 1987.
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Upcoming Performances and Lectures