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.
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.
Department of Music
The Department of Music is a community of scholars, creators, and performers dedicated to exploring music’s past, present, and future.
Fall 2026 Music Ensembles & 1-on-1 Lessons for Credit
The Department of Music offers performance opportunities through our ensembles and through 1-on-1 lessons in the Applied Music Program. All students must first sign up on their respective forms (if required) to declare their intention of participating in the ensemble or in individual lessons. Students who are required to audition should follow instructions to make audition appointments where prompted.
Academics
Undergraduate
Our diverse curriculum combines creative courses in composition, technology, and performance with speculative studies in history, theory, ethnomusicology, philosophy, and musical aesthetics.
Graduate
At Brown, your degree is what you make it: the more adventurous you are, the more exciting your program is likely to be.
Music Making
The Department of Music at Brown offers a huge array of performing opportunities, all available for academic credit.
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.
Recent News
News from the Department of Music
Sofía Fresco Named 2026 Recipient of the Neil Rosenberg Bluegrass Scholar Award
Brown University PhD candidate Sofía Fresco (formerly Chiarandini) is a recipient of the 2026 Neil Rosenberg Bluegrass Scholar Award by the International Bluegrass Music Association.
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RI Philharmonic Press Release
Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School Announces Eric Nathan as Composer in Residence
The Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School (RI Phil) is pleased to announce the appointment of acclaimed composer Eric Nathan as Composer in Residence for a three-year term, beginning in September 2026.
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Van Magazine
Wang Lu Interviewed in a Van Magaizne Profile
“I first met the composer Wang Lu on a warm weekend in south Brooklyn in the spring of 2008. The International Contemporary Ensemble, where I'm a pianist and original member, was about to premiere her “Siren Song.” It was by far the craziest-sounding piece on the program. “This one is beyond the beyond,” I said to one of my colleagues.”
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