Department of Music
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The UCA Department of Music
The UCA Department of Music is an artistic community of over 220 graduate and undergraduate music majors who participate in over 25 student ensembles including the UCA Bear Marching Band, the semi-professional Conway Symphony Orchestra, the award-winning Concert Choir and Chamber Singers, Opera Theatre, and numerous other large and small ensembles. Our ensembles have traveled the world to bring UCA music to the masses.
UCA Music is a regional leader in music performance, education, theory, and composition. The program and faculty attract the brightest young musicians from Arkansas, the United States, and the world. The Department of Music holds more than 200 performances and events annually. The Friends of Music continues to support the department with attendance and donors, and UCA is making great strides in becoming an All-Steinway School. The brand new Windgate Center for the Fine and Performing Arts opened in January of 2023 and boasts 100,000 square feet of artistic space including art galleries, a Recital/Choral Rehearsal Hall, a Percussion Suite, a 250-seat Black Box Theatre, practice rooms, a music library, and a 450 seat Performance Hall featuring the latest in performative technology. The Department of Music is involved in partnerships with schools around the world including East China Normal University, the International Music and Performing Arts Academy in Saigon, Vietnam, and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Santa Cruz de La Sierra which includes an orchestral festival, a concert series, and a scholarship competition held in Bolivia.
The Artist-In-Residence program brings professional performing and visual artists, creative writers, filmmakers, and arts exhibitions to the UCA campus for multiple-day residencies for the purpose of expanding student learning experiences. The general student body is afforded opportunities to experience performances, lectures, and exhibits that enlarge awareness and appreciation of the arts, and provide students participating in the arts with workshops, masterclasses, and critiques that enhance understanding and professionalism. UCA has been able to bring in scores of world-class artists for these residencies. The University of Central Arkansas is an institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music.