Welcome to the Department of Music!

The UCA Department of Music is an artistic community of over 200 music majors who participate in over 25 different student ensembles that include the spirited Bear Marching Band, the electrifying Conway Symphony Orchestra, the award-winning Concert Choir, and a host of other large and small ensembles. Our music ensembles have traveled to Spain, Japan, England, Italy, China, and Austria within the last five years, showcasing our students on an international stage. UCA boasts a faculty of 44 artists and music academicians, who have studied at the most prestigious universities and conservatories in the world. With a specialist for every aspect of the music curriculum, the Department of Music makes it possible for students to reach their highest potential.

Recently, UCA has played host to the National Symphony Orchestra, has commissioned an original opera, The Scarlet Letter, and has brought in world-class artists such as the Brentano String Quartet, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Pancho Sanchez and his Latin Jazz Band, clarinetist Eric Mandat, Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Karel Husa, the Washington Sax Quartet, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Big Band, tubist Sam Pilafian, the Meridian Arts Ensemble, Paul Hillier and Theater of Voices, and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

The Department of Music plays an integral role in the local community of Conway. With our Community School of Music, which enrolls over 250 students every year, our partnerships with the Conway ArtsFest and Conway Symphony Orchestra, and our countless faculty performances in the Central Arkansas region, one could say that we are the “Center of the Arts” for Arkansas. Please take a moment to check out our website. And don’t hesitate to send an email to the music faculty in your area of specialization. We’d love to hear from you!

If you are interested in joining Friends of Music, see our Friends Page. If you would like to support our various programs or specific scholarships, click here for more information.