Pursue a B.A. in Music at Cal State Monterey Bay! Hands-on training in performance, composition, and sound engineering for international students. Apply now!
The B.A. in Music is a hands-on program designed to prepare students for careers in performance, composition for acoustic and electronic or interactive media, sound engineering, audio programming, and music education across commercial, independent, and community sectors. Music students produce concerts, mixes, musicals, scores, performances, sound installations, texts, talks, electroacoustic compositions, and interactive and experimental multimedia projects through a variety of collaborative, independent, and cross-disciplinary experiences. The curriculum develops skills and experience in all aspects of music-making, including producing, performing, analyzing, composing, songwriting, mixing, editing, documenting, marketing, and programming. Rooted in the liberal arts tradition of critical and interdisciplinary thought and practice, the degree emphasizes well-rounded musicianship through a balance of performance, composition, musicology, ethnomusicology, music theory, acoustics, and music technology—each characterized by its own perspectives and methods—complemented by rigorous foundational training in critical listening, sight-singing, keyboard skills, and the fluent reading, writing, and digital engraving of Common Western Music Notation. Beyond these fundamentals, students design a personalized, inquiry-driven area of emphasis aligned with their research and creative interests, culminating in an ambitious scholarly-creative capstone thesis project within a chosen area of expertise.
