Brigham Young University - Utah (Collage of Fine Arts and Communications)

School of Music

One of the lasting traditions of Brigham Young University is its strong cultural emphasis and support of the fine arts. Historically, the music department at BYU has been one of its academic stars, and today the BYU School of Music continues this tradition as it leads toward a bright future.

The strength of the School lies in its resources —students, faculty, facilities, and the university and community. There are approximately 700 music majors in the School of Music pursuing their dreams while moving towards graduation. This body of talented and dedicated young musicians is an example to the world of the power of music in individual lives.


Academic Divisions

The School of Music is divided into the following divisions that direct the various performing and academic areas of the school. Individual degree programs, both undergraduate and graduate, fall under the auspices of the academic divisions listed below, and each would follow the corresponding program track as listed in the undergraduate or graduate catalogs found on the links to the left.

* Choral Ensembles and Conducting
* Instrumental Ensembles and Conducting
* Jazz Studies
* Keyboard Studies
* Media Music and Sound Recording Technology
* MDT (Music Dance Theatre)
* Musicology
* Music Education
* Strings
* Composition and Theory
* Vocal Studies
* Woodwinds, Brass, and Percussion


The Mission of the School of Music

The Brigham Young University School of Music assists individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life through the study of music. We embrace the Aims of a BYU Education to be spiritually strengthening, intellectually enlarging, and character building, leading students to lifelong learning and service. As faculty members, administrators, and staff, we help our students to think clearly about diverse kinds of music and to create, perform, and teach music with excellence. We explore music within the context of a broad liberal arts education and religious instruction, infusing the lives of students with scholarly and creative experience. We believe our voice is central in bringing the highest artistic and scholarly contributions to the world while reflecting the ideals of revealed truth.

The vision of an artistic life, inspired by faith and molded in the rigor of the highest artistic standards, lies at the center of the extraordinary diversity of programs, support services, touring, creative works, and administration of the School of Music. Our intermediary goals are:

1. To achieve the highest professional and moral standards and to explore proven and promising pedagogical and technological methods;
2. To continually develop as teachers, scholars, creative artists, and citizens;
3. To expand the local, national, and international reputation of the School of Music through concerts and recordings, including music composed by its faculty and students; publication and touring, presentations at conferences, competitions, invited lectures, and music festivals;
4. To enrich the musical life of all students on and off campus by offering participation in a wide variety of ensembles and studio instruction in instruments and voice, and by offering general interest courses presenting a diverse sampling of topics in the field of music;
5. To offer undergraduate and graduate degree programs that meet or exceed the most exacting professional standards and to train and inspire graduates to meet the musical needs of the LDS church, the community, and the country, incorporating:
* The skills, knowledge, and dispositions to be effective musician-educators;
* The musical, physical, spiritual, and artistic elements of the conductor's craft;
* Academic experiences in music theory and history based on richness and rigor in understanding musical languages, distinguishing the nuances of style, and grasping the ways in which styles intertwine with ideas;
* Performing skills in musical theatre;
* Vocal and instrumental performance, preparing students for careers as performers or artist-teachers by example, sound pedagogical principles, and practical application and feedback;
* The art of improvisation, including the various styles of jazz and commercial music;
* Rigorous musical and liberal arts training for media composers, songwriters, and arrangers, encouraging them to nurture the values reinforced by the BYU experience;
* The technical and musical skills for recording managers;
* Modern, experimental, and historical musical vocabularies in composition, while promoting the performance of new music.



Visual Arts

With a curriculum emphasizing both tradition and innovation, the Department of Visual Arts seeks to prepare students for professions in the visual arts and to enrich others with an appreciation of art and design. The student exposed to the visual arts moves closer to becoming a whole person. �We know from long experience that no one can claim to be truly educated who lacks basic knowledge and skills in the arts� (National Standards for Arts Education, 1994, pg. 5). To better serve students, the Departments of Art and Design merged in 1995 to become the Department of Visual Arts. By joining faculties and resources, the department more effectively prepares its graduates for a technologically advanced environment. A common core of classes exposes freshman art and design majors to the department's 10 degree programs prior to their declaring a specific program major. The core curriculum accommodates the wide variety of artistic and scholarly skills of entering students and allows flexibility in choosing individual program direction. Moreover, it enables new students to acquire a basic and broad understanding of the visual arts before concentrating on a specific discipline. The visual arts programs encompass the rigorous academics of the university while maintaining small, intensive classes, each aligned with the best practices and most current philosophies in its field�a combination ensuring a strong preparation for its students. The Department of Visual Arts places great value on the spiritual aspects of creativity and prepares students to excel in their areas of emphasis in order to contribute to society as artists, designers, teachers, scholars, and inspired members of the Church. The department is looking for students who are caring, creative, and capable�able to relate eternal values to their finest professional practices.


Academic Programs

With a curriculum emphasizing both tradition and innovation, the Department of Visual Arts seeks to prepare students for professions in the visual arts and to enrich others with an appreciation of art and design. The student exposed to the visual arts moves closer to becoming a whole person. "We know from long experience that no one can claim to be truly educated who lacks basic knowledge and skills in the arts" (National Standards for Arts Education, 1994, p. 5).

To better serve students, the Departments of Art and Design merged in 1995 to become the Department of Visual Arts. By joining faculties and resources, the department more effectively prepares its graduates for a technologically advanced environment. A common core of classes exposes freshman art or design majors to the department's 8 degree programs prior to their declaring a specific program major. The core curriculum accommodates the wide variety of artistic and scholarly skills of entering students and allows flexibility in choosing individual program direction. Moreover, it enables new students to acquire a basic and broad understanding of the visual arts before concentrating on a specific discipline.

The visual arts programs encompass the rigorous academics of the university while maintaining small, intensive classes, each aligned with the best practices and most current philosophies in its field-a combination ensuring a strong preparation for its students.
The Department of Visual Arts places great value on the spiritual aspects of creativity, and prepares students to excel in their areas of emphasis in order to contribute to society as artists, designers, teachers, scholars, and inspired members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The department is looking for students who are caring, creative, and capable-able to relate eternal values to their finest professional practices.

Animation
(BFA Degree)
Animation is more than just motion graphics, it is the illusion of life. Animation is a growing field being used in films, television, videogames,and internet, and has grown into the simulation markets included in such fields as Automotive Manufacturing, and Medicine.

Success in the animation program comes through the two skill sets necessary for success in the industry:
1. Drawing–A solid understanding and ability in the illustration arts with an emphasis on drawing the human figure.
2. Animation–A solid understanding of the principles of animation with the ability to effectively use the principles to bring artwork to life.

BYU's Animation Program is a truly interdisciplinary program being collectively administered and taught through the Departments of Visual Arts, Theater and Media Arts, and The School of Technology in the College of Engineering. Students have the opportunity to be mentored by working professionals from the many departments that participate in the program. Multiple Traditional and Computer Animation labs are accessible to students running the latest industry standard hardware and software.

Art Education
(BA/Ma Degree)
Program majors are taught the fundamentals of discipline-based art education and gain a broad perspective of the visual arts, with studies in art studio, art history, aesthetics, art criticism, and design. They participate in a series of courses that prepare them to teach art at the elementary and secondary levels in public or private schools. The undergraduate program in art education features a four-year BA degree with kindergarten–12th grade certification. K-12 certification also is available as an added requirement for BFA students. Graduate study leading to a MA degree is tailored to the needs of experienced art educators who wish to extend their theoretical knowledge, become up-to-date on professional developments, and develop advanced curriculum.

(MA Degree)
The six-semester master of arts in art education degree program is designed for practicing art educators as an alternative to a full-time residency (or day) degree program. Students enter and complete the program as a cohort group, although variations for the thesis option are permitted. The spring/summer term format and every-three-week instructional seminars provide a means for art teachers to work and gain experience within their profession while earning an advanced degree.

The curriculum is built around one intensive spring/summer term in which students take 6 hours of studio work and 3 hours of art history. During the intervening months (five semesters), candidates enroll in 15 hours of art education seminar, 6 hours of digital art, and 3 hours of curriculum project or thesis. A comprehensive examination is given in the fifth winter semester. The oral defense of the culminating project or thesis is conducted by all members of the graduate faculty in the final or sixth fall semester.

Graphic Design
(BFA Degree)
To be effective, graphic designers must convey powerful and meaningful images in various media. Faculty encourage creative exploration in non-traditional methods of design for communicating these images. Preparing students to analyze, research, and organize information to creatively solve complex communication problems is the core of every course. Taught by instructors who are working designers, students take on challenging assignments similar to those in a professional experience. Assignments include magazines, books, brochures, packaging, corporate identity, posters, web design, motion graphics and logos.

Illustration
(BFA Degree)
Illustration is an important form of public art. It provides visual interpretations of ideas expressed in communications for mass media-magazines, books, corporate literature, and electronic media. Combining professional skills and personal experience, the illustrator is able to stimulate interest, arouse emotions, and provide insight.

Emphasis in the illustration program is on skills necessary to compete in a variety of changing illustration markets.

Competency is required in the areas of creativity, design, drawing and painting, media skills, and illustration history, as well as understanding and rendering the human form and learning the nature of various markets. Classroom projects vary from simple skill-oriented problems to complex market-focused illustrations that simulate actual assignments. Additionally, students interested in an animation focus learn basic 2D programs and progress to high-end 3D/animation programs.

Students have the opportunity to work with a variety of faculty who are all professional freelance illustrators working for regional and national clients.

Photography
(BFA Degree)
The mission of the photography program is to prepare students to succeed in the competitive arena of professional photography. The program has an applied emphasis designed to prepare graduates to enter one of several professional fields of photography with a foundation of visual problem-solving, fine art applications, and technical proficiency. Students learn black-and-white and color techniques in addition to the skills in-volved in portrait, commercial illustration, architectural photography, and computer imaging. To augment the academic courses, several prominent and professional photographers are invited to campus each year to show work and share ideas about the professional and fine art aspects of photography. An annual trip to one of the major national centers of photography shows students the work of many additional photographers. Students also have the opportunity of doing an internship for a semester with an established professional photographer. Exposed to the work of the great historical photographers as well as to contemporary masters and other working professionals of both local and national repute, photography majors will find exciting challenges in this field of visual art.

Ceramics
(BFA/MFA Degree)
The ceramics program offers the serious student an opportunity for an intensive studio experience that begins with an introduction to a variety of contemporary approaches to clay and ends with a focused, highly personal final project. Students are encouraged to incorporate other materials into their work and, as a result, often mount shows that reveal a surprising level of skill and variety. this interplay of materials results in a healthy interaction among the sculpture and ceramics students in Building B-66. MFA and BFA candidates in ceramics have individualized work space and play a strong role in the day-to-day workings of the studio. Ideas, materials, techinical information, and equipment are shared in a way that brings students and faculty--and often guest artists--shoulder to shoulder to solve problems, provide supports, and share creative victories. Ceramics students have particpated in NCECA student exhibitions and regularly attent the national conference. Advanced ceramics students have their own gallery exhibition at BYU every November. Former students hold teaching positions at the college level, and many are active artists with national reputations.

Visual Arts
(BA Degree)
A BA degree is offered in the Department of Visual Arts. See course listings to determine how the BFA and BA degree differ, or see the BA advisor for further information.

Incoming Freshmen wishing to apply for the BA must follow the same procedures as all other incoming freshmen students. Continuing students and transfer students wishing to apply for the BA program must follow the same procedures as all other continuing or transfer students. Admissions criteria can be found on our website by clicking on �Admissions,� located on the navigation bar below. Forms can be obtained from the department offices.

MFA Studio
A terminal degree, the master of fine arts is dedicated to generating artists with significant skills and understandings who can contribute to the discipline. The MFA has four areas of specialization: ceramics, painting-drawing, printmaking-drawing, and sculpture. Each area requires 60 credit hours. A minor in art history may be earned by completing an additional 9 hours.

Two reviews each semester�the midterm committee review and the full faculty review�are required of all MFA students. A semester exhibition is required prior to each full faculty review. Two semesters of satisfactory evaluations must be acquired before a student can present a preliminary exhibition and move towards a final project. To pass the candidacy review, the MFA student will install, for approval, a preliminary exhibition accompanied with a proposal for a final project. A final project is to be produced and exhibited, then defended in an oral defense before the graduate committee.


Theatre and Media Arts

The two disciplines of Theatre and Media Arts have a rich history at Brigham Young University. Theatre has been taught at Brigham Young University since 1901, when Miriam Nelke first began teaching courses in literary interpretation, Shakespeare, and oral expression. Brigham Young was also one of the first universities to create a formal department for the production of motion pictures in 1953. In fact, BYU President Ernest L. Wilkinson boasted in 1963 that BYU was one of only two universities in the nation with a film production department (the other being the University of Southern California). In 1974, the Theatre and Media Arts departments were merged into one, forming a union which has fostered a healthy collaboration between these two artistic disciplines for over thirty years. Today, the department services more than 450 students and has 21 full-time and 54 part-time faculty members.

Theatre students from our department have performed in Broadway casts of Mama Mia!, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Thoroughly Modern Millie and 42nd Street. Additionally, students have been with the Broadway national tours of Cats, Fosse, Footloose, Titanic, Sunset Boulevard, and Annie Get Your Gun. Graduates have also worked with the Boston Ballet, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, and the Sacramento Ballet.

Film students from our department have created several successful independent films (Napoleon Dynamite, God's Army, Pride and Prejudice, Saints and Soldiers, The Singles Ward, Out of Step, Brigham City, and Charly). Many of our students have competed in prestigious film competitions such as the Sundance Film Festival and Slamdance. They've also been on the crews for national television programs (Touched by an Angel and Everwood). Additionally, students in the newly created Animation program have received awards such as the Student Emmy.

TMA graduates have gone on to pursue degrees at the Boston Conservatory, the Old Globe in San Diego, the University of California at San Diego, the University of Texas at Austin, New York University, the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Iowa, the University of Illinois in Champagne, the North Carolina School of the Arts, the University of Nottingham, and many others.

In short, the Department of Theatre and Media Arts provides its students with an enriching environment in which they can pursue their creative, scholarly, and spiritual interests.
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Department Mission Statement

The Department of Theatre and Media Arts is committed to both the mission of Brigham Young University "to assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life," and the "Aims of a BYU Education" which "should be (1) spiritually strengthening, (2) intellectually enlarging, and (3) character building, leading to (4) lifelong learning and service." We work toward these ends by promoting literacy, spirituality, and creativity, and by exploring their interrelatedness, in the arts of theatre and media.

* Literacy means for us the ability to "read"---that is, to apply the vocabulary and grammar of theatre and media arts to (1) uncover multiple meanings in works of art, and (2) appreciate, evaluate, and respond to them.
* Spirituality consists of discovering, exploring, and balancing the interrelationships among the individual, others, and Deity.
* Creativity means synthesizing in new ways, and illuminating human understanding through performance and production.

We promote literacy, spirituality, and creativity in the arts of theatre and media by emphasizing such central elements as:

* The truths of human experience;
* Generosity of soul;
* A service orientation, and focus on others;
* Commitment to developing infinite potential; and
* Awareness

In promoting literacy, spirituality, and creativity in theatre and media arts, we balance the skills and demands of:

* Thinking---both creative and critical;
* Collaborative mentored processes; and
* Production.

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