Music

Type of Offering

Major Minor

College

Arts & Sciences School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

As a music major, you’ll learn about music, its history, its cultural impact, and its performance practices. You’ll need to select a concentration in either Applied Studies, Music History & Literature, Music Composition, or Sound Recording Technology. You should also seriously consider adding an academic minor to define your career path in addition to a BA in Music.

Our small setting adds up to big opportunity. Here, you’re not just another talented musician trying to stand out from hundreds of others; you’re a valued member of a family. When you first arrive on campus, we’ll assign you a faculty mentor who will guide you until you graduate. You’ll get to know our amazing, dedicated music professors. They are all distinguished performers who hold degrees from leading musical institutions. They will become personally invested in your success and open doors for you.

Performance opportunities abound. We offer choral ensembles, bands, a full symphony orchestra, chamber music groups, a pit orchestra and more. Many of these groups travel nationally and internationally to places like New York City, China, Germany, Rome and New Zealand. In addition, you can’t beat our facilities. The Freed Center for the Performing Arts and our beautiful Snyder Recital Hall in Presser Hall are both top-notch.

Let’s face it, music is a specialized field. It takes a special blend of talent and opportunity to carve out a career. At ��Ƶ, you bring the talent and we provide the opportunity. We’ll help you build a career doing what you love – making music!

Music Courses, Curriculum & Program Resources

As a music major, you can take courses like Jazz History and Literature, American Music, and African Music.

*NEW - Our Bachelor of Arts in music with the pre-med track allows you to incorporate all of the standard recommended coursework by the schools of medicine in the State of Ohio into a flexible and carefully planned course of study through music.

Auditions and Awards

Show us what you’ve got! Substantial talent and academic awards (for music and non-music majors) are available through a successful audition.

Find your musical home

Here you’ll find a blend of tradition and innovation, a world class faculty, supportive mentors and friends, and countless opportunities to perform, travel and excel.

The Ohio Northern Symphony is a hybrid orchestra comprised of a highly select group of students, faculty and professionals. The symphony performs at least two programs a year, and enrollment is open, by way of audition, to all University students regardless of major. The symphony performs a wide variety of concerts, including classical, pops and new music. The orchestra has accompanied well-known pop artists such as “America’s Got Talent” stars Alice Tan Ridley and Neal Boyd as well as the Temptations Review and many others. The orchestra is committed to commissioning new works, including commissions of renowned composers.��
The University Singers is a select concert choir that has been in existence since 1971. The choir has sung with the Toledo, Lima, Perrysburg and ��Ƶ Symphony Orchestras in recent years. The ensemble has worked with renowned composers and premiered original works. In addition, the University Singers embarks on national or international month-long tours in the spring.
For decades, Ohio Northern University has held a tradition of excellence in jazz. Our Jazz Ensemble is the flagship of the entire Jazz Studies division and has collaborated with countless jazz legends like Arturo Sandoval, Clark Terry, Alan Vizzutti and Ellis Marsalis – to name just a few! The Jazz Ensemble is open to all ��Ƶ students by audition and consistently programs the great classics of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Stan Kenton and Buddy Rich, right up through the music of Bob Mintzer, Pat Metheny, John Fedchock and beyond. While the Jazz Ensemble keeps busy on campus, the group maintains exposure with tours in the U.S. and overseas as well as offering performance clinics for secondary school jazz programs throughout the Midwest.
��Ƶ’s renowned musical theatre program performs three musicals every year, many of them with full pit orchestra. The privilege of performing with this group is coveted by ��Ƶ students and provides invaluable professional experience in the “real world”. Past productions include Miss Saigon, Grand Hotel, Oklahoma, Cabaret, Nine, Zombie Prom, Thoroughly Modern Millie, 42d Street and South Pacific.
Chamber Singers is a highly select choral ensemble of 12-16 members performing appropriate literature both a cappella and accompanied from Renaissance to Contemporary. Performances include concerts on and off campus. Membership by audition.
The ��Ƶ Marching Band is very active on and off campus in a variety of performances. The band uses a modified corps-style of marching, along with color guard, twirlers, and off-the-field percussion battery and three field commanders. The band performs at all ��Ƶ home football games, one away game per season, and several local parades. In addition, the band has been featured at numerous high school marching band festivals and competitions throughout Ohio. Membership in "The Star of Northwest Ohio" is open to all Ohio Northern students. The ��Ƶ Marching Band has performed for audiences all over the world. In recent years, the band has performed in Beijing, Shanghai, Rome, Sorrento, Hawaii, Paris, London, Montreal, Toronto, and Los Angeles, California.
The Symphonic Band has a long history at ��Ƶ that dates back to 1889-90. Throughout the years, the ��Ƶ band program has continued to grow both in terms of participation as well as in quality and innovation. The Symphonic Band is open to students, faculty, and staff at ��Ƶ.�� Performers must complete a placement audition.��
Athletic band provides spirited music for sports contests (men’s and women’s basketball games). Open to all students, both music majors and non-majors, with prior high school instrumental experience. No formal audition required. Offered spring semester.
The Brass Ensemble regularly performs the great works of the brass repertoire spanning the Renaissance right up to the 21st century. Majors from pharmacy through theatre are welcome to join not only the Brass Ensemble but are encouraged to participate in like-instrument ensembles, such as Trombone Choir or Trumpet Ensemble, various brass chamber groups, and even be a part of our regular Brass Studio Warm-Up Class which meets every morning to reinforce good fundamentals so our students are best able to meet the mental and physical demands of successful brass performance.
The Percussion Ensemble performs high-caliber collegiate literature. Students are given the opportunity to compose or arrange for the ensemble and to rehearse and conduct the group. We offer African drumming and dance and a Chinese percussion ensemble. Truly, ��Ƶ percussion students have a chance to experience and perform music from the non-Western world.

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The ��Ƶ Steel Drum Band is very active and performs on campus, at area schools and for local events. Any ��Ƶ student can participate in the steel band program, regardless of major. The music of the steel band is traditionally full of lively Caribbean dance rhythms and singable melodies. Steel drum music originated on the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean in the 1940s and has quickly become popular worldwide. Today, the steel band plays a wide variety of music, including popular rock tunes, original compositions by ��Ƶ students, arrangements made by ��Ƶ students and a wide diversity of styles, from reggae to Beethoven.
The Composers Workshop Ensemble is a course offered every spring term and gives students the chance to exercise creative impetus. Students identify performers, rehearse and present works in Composers Workshop Recital.
Chamber Music Ensembles are coached by a faculty member, and perform at least once per semester. Trios, quartets, and quintets for woodwinds, brass and strings as well as mixed ensembles with piano and percussion ensembles can gain valuable chamber music experience with qualified, dedicated faculty.

��Ƶ has given me so many opportunities to grow as a musician and gives me more and more reasons to love playing the clarinet every day. The environment at ��Ƶ is nurturing for students’ talents. Students at ��Ƶ tend to encourage each other to become better musicians, rather than trying to demote their classmates.

Paige Stafford, music major

Pursue performance excellence

Find an array of ensembles--both auditioned and non-auditioned--that offer opportunities to perform, travel and grow as a musician.��

STUDY ACROSS THE POND

What’s it like to live and study in England? You could find out! ��Ƶ has an exchange program with the University of Salford, a sprawling college campus with about 20,000 students in England’s second-largest city, Manchester. Music majors could spend a semester at Salford learning about recording technology, composing and arranging in contemporary style, and more. You might even see Simon Cowell from Britain’s Got Talent, or cast members from Sherlock walking about the MediaCity UK Campus! Salford musicians also travel to ��Ƶ, bringing unique opportunities for collaboration and cross-cultural experiences.

Student Organizations

Join student organizations for professional development, networking and the opportunity to socialize and travel. We offer a number of student organizations on campus. You are sure to find an organization that matches your future career interests.
- KAPPA KAPPA PSI
- TAU BETA SIGMA
- PHI MU ALPHA SINFONIA
- DELTA OMICRON - GAMMA CHI CHAPTER
- SIGMA ALPHA IOTA - MU CHI CHAPTER
- OMEA/OCMEA AT OHIO NORTHERN

7-12 Music Opportunities - Summer Music Camp!

DEADLINE IS JUNE 1 FOR ALL FORMS AND REGISTRATION.

Ohio Northern University’s Summer Music Camp is designed for students in grades seven-12 and provides many performing and educational opportunities. Campers register as vocal, band or string majors, with auditions held the first day of camp to determine chair and voice placement.

Campers will have the opportunity to perform in the symphonic band, symphonic choir, string orchestra, instrumental ensembles and jazz band, and they will be exposed to music theory, music technology, conducting, dance, piano classes and jazz improvisation. The symphonic choir, symphonic band and string orchestra rehearse throughout the week and perform during the Friday night concert. The small ensembles will perform on Thursday night.

For any questions, contact Sarah Waters at s-waters@onu.edu or 419-772-2704.

Learn More

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Music Major

Music Courses, Curriculum & Program Resources

Auditions and Awards

Find your musical home

Pursue performance excellence

STUDY ACROSS THE POND

Student Organizations

7-12 Music Opportunities - Summer Music Camp!

Take the first step toward living the Polar Bear life

Information for:

�������Ƶ

Music Major

Music Courses, Curriculum & Program Resources

Auditions and Awards

Find your musical home

Symphony Orchestra

University Singers

Jazz Ensemble

Pit Orchestra

Chamber Singers

Marching Band

Symphonic Band

Athletic Band

Brass Ensemble

Percussion Ensemble

Steel Drum Band

Composers Workshop Ensemble

Chamber Music

Pursue performance excellence

STUDY ACROSS THE POND

Student Organizations

7-12 Music Opportunities - Summer Music Camp!

Take the first step toward living the Polar Bear life

Information for:

��Ƶ