Subject at Iowa

The School of Music is an artistic community that brings together students from across Iowa and around the world, professors who are leaders in their disciplines, and audiences from a city in love with the arts.

From our home in the stunning Voxman Music Building, the School of Music builds on more than a century of tradition to shape modern approaches to music and education.

We're part of the University of Iowa's dynamic arts community, which is famous for its literary influence as well as for exceptional programs in theatre arts, dance, cinematic arts, and the visual arts. This multidisciplinary environment creates opportunities for collaborations and performances that delight our students and audiences alike.

The Voxman Music Building—completed in 2016—includes 700-seat and 200-seat concert halls, and has won widespread acclaim for its acoustically and technologically advanced architecture and teaching-friendly design.

School of Music faculty are internationally respected for their teaching and scholarly pursuits. They perform regularly in venues ranging from Iowa schools and community centers to the world's great musical cities and halls, and continue to produce an outstanding body of recorded work.

Our curriculum continually evolves to meet the demands of ever-changing professional landscapes. We have one of the nation's top music therapy programs, and we recently created a Jazz Studies program destined to become a national powerhouse.

Our alumni include luminaries such as baritone Simon Estes and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang, as well as countless others who have used their Iowa experience to launch successful and fulfilling careers.

9:1

Student-to-Faculty Ratio

350 +

Annual Public Performances

450

Undergraduate and Graduate Students

cover of 2023 Iowa Music Magazine, featuring a small jazz ensemble of student musicians playing their instruments on the ped mall in Iowa City, next to a bronze statue of jazz musicians

Iowa Music Magazine 2023

Chamber Music at Iowa:

A strong tradition for nine decades and counting

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cover of 2022 Iowa Music Magazine showing a photo mosaic that shows the interior of our Concert Hall

Iowa Music Magazine 2022

Coming Together in Harmony:

Turning our differences into assets to embrace and celebrate.

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cover of 2020 Iowa Music Magazine showing a lone piano player, wearing a face mask, seated at the piano on stage in an empty recital hall

Iowa Music Magazine 2020

We Didn't Miss a Beat: 

Read about inspiring achievements in the midst of a global pandemic.

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Why Iowa?

Looking to build a career in music or music scholarship? Our students develop careers as performers, composers, K-12 teachers, college professors, music therapists, and musicologists.

Looking to keep music central to your life while you develop a career in another field? Our BA program is designed to accompany a second major—any major among Iowa's more than 200—enabling you to create a personalized educational experience.

At Iowa, your music will be at the heart of a well-rounded education that will prepare you for any career. We're not a conservatory, where music is the only focus—you'll receive rigorous, personalized musical instruction as part of a rich liberal arts college experience.

Your campus home will be the technologically and acoustically advanced. Voxman Music Building includes everything from 700-seat and 200-seat concert halls, to teaching and practicing spaces, to cozy study areas. You'll collaborate with talented artists and perform for enthusiastic audiences in solo and chamber recitals, large ensemble concerts, and downtown jam sessions.

You'll study with world-class professors and mentors who are active in professional music scenes throughout Iowa, the United States, and the world. They'll bring extraordinary musicians to campus to lead master classes and clinics, and will lead you and your fellow students into the broader world through performances, competitions, and professional development opportunities.

And all of it happens in the unique environment of Iowa City—a friendly, bustling university town famous for its love of the arts.
white text on black says NASM accreditation National Association of Schools of Music

 

The University of Iowa is a charter member of NASM (National Association of Schools of Music),
accredited since 1928.

 

Info:

National Association of Schools of Music
11250 Roger Bacon Drive, Suite 21
Reston, VA 20190-5248
(703) 437-0700
info@arts-accredit.org

The Iowa Experience

Our faculty are known worldwide as scholars, performers, artists, and entrepreneurs. And while their recordings, performances, scholarship, and research spans across music disciplines and all the way to the top of their fields--they're also here for you as caring mentors and instructors who are motivated by making your future the brightest it can be.

Meet Our Faculty

History

The University of Iowa was established in 1847 as Iowa’s first public institution of higher education. Iowa was the first university in the U.S. to accept creative work in theatre, writing, music, and art as theses for advanced degrees.
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