Undergraduate programs
The School of Music & Theater is located within the hub of musical and theatrical activity in the Pacific Northwest, only three blocks from the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. It maintains close ties to the Oregon Symphony, Portland Opera, Portland Jazz Orchestra, Portland Piano International, Portland Youth Philharmonic, Chamber Music Northwest, Oregon Repertory Singers, Artists Repertory Theater, Portland Center Stage, Milagro Theatre, and Third Rail Repertory Theater, among other organizations. Faculty and students alike interact with these performing organizations in various ways.
Students have the opportunity to study with faculty members who are internationally recognized performers, conductors, composers, actors, directors, writers, and scholars. Standards are high as students pursue the conservatory-like Bachelor of Music degree or the more general Bachelor of Arts or Science in Music or Theater. Graduates have consistently demonstrated their excellence in the fields of performance, conducting, composition, acting, writing, production, and scholarship. Many are leaders in music, theater, and education around the Northwest and elsewhere.
Programs in the School of Music & Theater are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music and National Association of Schools of Theater. Graduates have gained admission to both university graduate programs and professional training programs; they have become teachers and university professors; and they have pursued a range of related professions in the arts, education, business, administration, law, social services, and non-profit management.
Sonic Arts and Music Production (SAMP) B.A./B.S.
Program Coordinator: A. Willette
Serving students who seek a broad liberal arts degree with a major in music, the B.A./B.S. in Music: Sonic Arts & Music Production provides a music foundation with an emphasis in music technology within a broad liberal arts framework. Students engage multiple creative contexts including recording, mixing and mastering, working with visual media, live interactive performance, sound installations, and online possibilities. Students successfully completing the B.A. or B.S. in Music: Sonic Arts & Music Production will have gained the necessary skills in music technology and supportive curriculum to prepare them for continued academic study in the discipline along with the breadth of knowledge, creative thinking, and expressive skills that can be translated to artistic, technical, entrepreneurial, and research endeavors.
Requirements
In addition to meeting the general University degree requirements, music majors seeking the B.A. or B.S. in Sonic Arts and Music Production must complete the following courses:
Courses
| Mus 045 | Portfolio Review | 0 |
| Mus 101 | Contemporary Music Theory I | 4 |
| Mus 102 | Contemporary Music Theory II | 4 |
| Mus 103 | Contemporary Music Theory III | 4 |
| Mus 188 | Performance Attendance | 0 |
| | (6 terms required) | |
| Mus 191 | Group Lessons for Beginners I: Piano, Guitar or Voice | 2 |
| Mus 192 | Group Lessons for Beginners II: Piano, Guitar or Voice | 2 |
| Mus 193 | Group Lessons for Beginners III: Piano, Guitar or Voice | 2 |
| Mus 194, 195, 196, 197, or 198 | Small or Large Ensemble | 3 |
| Mus 225 | Music Technology Lab | 1 |
| | (3 terms required) | |
| Mus 245 | SAMP I: Audio Recording | 3 |
| Mus 246 | SAMP II: Studio Techniques | 3 |
| Mus 247 | SAMP III: Studio Production | 3 |
| Mus 344 | Sonic Arts and Music Production Laptop Ensemble | 1 |
| | (3 terms required) | |
| Mus 345 | SAMP IV: Acoustics for Musicians | 3 |
| Mus 346 | SAMP V: Music with Visual Media | 3 |
| Mus 347 | SAMPVI: Integrated Sound Arts | 3 |
| Mus 445 | Business of Music | 3 |
| Mus 476 | Computer Music Composition | 3 |
Two of the following (8 credits)
| Mus 301U | Survey of Music Literature I: Medieval to Classical Era | 4 |
| Mus 302U | Survey of Music Literature II: Romantic to Modern Era | 4 |
| Mus 355U | Jazz History | 4 |
| Mus 365U | Film Music | 4 |
| Mus 374U | World Music: Africa and the Middle East | 4 |
| Mus 375U | World Music: Asia | 4 |
| Mus 376U | American Musical Traditions | 4 |
| Mus 377U | World Music: Latin America and the Caribbean | 4 |
| | | |
| | Upper-division music electives to be chosen by student in consultation with an advisor. | 7 |
Interested students will submit two creative projects and a written statement of purpose for acceptance as a SAMP major after completing Contemporary Music Theory and Mus 247 or upon transferring to PSU with equivalent coursework.