The Department of Music
College of Creative Arts
San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94132
voice - (415) 338-1431
fax - (415) 338-3294
e-mail - music@sfsu.edu

Program Scope

The Department of Music offers both professional and liberal arts degree programs in music as well as courses which enrich the general education and cultural life of the University. The faculty of the Department of Music includes internationally recognized performers, composers, music educators, and scholars.

A wide variety of individual and ensemble performance opportunities are available to all students at SFSU. These include Symphonic Band, Jazz Band, University Symphony, Concert Choir and University Chorus. The Department also participates in opera and musical-comedy productions in the College of Creative Arts and sponsors many small, specialized ensembles such as Chamber Music, Collegium Musicum, Jazz Combos, and ensembles for woodwinds, brass and percussion. The Alexander String Quartet is quartet-in-residence at San Francisco State University.

Music Department Facilities

The Music Department is housed in the Creative Arts Building. Facilities include McKenna and Knuth theaters, seating 750 and 320 respectively; an up-to-date electronic music laboratory; two piano labs; choral and instrumental ensemble rehearsal space; classroom and practice facilities; and a music materials resource center, containing instruments and scores.

The J. Paul Leonard Library provides music listening facilities, computer access, and extensive scores, recordings, and books on music. The Frank V. de Bellis collection of Italian culture, located on the sixth floor of the Library, contains historic musical instruments, rare books, musical manuscripts, and scores and archival sound recordings.

Scholarships

The Music Department offers numerous scholarships, based on musical and scholastic performance as well as need. The May Treat Morrison Trust supports scholarships and instruction in chamber music. An endowed scholarship and loan fund in memory of Paul M. and Edith Pone has been established in support of academically promising music students who demonstrate financial need. The Janis D. Getz and the William Corbett Jones scholarships are awarded to talented piano majors with strong academic records. Other awards include the Eugene Fulton Vocal Scholarship, the Presser Scholarship, the de Bellis Scholarship, the Vernazza Scholarship for Music Education, the Bielawa Student Composer -in-Residence award, and the Peter Frampton Contemporary Music Award. For further information and an application, contact the Department of Music.

Careers in Music

Career options for music majors are very diverse. The analytical and listening skills, collaborative experiences, concentration and broad historical and cultural knowledge gained through the study of music prepare students to achieve in many professional arenas. Their individual talents may lead them into various aspects of music, including performance, composition, scholarship, and teaching. Graduates of the SFSU music department currently perform as soloists or in symphony orchestras, opera, chamber ensembles, choruses, rock groups, and jazz combos; they conduct Broadway musicals, church choirs, community choruses, commercial music, opera, and symphony; they compose and arrange music in a wide variety of styles; they teach every aspect of music from pre-school through university, both in independent studios and in public and private schools and colleges; they write record and program notes, serve as music librarians, design and work with music technology, act as critics and lecturers. They occupy key positions as music administrators and provide leadership for professional music organizations. They continue to create, perform, analyze, write about, lobby for, and listen to music, both for profit and for pleasure.

Applying to the University

Undergraduates

To request a university undergraduate application, please call the SFSU Application Request Line: (415) 338-7238. To request an application by mail, write to Undergraduate Application Requests, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave., San Francisco, CA 94132. Please include your social security number on all correspondence. To apply online, please go to: http://www.csumentor.edu.

International undergraduate students, please call (415) 338-7811 or write to International Admissions, ADM 154, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA.

To check on the status of your university application, contact Enrollment Services at (415) 338-1113.

Transfer students: Check with the Admissions and Records Office after you've attended SFSU for one (1) semester if you have not received your evaluation from the university.

Graduates

To request a university graduate application, please call the SFSU Graduate Divison Office: (415) 338-2234. To request an application by mail, write to Graduate Application Requests, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave., San Francisco, CA 94132. Please include your social security number on all correspondence. You can also apply online at: www.sfsu.edu/~gadmit/grad_online_apps.html

To download a Music Department Graduate Degree Application, please choose one of the following options:

Music Department Graduate Study Application in PDF format

Music Department Graduate Study Application in MS Word Form format

To check on the status of your university application, contact the Graduate Division at (415) 338-2234.

Transfer students: Check with the Graduate Division after you've attended SFSU for one (1) semester if you have not received your evaluation from the university.

NEW! Apply to the CSU System on the Web!

Applications to the California State University System are now available on the World Wide Web. Click here to get more information, or call (800) GOTOXAP. Students applying to the CSU system via the Web must remember to mail the $55 application fee to the Chancellor's office.

Admission to the Program

Undergraduates

To be conditionally accepted to the music major, indicate Music as your intended major on the university application. Enrollment priority in the lower division sequence of theory and musicianship courses is given to music majors. All students intending to enroll in these courses are required to take diagnostic placement examinations in music theory, aural skills, and piano. These exams are given twice each semester, on University advising days.

All music majors are assigned a faculty advisor, with whom they confer each semester to develop an appropriate program. Individual instrumental and vocal instruction is restricted to music majors. In order to qualify for individual instruction students must pass an audition and qualify on the undergraduate placement exams for admission into the lower division theory and musicianship sequence.

To check on the status of your admission, contact Enrollment Services at (415) 338-1113. International students should call (415) 338-2382 or write to International Admissions, ADM 154, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA.

For more information on enrolling as an undergraduate student, please click here.

Graduates

Applicants are required to file two applications, one with the university and one with the Music Department.

Students should apply by April 1 for the following fall or October 1 for the following spring. Admission to conditionally classified status requires acceptance by both the university and the Music Department. A departmental application form may be obtained by writing to the Music Department, by calling (415) 338-1431, or by faxing your request to (415) 338-3294.

For more information on enrolling as an graduate student, please click here.

Single Subject Teaching Credential in Music

The single subject teaching credential in music (required of those who wish to teach music in the California public school system) is awarded through the College of Education. If you wish to enroll in the SFSU credential program, you should first contact the Office of Student Services at (415) 338-7038. Or, you can visit their web site by clicking here.

Students pursuing a music teaching credential must clear their coursework with the Music Department's credential adviser, Prof. Carolynn Lindeman. Dr. Lindeman may be reached by calling (415) 338-2105, or by visiting her office in room 362 in the Creative Arts building.

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Other Information/Assistance

Housing & Residential Services

Mary Ward Hall

San Francisco State University

1600 Holloway Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94132

(415) 338-1067

Office of Financial Aid

ADM 355

San Francisco State University

1600 Holloway Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94132

(415) 338-1581

Advising Center

ADM 212

San Francisco State University

1600 Holloway Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94132

(415) 338-2101

Career Center

ADM 211

San Francisco State University

1600 Holloway Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94132

(415) 338-1761