BA in Music (Honours) - Music in a Global Context in Waterloo Canada | University of Waterloo

Explore music through a program designed to adapt to your creative interests. At Waterloo, you can learn to play over 20 different instruments or develop your vocal skills. Yet our offerings extend far beyond performance.Combine your training in performance, music theory, and history with innovative courses examining music's connections to technology, gender studies, and peacebuilding. Investigate the science of musical perception, or explore diverse genres from pop and jazz to opera and film scoring.This program equips you for various musical careers - whether as a performer, composer, educator, audio engineer, or music software designer. Gain practical experience before graduation through our optional co-op program. The University of Waterloo's Music Department merges classical training in performance, history, and theory with contemporary studies in popular music, global traditions, music technology, psychological aspects of music, and sacred music. Our unique travel course lets students experience musical cultures firsthand in destinations like London, UK. Flexible program combinations enable students to pair music studies with other disciplines, including our interdisciplinary Church Music and Worship Minor.

Nearly all music courses welcome students from every faculty. Prospective music majors typically enter the program in second year, selected based on first-year academic achievement including multiple music courses. We recommend including performance studies in your first year, though studio course admission doesn't guarantee program acceptance.Our graduates pursue diverse paths - some become educators in schools or private studios, others launch music-related businesses in retail, recording, or publishing. Many specialize further through music therapy programs or graduate studies in performance or academic music fields. Note that most advanced music education programs require an honours undergraduate degree.