Mission:
The Department of Music strives for excellence in performance, music education, and academics within the liberal arts tradition; we are committed to supporting students in exploring their passion for music. Our teaching and curriculum develop students’ core musicianship, integrating performance skills with academic study and innovative thinking. Students are encouraged to experience and study music from a wide range of traditions, genres, and styles that challenge their assumptions about the nature of the art. We foster a supportive environment that enables students to succeed in their chosen career paths as skilled and creative music educators, performers, conductors, composers, and future leaders in their field. In accordance with the University’s primary mission, the department is dedicated to excellence in teaching, research, creative expression, and service. We share the university’s deep and traditional commitment to undergraduate education and teacher training as a land-, sea-, and space-grant institution.
Housed in the University System’s flagship institution, the department also bears fundamental responsibilities in the areas of research and graduate education. It strives to fulfill the potential of the land-grant concept by advancing the practice and understanding of music among the residents of the state and region, as well as within the UNH community. Additionally, we embrace the university’s recognition of the value of building an accessible, diverse, equitable, and inclusive community.
Vision:
The UNH Music Department strives to be a place where students are safe to explore and develop as musicians and human beings, engage with and prepare for multiple dimensions of their future profession, amongst supportive peers and faculty within reach of the cultural resources of Boston. The department aspires to be a regional and national leader as a center for life-long learning, excellence in musical performance, and innovation in music education.
Values:
The UNH Music Department seeks to embody the principles of Community-Mindedness, Collaboration, Creative Thinking, and Critical Inquiry.
- Community-Mindedness: Successful 21st-century musicians work to discern the needs and desires of their fellow citizens and aspire to meet those needs.
- Collaboration: Successful 21st-century musicians seek to work collaboratively with their community members and to achieve musical, cultural, and civic aims.
- Creativity: Successful 21st-century musicians are always looking to “think outside the box”, whether that be in their musical activities, teaching methods, or outreach activities.
- Critical Inquiry: Successful 21st-century musicians are willing to explore new approaches to teaching, learning, and performing, asking how they can best share the power of music in ways that speak to today’s society.
