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Overview: Musicianship, Leadership, Artistry

The Conducting Area Faculty is dedicated to the success of our graduate students as conductors in both academic and professional settings. UNCG offers the Master of Music degree and the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in instrumental conducting and choral conducting.

The MM curriculum provides performance and academic offerings enabling our students to successfully enter the conducting profession or pursue doctoral studies. The DMA curriculum provides students the opportunity for intensive study and performance in their discipline with the flexibility to engage in secondary cognates in other music disciplines. This approach prepares the 21st-century conductor with the skills to successfully lead college-university band, orchestral, or choral programs or to be successful leading ensembles in professional settings.
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Degree Programs

UNCG offers the following degree programs for students interested in studying Conducting:

Graduate Programs

Master of Music (M.M.) – Performance
Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) – Music

The MM and DMA programs in Choral Conducting at UNCG offer intensive, highly specialized training for talented graduate students in conducting. The program is extremely selective, and has enjoyed a very successful track record of placing graduates into professional and university-level conducting positions.

Graduate students in conducting enjoy regular podium time with our major choral ensembles, the Chamber Singers, University Chorale, Women’s Glee Club and Men’s Glee Club, and are appointed as assistants to these ensembles. Other opportunities for teaching include undergraduate conducting classes and responsibilities within the Department of Music Performance. There are also ample opportunities within local area and state for professional singing, playing, and conducting. The UNCG choral conducting program has had student participation in ACDA conducting competitions and master-classes and has a proven track record of placement for future graduate student or post-doctoral job placement. We will look forward to receiving your materials and to meeting you. Feel free to call Dr. Welborn E. Young at 1-336-334-5493 if you have further questions.

The UNCG School of Music is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music and is the representative of the state of North Carolina to the National Association of Music Executives in State Universities.

UNCG has been recognized for years as one of the top music institutions in the United States. We have approximately 400 undergraduate students, 200 graduate students and 60 full-time faculty. The school is housed in a 130,000 square-foot state-of-the-art building completed in 1999. This facility includes a 350-seat recital hall, a 120-seat organ recital hall, instrumental, choral, and percussion rehearsal halls, music library, an acoustics research lab, a psychoacoustics lab, an electronic piano lab, a computer lab, and more. Large ensembles and opera perform in the 1,600-seat UNCG Auditorium.

Learn More About Graduate Instrumental Conducting

The MM and DMA programs in Instrumental Conducting at UNCG offer intensive, highly specialized training for talented graduate students in conducting. The program is extremely selective, and has enjoyed a very successful track record of placing graduates into professional and university-level conducting positions.

You must make application by December 1.

Graduate students in conducting enjoy regular podium experiences with all the major ensembles, including appearances with the acclaimed UNCG Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Band, University Band, Sinfonia, and Casella Sinfonietta. In addition, one graduate student is teacher-of-record of the University Band, responsible for all personnel, programming, and grading. Other teaching opportunities include undergraduate conducting classes, marching band methods, and other responsibilities within the School of Music. We will look forward to receiving your materials and to meeting you. Feel free to call the Large Ensembles Office at 1-800-999-2869 if you have further questions.

The UNCG School of Music is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music and is the representative of the state of North Carolina to the National Association of Music Executives in State Universities.

UNCG has been recognized for years as one of the top music institutions in the United States. We have approximately 400 undergraduate students, 200 graduate students and 60 full-time faculty. The school is housed in a 130,000 square-foot state-of-the-art building completed in 1999. This facility includes a 350-seat recital hall, a 120-seat organ recital hall, instrumental, choral, and percussion rehearsal halls, music library, an acoustics research lab, a psychoacoustics lab, an electronic piano lab, a computer lab, and more. Large ensembles and opera perform in the 1,700-seat UNCG Auditorium.

Application Procedure

We are always looking for talented applicants in the conducting area. Our admission standards are high, and the screening process for applications is competitive. Please click here for a detailed application process and the specific materials needed to support the application.

Assistantships and Fellowships

Assistantships to teach and work within the Departments of Music are available. There is an Application for Graduate Assistantship form that the applicant will complete and submit with the Graduate Pre-Audition Request Form. View more information on Assistantships and Fellowships.

Instrumental Conducting Faculty

Dr. Jonathan Caldwell

Jungho Kim

Dr. Jungho Kim

Choral Conducting Faculty

Carol Coelho

Dr. Carole Ott

Dr. Welborn Young