The school enrolls more than 400 music majors and attracts students from throughout America and international students from Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and Canada.

Our students have opportunities for personal and professional growth while building relationships and networks essential for success in the profession through:

  • A curriculum that emphasizes both performance and scholarship in small classes, allowing you to excel in your chosen field.
  • Frequent interaction with faculty who strive to create a nurturing atmosphere while challenging you to develop your talents and further your ambitions.
  • Discipline-specific student organizations, including the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), and National Association for Music Educators (NAfME).
Director's Welcome

Mission

As an innovative artistic and educational leader in the United States, as well as the primary catalyst for music culture in Southern Nevada, the mission of the UNLV School of Music is to provide a professional artistic environment that supports programs of excellence in the education of musicians. With respect for and responsiveness to the needs of students and faculty, the school produces musicians of the highest quality, develops each student’s unique strengths in performance, composition, and the teaching of music, generates excellence in musical literacy and performance, and increases the public’s appreciation for the intrinsic value of music through leadership and excellence in teaching, research, scholarship and creativity, and professional service.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Music strives to be acknowledged as one of the foremost comprehensive programs of music in the United States, able to attract the finest students and faculty. Through instructional excellence, leading-edge research, inspired creativity, and dedicated service, the school seeks to prepare students to be artistic leaders in their profession, each possessing the highest standards of performance, teaching, scholarship and artistic vision, and each capable of achieving success in their chosen field.

The School of Music is housed in the:

Alta Ham Fine Arts Building
Alta Ham Fine Arts Building

Alta Ham Fine Arts Building

Lee and Thomas Beam Music Center
Lee and Thomas Beam Music Center building view from the grass lawn

Lee and Thomas Beam Music Center

Harmon Auxiliary Building I
Harmon Auxilary Building I

Harmon Auxiliary Building I

These three buildings contain rehearsal rooms, teaching studios, administrative offices, performance venues, and other resources identified in the list of facilities below.

Venues

Several venues on campus that are not exclusively associated with the School of Music are often used to present music performances. These facilities include the following:

Arnold Shaw Popular Music Center

The Arnold Shaw Popular Music Center, founded in 1985, is one of the nation’s oldest independent institutes of its kind. The Center houses collections of manuscripts, recordings, print matter, and ephemera related to the study of popular music and jazz. The Center also hosts an annual lecture series, which is free and open to the public.

Instruments

Instruments within the school’s (non-keyboard) inventory are available to registered students and faculty; priority in their use is given to music majors. Please see instrument use policy for further information.

  • Pipe organ (Doc Rando Hall, Maureen Jackson Smith Pipe Organ)
  • Italian inner-outer harpsichord, single manual
    • By Roberts and Brazier (Zuckerman), ca. 1980.

      • 2x8’

      • CC/FF–d’’’, with short octave/split keys

      • Quilled in Canada goose 

      • Restored Kevin Fryer, 2016

      • Pitch: A415

  • French double-manual harpsichord
    • By Roberts and Brazier (Zuckerman), 1978

      • 2x8’+4’+buff

      • FF–g’’’ 

      • Quilled in celcon

      • Pitch: A440
  • Baroque violin
    • Gut strings
      • Pitch typically A415
      • Three bows
      • Two indicated as “baroque violin bows”
  • Traversos (Baroque flutes)
    • Two student models in UNLV’s collection, both pitched at A415.

Music Library

The Music Library supports the curriculum of the UNLV School of Music and the teaching and research needs of faculty, students, and the Las Vegas music community. The Music Library houses a small music reference collection and over 35,000 scores, 15,500 recordings, and 3,000 DVDs with an emphasis in classical music and jazz. Audiovisual materials relating to dance are also located in the Music Library.