BA in Music

Through small classes and one-on-one interaction with outstanding faculty, music majors develop the ability to perform, create, contextualize and analyze music, and have opportunities to pursue their musical interests through participation in the department’s classes, ensembles, applied lessons and events.

The Music Department offers two majors and a minor: The B.A. in music allows you to focus on general music, performance, or composition. It is also an excellent choice if you would like to double major in music and another field. If you want a degree with a higher content of music courses, you can choose the B.S. in music. Students interested in becoming music teachers may add the Education Minor to the B.S. in music in order to gain K-12 teacher certification. The music minor consists of 23 credits of coursework, and is easily added to most majors on campus.

Our Conducting Mentorship Program gives aspiring conductors plenty of podium time in front of our major ensembles. Our facilities are located in Wilson Hall and include modern, spacious practice rooms with excellent pianos. Most music performances take place in Wilson Concert Hall, a state-of-the art auditorium that is acoustically tunable for different types of concerts. Our faculty members are active scholars and performers who regularly appear on stages and in conferences around the country.

Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, is a nationally ranked, small, private, liberal arts university nestled in the mountains of western Virginia. As one of the oldest schools in the nation, we believe in the education of the whole person, and value students who are intellectually curious, eager to engage with their communities, inclined to critical thinking and prepared to lead lives of consequence.

You will be encouraged to dive in, explore, and discover connections that will broaden your perspective, enrich your education, and lend depth to your experience.

We have a long tradition of educating smart, ambitious students who have the ability and the desire to make a difference in the world.