I am delighted to welcome you to the new UBC School of Music website. I hope you enjoy this snapshot, which captures the diversity, quality, and impact of our activities and offerings — we are a vibrant community of creators, performers, and scholars! I warmly invite you to explore the School of Music throughout our website!

UBC established its Department of Music in 1947 under the leadership of Harry Adaskin, and initially offered B.A. degrees with a major in Music. The Bachelor of Music degree was then developed with the first students entering in September 1959 (by which time the faculty also included other Canadian musical trailblazers like Jean Coulthard and Barbara Pentland). These 50 years have witnessed an impressive expansion in our degree programs, so that we now offer Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral programs in performance, music education, composition, music theory, musicology, and ethnomusicology. What started with a few dozen students has grown into a dynamic and diverse community of over 300 undergraduates and 130 graduate students. Music is thriving at UBC, and we continue to witness exciting increases in the size, quality, and scope of our programs.

Our recent 50th Anniversary year was an opportunity to reflect with gratitude on the generous support the School has received from many donors, and with admiration on the countless contributions to musical performance and education that scores of faculty and thousands of alumni have made over the past five decades — throughout BC, across Canada, and around the world. Every one of these individuals has helped to make the School of Music a vibrant and significant part of Canadian musical life. Their commitment and talent give us inspiration and confidence, and we enthusiastically look forward to our next half-century: to continued artistic vigour and growth, to attracting the finest students and to giving them the skills, experiences, and opportunities that help them pursue rewarding careers and thereby enrich the lives of their communities.

In 2010 we completed the renovation of the historic Old Auditorium, one of the original UBC buildings. In the summer and fall of 2010 this beautiful revitalized concert hall and opera theatre burst back to life as a marvelous performing venue for the School. Also in 2010 we renovated and renamed the concert hall within the Music Building as the Roy Barnett Recital Hall. Have a look at photo slide shows of both renovation projects by following the highlighted links above.

I hope this website will reinforce your interest in our activities, encourage your participation, and inspire your support. For information about our concerts and programs, or about how you can support, the Old Auditorium renovation project or our Music scholarship endowments, please visit http://www.supporting.ubc.ca/priorities/faculties/arts/music.html.

I also welcome any ideas, questions, or comments you may wish to share with me. Thank you for making our music part of your world!

Richard Kurth
Professor and Director, UBC School of Music