Music Ministry
In the Bachelor of Music in Music Ministry program, you will develop career-enhancing skills including music technology, performance, leadership, and more. This unique approach will enable you to become a well-rounded music minister prepared for work in Christian-tradition churches, including Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, and other denominations.
- As the only Catholic institution of higher education offering a degree in Music Ministry, this program addresses a growing need for creative and adaptable leaders in Christian churches around the world by integrating traditional studies with contemporary worship.
- Your comprehensive music experience will include applied lessons on your primary instrument, music ensembles, conducting, choral rehearsal techniques, worship leading labs, as well as voice, piano, keyboard, and guitar studies.
- In addition to your core music curriculum, you will learn to navigate and utilize cutting-edge music technologies including digital audio workstations, notation software, video production/streaming platforms, and other skills that are essential to modern-day music ministry.
- With a minor in Theology built into the curriculum, you will graduate with the ability to speak the language of the pastor, priest, or theologian in addition to speaking the language of music.
- Through internships with an extensive network of local churches and congregations, including Duquesne's own Spiritan Campus Ministry, you will be able to apply the skills you learn in the classroom directly to ministry sites in the real world.
- The Mary Pappert School of Music provides you with access to superior facilities, including 69 Steinway pianos in performance and rehearsal spaces, multiple recording studios, computer labs with the latest software, and seven on-campus organs where you will have opportunities to perform for liturgies and recitals.
Audition Overview
Admission to the Mary Pappert School of Music also includes a formal audition. Learn more about the audition process & guidelines.
Program Information
Program includes a minor in Theology
Program Type
Major
Degree
Bachelor's
School
Academic Department
Performance (Music)
Duration
4-year
Required Credit Hours
141
Alumni Perspective
Duquesne University continues to be a leader for Sacred Music. Catholic and Protestant churches are in dire need of well-trained sacred musicians that are skilled in sight reading, sight transposing, and hymn playing. Programs like this that allow for more real-world, practical application of sacred music are needed more than ever.
Program Coordinator
Hone Your Performing Skills
Regardless of degree path, each student benefits from one-on-one instruction with our world-class faculty.
Duquesne's ensembles will provide you with the finest university-level performing experiences available, preparing you for your career as a professional musician. As a member, you will perform on campus, as well as at some of the best venues for music in the city. Our students have performed at Heinz Hall, Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, the August Wilson Center, the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall, and many more.
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Learning Outcomes
The music performance department adheres to the School of Music General Outcomes for all degree areas as listed on the main degree page. In addition:
- Students must demonstrate achievement of professional, entry-level competence in the major area, including significant technical mastery, the ability to solve professional problems independently, and develop a coherent set of artistic/intellectual goals for the purpose of long-term success in their chosen field.
- Students are expected to have the ability to form and defend value judgments about music and to communicate musical ideas, concepts, and requirements to professionals and laypersons related to the practice of the major field.
- Students must demonstrate understanding of the diverse nature of music ministry in the modern church, including traditional, liturgical practices and contemporary worship styles, choral music, worship/praise teams, among others.
- Students must demonstrate the ability to conduct theoretical analysis of relevant repertoire, including arranging music for their instrument and/or ensembles.
- Students incorporate relevant technology (e.g., the use of digital audio workstations, notation software, technology for video production/streaming) into degree completion requirements, such as recitals, internships, and practica.
- Students must demonstrate competency in musicianship skills, including rhythm, aural skills, sightreading, score analysis and reading, and transposition.
- Students must demonstrate a reasonable capacity to improvise as appropriate to the performance practice of selected repertoire within the given worship setting and context.
- Students demonstrate research, communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills in applied study, ensembles, and academic coursework.
- Students demonstrate an understanding cultural and social issues related to leading music ministry in a local congregation and community context.
- Students must be able to articulate the theological bases for music ministry in the church and engage in conversations about theological issues related to worship with other members of the pastoral/ministerial staff and leadership of a local congregation.