Music Major
At A Glance
Program Type
Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Accreditation
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), National Association of Schools of Music (NASM)
Opportunity
Option to study for a semester at the Contemporary Music Center in Nashville
Opportunity
Option to prepare for a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program to teach music
At George Fox, we invite you to engage in the beauty that is music. Under the guidance of our talented faculty, we offer private instruction in voice, string, brass, woodwind, percussion, guitar, and keyboard instruments, as well as ensemble-style opportunities for practice and improvement.
We are also committed to helping you find your place. With emphases on music industry and worship arts, our music major is focused on connecting you with compelling vocational opportunities.
Three Concentrations
Our music degree has a shared general core of classes, ensembles and lessons, and we offer three concentrations – in music industry, worship, and liberal studies – that allow you to customize your degree based on your area of interest.
Industry
Interested in pursuing work in the music industry? In the industry concentration, you will take courses in lighting and sound, recording, music theory, lessons, and overviews of global, pop, jazz, and classical music literature. You’ll also have opportunities to network, perform, record, produce, compose, and teach while in school, as well as have the option to spend a semester in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Contemporary Music Center.
Worship Arts
The worship arts concentration is intended for students who feel the call of God to go into full- or part-time music ministry. You will take a broad mix of courses, including classical and popular musical styles, and become exposed to current trends in music and theatre technology. An internship as part of your course of study will provide you with valuable experience in preparation for employment in ministry.
Liberal Arts
This concentration is the most flexible of all. Here, you will be prepared for any number of professional careers, such as teaching, composing, performing, or working as a freelance musician. Other students select this concentration when they’re passionate about music but are leaning toward other careers, since this option has the room to accommodate a minor in any field George Fox offers. It will also prepare you for graduate school in music, or to enroll in George Fox’s highly successful Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program, where you can earn your Oregon K-12 music teaching credential.
National Accreditation
As a nationally recognized Christian university, George Fox’s music curriculum is Christ-centered as well as academically rigorous. The music program is fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) through a peer-reviewed accreditation process and has been recognized by the National Association for Music Educators (NAfME).
Contemporary Music Center
As a music industry major, you have the opportunity to spend a semester in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Contemporary Music Center. The program is designed for students who feel called to a career in the music industry as performers, executives or promoters. The principal goal is to help Christians impact the secular music industry, although the program would benefit those who are interested in Christian music as well.
Courses include Faith, Music, and Culture; Inside the Music Industry; and specialized courses in two tracks for performers and music managers.
Program Distinctives Why Study Music at George Fox?
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We approach music with an eye toward professional application and community service, whether that be to the church, schools, the broader community, or to our own campus. Our students have internships at churches, schools and other musical venues.
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We work carefully with our colleagues in the education program to bridge interested students from a bachelor’s in music into our Master of Arts in Teaching program.
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Here, you won’t have just one way to worship; we embrace the diverse worship styles of many denominations, cultures, and even historical periods within the American church. We have an amazing pipe organ, but also a fabulous pop worship team, while also maintaining the Quaker ideas of silent or unled worship.
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You will gain practical experience in a variety of ensembles as well as by performing in recitals in our highly respected venue, Bauman Auditorium. Music, perhaps more than any other major, requires hands-on practice to achieve proficiency.
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We believe in creating a cooperative atmosphere among students and faculty. It’s a powerful thing to work alongside, rather than competing against, others to produce music.
Courses / Curriculum What Will I Study?
Our spaces/Where Will I Learn?
Ross Center
The Ross Center houses the performing arts programs and consists of two large rehearsal rooms, six classrooms, and 15 practice rooms for music and theatre students, as well as the university’s box office. All music majors and any students enrolled in applied lessons are able to access the practice rooms, computer lab, and piano lab 24/7 for practice.
Bauman Auditorium
One of the largest spaces on campus, Bauman Auditorium seats 1,119 people and hosts numerous band, choir and orchestra concerts, including our annual Christmas concert. Students also perform senior showcase concerts in the space.Our highly respected venue is renowned by the Oregon Symphony for its acoustics, which hosts a concert annually.
Career Outlook What’s After George Fox
Graduates of our music program are professional performers, teachers and leaders in a wide range of disciplines. We recently reimagined the major with emphases in music industry and worship arts, transforming our already-vibrant music department into a program that focuses on outcomes and employability by connecting students who love music with compelling vocational opportunities.
- Metropolitan Opera Company, New York, New York
- Recanati Piano Academy, Recanati, Italy
- Bosendorfer Hall, Vienna, Austria
- Children’s Music Theater Company, Vancouver, Washington
- Private teaching studios, various locations
- George Fox University, Newberg, Oregon
- Biola University, La Mirada, California
- Portland Opera
- USD Media
- Portland International Piano Series
- Longy School of Music
- University of Oregon School of Music
- University of Northern Colorado College of Performing Arts
- University of Portland
- Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program at Seattle Film Institute
- Cincinnati Conservatory of Music
- Louisiana State University
- Indiana University
- University of Oklahoma
- Willamette University
How I Found My Voice Through the Music Program
When I was graduating from high school, I was overcome with the bittersweet feeling of moving. In an effort to come to terms with the transition, I wrote a song called Fireflies about leaving something you loved in preparation for something new. It was a very high school song and I was proud of it, but I didn’t really expect anyone to care much about an 18-year-old girl’s experience. Despite this, I chose to perform the song in Epiphany and I was shocked at the response. I never could have anticipated the number of people who would connect to it – people who just want to be seen and understood.
Nolan Staples
My experience at George Fox was one that was rooted in community. When I graduated high school I was unsure whether I would attend Fox or a music school in Boston. I felt God leading me to go to Fox for at least a year, but I didn’t know if I would stay longer than that. By December of my freshman year I knew that I would stay at Fox, mostly because of the people.
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