Our History: 50 Years and Counting

Established in 1945, the Department of Music developed as part of this rich historical and cultural heritage, and today provides the highest caliber of education and artistic scholarship to our community.

The first head of the Music Division was John Reymes-King. In its early years the Division focused on performance and theoretical subjects, and graduated its first BMus students in 1961. In 1965, the Music Division became the Department of Music under the leadership of Richard Eaton.

Since then, the Department has continued to expand its offerings to include several routes within the BMus program, BA Music major and minor as well as an Honours BA program, a combined BMus/BEd degree option, and a Certificate in World Sound Arts. At the graduate level the Department offers MMus and DMus degrees in Performance, Choral Conducting, Wind Band Conducting and Composition, and MA and PhD degrees with specializations in Musicology, Theory and Ethnomusicology.

The Department of Music was originally housed in the Old Arts Building, constructed in 1915. Today, our beloved performance space, Convocation Hall, remains a focal point of this historic building. Many Academic faculty offices are housed in Old Arts along with the offices of folkwaysAlive! and the Canadian Centre for Ethnomusicology. The remainder of our offices, classrooms, rehearsal rooms, studios and administrative offices are housed in the Fine Arts Building, a creative hub of visual, musical and the dramatic arts.

We have recently celebrated in 2015-16 the 50th Anniversary of the Department of Music and the 100th anniversary of Convocation Hall. We continue to celebrate over seventy years of excellence in music, education, and creative innovation.