Do you dream of making a living as a singer or instrumentalist? Hofstra's music performance program will nurture your talent, hone your technique, and prepare you to thrive in this competitive field.
Program Overview
Our curriculum is centered on music theory, history, and expression, providing a solid foundation for a career in the art of music. The program focuses on a core of substantial training and experience in your chosen performance medium, including lessons, participation in major ensembles, focused work in chamber ensembles, and a junior half and senior full recital.
Our campus – an easy train ride to New York City – gives students countless opportunities to attend concerts, operas, Broadway shows, and experience various other productions while networking with industry professionals.
More About the Program
All students wishing to declare a BS or BSEd in Music in any concentration (music performance, music business, music education, music theory/composition, jazz and commercial music, or music history/literature) must audition for acceptance into these programs.
Making Music
The Music Department at Hofstra is a tight-knit community. Classes, rehearsals, and private lessons fill the lives of most music majors. Clubs and extracurricular activities offer students additional opportunities to perform, network, and socialize. View our performance schedule
Department Ensembles
Hofstra's major ensembles include the Symphonic Band, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, University Mixed Chorus, Wind Ensemble, and Chorale. Hofstra's chamber ensembles include the Hofstra Collegium Musicum, which performs as part of our annual Shakespeare Festival; the Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble, the centerpiece of our OcTubafest concert; the Woodwind Ensemble; the Chamber Choir; the Brass Ensemble; Vocal Jazz; various quintets, quartets, duos, and trios, and many more.
Other performance opportunities are available through our unique program in Sikh musiciology as well as the Hofstra Opera Theater, which presents a fully staged opera every year.
Student Clubs
In addition to the department-sponsored ensembles, many student clubs serve as extensions of Hofstra's music programs. Consider joining one of Hofstra's competitive a capella singing groups: Sigma'Cappella, The Hofbeats, Makin' Treble, Chai Notes, and The Dutchmen. The Hofstra Gospel Ensemble and the SOS Brigade are also for music-minded students.
Student Recitals
Performance track students are required to present solo junior and senior recitals. Students can also audition for department honor recitals, which comprise both solo and group recital opportunities. The department provides the recital space, coaching support, and all tools for students to produce a successful recital as part of their degree.
Learn from the Experts
Our professors are award-winning, active teacher-performers. You may have seen them perform at Birdland, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Opera, on Broadway, and on stages around the world.
At Hofstra, you will not be assigned to graduate assistant teachers, you will be studying with our professional faculty from day one.
Performance and Rehearsal Spaces
Joseph G. Shapiro Family Hall is home to the Department of Music's faculty, studios, and state-of-the-art large rehearsal spaces. The Daniel L. Monroe Lecture Center houses additional studios and classrooms, rehearsal rooms, and the Music Library, which supports the curriculum of the Department of Music by providing scores, study space, and listening material.
Our performance spaces include the 377-seat Helene Fortunoff Theater at Monroe Lecture Center, as well as the 1,105-seat Toni and Martin Sosnoff Theater at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse.
Alumni Outlook
Hofstra music majors graduate with a combination of classroom instruction and professional experiences that are highly regarded in today's competitive job market.
Areas of the music industry where our graduates are working:
In addition to performing, our graduates are working in education, music management, marketing and public relations, sound engineering and music publishing. They are also working for performance venues, record labels, and recording studios.
By the numbers:
- 93% of recent alumni responding to a survey reported they were working or enrolled in graduate school within a year of graduation
- Among recent graduates who reported they were employed, 100% landed their job within three months of graduation
- $41,000 is the mean salary for the first year following graduation
Continuing their studies:
Additionally, many of our alumni are pursuing or planning to pursue advanced degrees in music and music education at institutions such as CUNY Brooklyn College, CUNY Queens College, Georgia State University, Hebrew College, Hofstra University, Roosevelt University, and Vermont College of Fine Arts-Music.
Music in the News
Rachel Blaustein ’13 (soprano) and Elizabeth Sarian ’15 (mezzo-soprano) were chosen from among thousands of young opera singers to perform at the Metropolitan Opera as part of the Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, which has helped launch the careers of some of the nation’s greatest opera stars.
Music Major Accepted Into Russian Opera Intensive
Christopher Lau ’21, a music major with a concentration in vocal performance, was accepted as a young artist in the Russian Opera Workshop, a summer intensive at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.
Hofstra Collegium Musicum Celebrates Golden Anniversary
Concerts drawn from the rich treasury of early music are the signature of the Hofstra Collegium Musicum, one of the longest-running performing groups in the University’s history. The ensemble celebrated its 50th anniversary during the 2019 Hofstra Shakespeare Festival.
All Roads Lead to Phantom
Kaitlyn Davis’s childhood wish was to play Christine Daaé in Phantom of the Opera. After graduating from Hofstra in 2012 with a degree in Music Education, she landed the part of her dreams in the musical's North American tour.
Opening His Eyes to Opera
Performing with the Hofstra Opera Theater taught Matthew Cerillo '20 how the great works of centuries ago are adapted for today’s artists and audiences.
Cabaret Sensation
Hofstra music alum Christina Pecce’s original one-woman cabaret, "Witches and Divas," is a showcase for her versatility.