UCO to begin offering new Masters degree in Jazz Studies

September 29, 2006

The University of Central Oklahoma`s School of Music will offer a new Master of Music in Jazz Studies beginning in fall of 2007.

The new degree, recently approved by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, will have areas of specialization in performance or commercial music production.

Brian Gorrell, UCO jazz studies division head, said with the new degree the UCO School of Music would have the academic credentials to actively recruit and attract extremely talented, dedicated graduate students, not just from Oklahoma, but also from throughout the nation.

"We have high hopes this new degree program will put us on a level playing field with many of the great university jazz programs," said Gorrell.

Curriculum for the new degree includes ensemble participation, applied jazz improvisation, jazz history, computer music technology, jazz and commercial music arranging, arts management, jazz pedagogy, graduate jazz recital and advanced recording technology and CD production.

Hundreds of hours of research and paperwork were completed to apply for this new master’s degree. The School of Music has until the fall of 2010 to have a minimum enrollment of 14 students in the program.

The UCO School of Music currently offers an undergraduate minor in Jazz studies, available to any regularly enrolled student regardless of major.

For more information about the program, contact Gorrell at (405) 359-7989, ext. 278, or by email at bgorrell@ucok.edu.

Page updated 9/29/06