Given the opportunity, many students would love to earn a degree that automatically qualifies them as a professional in their field; the music performance program at UB offers students that chance. This degree is only intended for a special breed of students - those who have a deep passion for music and who are willing to dedicate their lives to becoming the best musician they can.
The bachelor of music performance degree at UB requires students to complete 80 credits of coursework as they fine-tune their skills on a musical instrument of their specialty.
According to Charles J. Smith, associate professor of music theory, students who graduate from this program are qualified to perform as professional musicians.
"The performance major in music is an odd major because it's actually a professional degree," said Smith. "When people come out of the program with a performance undergrad degree, that actually gives them professional qualifications to practice music."
According to Nathaniel Michals, a senior music performance major, the program distinguishes itself from many others offered by UB because there is a great deal of individual attention paid to students.
"Every week for four years we have a one-on-one session for an hour that I don't think they have in any other majors," said Michals.
Smith said that upon completion of the degree, graduates can get jobs with orchestras, "and become professional gigging musicians."
Having experienced firsthand the high quality of work that is expected of musicians of this caliber, professors have geared the program to prepare their students for the difficulties that lie ahead.
"We actually make it intentionally pretty rough to get through that degree, because we want them to know that it's a serious business," said Smith. "They need to be willing to work, they need to be able to suffer or whatever, because they're probably going to suffer a lot once they get out into the real world and try to support themselves."
Students who are able to work their way to the end of the program attribute their success to a sincere love of music and a desire to spend the rest of their lives as musicians.
According to William Rose, a senior music performance major, it is beneficial for musicians to have a competitive nature and a strong work ethic.
"You've got to be better than the next guy," said Rose. "I always tell myself that if I'm not in the practice room, then I'm wasting time."
However, even the most devoted music performance students have to overcome obstacles during their time at UB.
According to Satoshi Takagi, a senior music performance major, some of the less performance-based courses, like music theory, are stressful for those wishing to graduate in the standard four-year period.
"What you got to do to graduate college is you just have to work hard. For many music performance majors, it is very difficult to complete the theory and music history, because there are so many people who just love to play," said Takagi.
Although music performance students dedicate a significant amount of time to the program, UB offers many opportunities for them to express their abilities in unique ways.
"We have a variety of ensembles," said Jonathan Golove, a visiting music professor at UB. "We have an orchestra, symphony orchestra and a chorus. Then we have some special projects."
Golove said he is the director of the contemporary ensemble, which he described as the "elite kind of ensemble, with a combination of grad students and our most talented undergraduates playing kind of cutting edge, modern music."
Though it is necessary to be persistent, once students graduate from the program, there are a number of career directions in which a music performance degree might take them.
"You get out and teach private lessons, you play at the clubs or bars," said Takagi. "Then you just get connections. Music is all about networking."
Frequently, music performance majors decide to stray away from the performance aspect of the field and try a career in education.
"With a bachelor's degree in music performance, you can teach privately, or you can decide that you want to get an education degree, like a master's in music education," said Golove. "I think that if you're going to go into education that it's a great idea to do your bachelor's in performance as opposed to your bachelor's in education."
