UTC revamps, restarts master’s degree in music program

A redesigned program in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Department of Music will make it easier for students who also are full-time teachers to earn a master’s degree.

The program combines face-to-face courses with online classes. In-person courses begin with the UTC Summer Pedagogy and Conducting Institutes, which have one-week sessions in June. Being able to take on-campus courses during the summer, when their schools are in recess, fits their teaching schedule, explained Lee Harris, professor of music education at UTC.

“The other coursework they will do will be online, so that they’re able to do that and still maintain their full-time teaching positions in a way that will serve their needs,” he said.

Earning the master’s degree will take three rounds of summer courses combined with fall and spring online classes, Harris said.

“A teacher could begin with the Conducting Institute this summer and finish all degree requirements by 2025.”

Taking place on the UTC campus during the weeks of June 12-16 and June 19-23, the Pedagogy and Conducting Institutes are for music educators and ensemble directors who want to enhance and perfect their conducting and rehearsing techniques while studying from renowned musical clinicians.

Having a master’s degree gives teachers an extra level of experience and knowledge that can help their careers, Harris said.

“The thing that we’ve always talked to teachers in terms of—and actually when we talk to undergraduates—is that a graduate program keeps you growing professionally and puts you in contact with the next level, a more specialized level of knowledge that they’re able to apply long-term to their careers,” he said.

“Many teachers recognize that, once they earn a graduate degree, that gives them a bump on the pay scale and, in some cases, can open up other professional opportunities for them because of the connections that they’re able to make but also the credentials that qualify them for other positions later on.”

The master’s in music program has been on hiatus for several years while the UTC Department of Music focused on its undergraduate programs, he said, but the graduate program in music has historical links to the University, he said.

“I think it means a lot to the department because music had the first graduate program at UTC back in the University of Chattanooga days,” Harris said. “At the time several years ago when the graduate program was active, it brought in a lot of high-quality students. The things that they were able to offer to our ensembles as well as what they were able to do professionally after they graduated was important.”

Additionally, the Pedagogy and Conducting Institutes need singers and instrumentalists who can supply live music for the conductors to use in their lessons, Harris said.

“We invite people to do that as well,” he said.

Institute schedules

Week 1 Choral Pedagogy and Conducting Institute (June 12-16)

• “Conducting and Performance Practice of Motets, Masses and Spirituals” will be led by Dr. André Thomas, an associate artist with the London Symphony. He is a Florida State University professor emeritus and previously served as a professor of conducting at Yale University. Thomas is president of the American Choral Directors Association.

Week 1 Instrumental Pedagogy and Conducting Institute (June 12-16)

• “Engaging the Modern Student, Musician and Audience” will be led by Dr. Cynthia Johnston Turner, dean of the faculty of music at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Before Laurier, she was at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia, serving as director of bands from 2014 to 2021.

Week 2 Choral Pedagogy and Conducting Institute (June 19-23)

• “Developmental Teaching in Choral Settings” will be led by Dr. Judy Bowers, Florida State University College of Music professor emerita. After almost three decades at Florida State, she spent four years as Biedenharn Endowed Chair in Music at the University of Louisiana Monroe.

Week 2 Instrumental Pedagogy and Conducting Institute (June 19-23)

• “Repertoire, Programming and Performance Practice for the Modern Wind Band” will be led by Col. Lowell Graham, music director for the Greeley (Colorado) Philharmonic Orchestra. He has served as director of orchestral activities and professor of conducting at the University of Texas at El Paso and commander and conductor of the United States Air Force Band in Washington, D.C.