I Have My Music Degree...Now What?: Career Choices Beyond Music Education and Performance

Open Access
- Author:
- Nicastro, Elizabeth Genevieve
- Area of Honors:
- Music
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Dr. Eric John McKee, Thesis Supervisor
Dr. Eric John McKee, Thesis Supervisor
Charles Dowell Youmans, Thesis Honors Advisor
Robert Dale Gardner, Faculty Reader - Keywords:
- music library science
music journalism
music therapy
performance-related injuries
arts management
wholesale and repair
songwriting
record engineering
copyright
publishing
entertainment law
music industry
film music
videogame music - Abstract:
- The Pennsylvania State University’s School of Music offers four degree programs for its students: Bachelor of Music in Performance or Composition (BM), Bachelor of Music Education (BME), Bachelor of Arts in Music (BA), and Bachelor of Musical Arts (BMA). All translate into well-defined career paths except for the Bachelor of Arts in Music (BA) degree. In the common occurrence that students find themselves not suited or unable to land a job in their chosen field, they should be aware of other employment options within the field of music. My thesis provides a curriculum for a class for the Penn State School of Music that would introduce music majors to careers outside of music education and performance. Less visible paths such as music therapy, arts management, and instrument wholesale and repair are just some examples of the careers that will be explored. The finished thesis includes a syllabus and fifteen lesson plans complete with reference material that would be made available on Angel (Penn State’s Course Management System). This course would not only introduce students to other professions but also convey the information that they need to know in order to make themselves more marketable within those professions. While this curriculum and course was only designed to fulfill the purpose of this thesis, I hope to demonstrate the potential benefits of implementing such a course at the School of Music at Penn State or any other similar institution.