University of Toronto Faculty of Music


The Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto is one of several professional faculties at the University of Toronto. The Faculty of Music is located at the Edward Johnson Building, just south of the Royal Ontario Museum and north of Queen's Park, west of Museum Subway Station. MacMillan Theatre and Walter Hall are located in the Edward Johnson Building. The Faculty of Music South building contains rehearsal rooms and offices, and the Upper Jazz Studio performance space is located at 90 Wellesley Street West. In 2011, the Faculty of Music hired Don McLean as the new Dean.

Historical timeline

Research institutes

The Music and Health Research Collaboratory, established in 2012, is a collaborative group of researchers that aims to better understand the role of sound in human experiences, exploring connections of sound to the human experience of health.
The Institute for Canadian Music, established in 1984, aims to promote and support all areas of Canadian Music Study.

Artists in residence

Edward Johnson Building – Home of the Faculty of Music since 1962, the Edward Johnson Building houses many offices and classrooms, as well as two floors of practice rooms, two large rehearsal rooms, the Faculty of Music Library, the University of Toronto Electronic Music Studio, a theatre for large ensemble performances and a smaller recital hall, and named for the Guelph-born operatic tenor, former board chair of the Royal Conservatory of Music, and General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, Edward Johnson.
MacMillan Theatre – This 815-seat hall was designed for the production of operas and large ensemble concerts and named after former dean, Sir Ernest MacMillan. World-renowned for its excellent acoustics.
Walter Hall – Commemorating Arnold Walter, Director of the Faculty from 1952-1968, Walter Hall was designed for chamber concerts and recitals. The house seats 490. The hall also contains a two-manual tracker-action Casavant organ.
Library – A part of the University of Toronto Library System, it is the largest music research collection in Canada. It contains over 300,000 printed materials, 180,000 recordings in the Sniderman Recordings Archive, 2,500 volumes in the Olnick Rare Book Room, and 3,500 titles in the Performance Collection.
Electroacoustic Studio – The University of Toronto Electronic Music Studio opened in 1959. Originally located in a house on Division Street, it was moved to the Edward Johnson Building in 1963.

Degrees and programs

Undergraduate studies

Bachelor of Music in Performance (four-year program)

In the classical stream, major instruments include those in the woodwind, brass and strings families, as well as percussion, piano, voice, guitar, harp, organ, accordion and historical instruments. In the jazz program, major instruments include double bass, guitar, percussion, piano, trumpet, trombone, saxophone and voice.

Bachelor of Music (four-year program)

Options for major include: Comprehensive, Composition, History and Theory, Music Education, and Concurrent Teacher Education.

Advanced Certificate in Performance (one-year program)

This is a one-year program of intensive full-time study, open to woodwinds, brass, percussion, strings, piano, voice and accordion. Students enrolling in this program have the option of specializing in Baroque music, utilizing period instruments in conjunction with Tafelmusik.

Artist Diploma (3-year program)

This program is similar to the Bachelor of Music in Performance, but without academic-subject requirements. This is not open to students with a Bachelor of Music or a Bachelor of Music in Performance from the Faculty of Music.

Diploma in Operatic Performance (2- or 3-year program)

Three streams are available in this program – one for singers, one for operatic repetiteurs and one for operatic stage directors.

Graduate studies

Music performance and composition programs

Programs include: MMus in Composition, in Music Technology and Digital Media, in Instrumental, in Collaborative Piano, in Conducting, in Jazz Performance, in Opera, in Piano Pedagogy, in Voice and in Vocal Pedagogy; and DMA in Performance and in Composition.

Music program

Programs include: MA and PhD in Music Education, Musicology, Theory, Performance and Ethnomusicology.

Performance Ensembles

In addition to large ensembles offered at the Faculty, there are various chamber music courses and collaborative piano courses. Most of these courses involve weekly masterclasses. There are also several world music ensemble courses offered, such as Japanese taiko drumming, African drumming and dancing, Latin-American percussion, Klezmer, tabla, Balinese Gamelan, Korean ensemble and steel pan.

Large ensembles

New Music Festival - Each year, the Faculty of Music hosts the University of Toronto New Music Festival at the end of January. The festival plays host to at least one distinguished guest in composition.

Notable people

Past deans

1918-1927 Augustus Stephen Vogt
1927-1952 Sir Ernest MacMillan
1952-1968 Arnold Walter
1953-1970 Boyd Neel
1970-1977 John Beckwith
1977-1984 Gustav Ciamaga
1984-1990 Carl Morey
1990-1995 Paul Pedersen
1995-1996 Robert Falck
1996-2004 David Beach
2004-2007 Gage Averill
2007-2010 Russell Hartenberger
2011–present Don McLean

Notable faculty (past and present)

Composers