UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS IN

The Office of Field Placement is the crown jewel of Hofstra’s School of Education, offering support as students navigate their requirements for field observations, clinical experiences, and student teaching. Students enrolled in programs that lead to New York State teaching certification are required to complete a minimum of 100 hours of fieldwork prior to the student teaching experience.

Hofstra has student chapters of professional organizations helpful to music education majors: ASTA (American String Teachers Association), NAfME (National Association for Music Education), and ACDA (American Choral Directors Association). Hofstra students also assist when the University hosts regional events for NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association).

Hofstra has a number of competitive a cappella singing groups, including Sigma’Cappella, The Hofbeats, Makin’ Treble, Chai Notes, and The Dutchmen. The Hofstra Gospel Ensemble and SOS Brigade are also for music-minded students.

MEISA (Music and Entertainment Industry Student Association) plans an annual conference that brings in professionals to network and speak about different aspects of the music industry.

Unispan Records, Hofstra’s student-run record label, is supervised by the Center for Entrepreneurship. Students get real-life experience finding artists and recording, producing, promoting, and distributing music while receiving mentorship from music industry professionals.

Learn from award-winning faculty, including Emmy and Academy Award winners who perform and publish professionally. Faculty appear at major venues like Carnegie Hall and Broadway. The music business coordinator helped discover John Legend. Professors are recognized for teaching excellence and authorship, and one faculty member collaborated with Robert Moog on the original Moog Synthesizer.

Kaitlyn Davis’ childhood wish was to play Christine Daaé in “Phantom of the Opera.” After graduating from Hofstra with a degree in music education, she landed the part of her dreams in the play’s North American tour.

Christina Pecce’s original one-woman cabaret, “Witches and Divas,” showcases her versatility. The Chicago resident and Hofstra music education graduate sings well-known musical theater numbers, jazz and pop songs, and arias. Pecce first discovered her love of theater at age four, thanks to her uncle and godfather, John-Michael Flate, who performed on Broadway in shows such as “Damn Yankees,” “Sunset Boulevard,” and “Forever Plaid.”

Music education graduate Robert Buonaspina ’19 has a lot to smile about lately. His original big-band work, “Smile Pretty,” recently won the coveted 2021 International Society of Jazz Arrangers & Composers [ISJAC]/USF Prize in Jazz Composition.

At a woodsy Maine campus, the country’s most dedicated student musicians hone their talents and perform weekly classical concerts at the Pierre Monteux School & Music Festival. The summer before his final semester at Hofstra, music education major Alexander Burns received a full scholarship and stipend to join that prestigious six-week program.