Music Careers & Graduate Study

Music student performs on flute while instructor plays piano

Alumni careers

High school vocal music teacher, Anna, Texas

Choir director and elementary music teacher, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley Public Schools, Graceville, Minnesota

Teach For America, lead teacher, CAP Tulsa, Tulsa, Oklahoma

AmeriCorps VISTA, Hopa Mountain’s Indigenous Scholars of Promise Program, Bozeman, Montana

Fine arts teacher, Sabin Elementary Magnet School, Chicago, Illinois

Lead Teacher, Hope Academy, Greenville, South Carolina

Musician, live sound and recording engineer, producer, music instructor, Chicago, Illinois 

Director of information technology. Joint and Pain Treatment Centers, Lompoc, California 

Software engineer, SportsLabs, Denver, Colorado

Student naval aviator, U.S. Navy, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Technical support engineer, Electronic Theatre Controls, Middleton, Wisconsin

Secondary choir teacher, H-L-V Community School, Victor, Iowa

Music teacher, Dominion Academy, Leesburg, Virginia

Business development manager, Pandora, Oakland, California

Teacher, Montessori school, St. Paul, Minnesota

Vocal music director, Iowa City Community Schools, Iowa City, Iowa

Professional freelance opera singer, teacher, Chicago, Illinois

High school vocal music teacher, St. Francis Community Schools, St. Francis, Minnesota 

Professional violinist, international touring artist, Cologne, Germany

Miss Nebraska, now working as an actress and singer in film, television, and commercials, Los Angeles, California

Professional bass musician, Chicago, Illinois area

Elementary music teacher, Wright City, Missouri

Music writer and critic, The San Jose Examiner, San Jose, California

Piano faculty, Mount Mercy College; professional accompanist, opera coach, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Director of choral and instrumental activities, School District of Waupaca, Wisconsin 

Vocal music teacher, Griffith Elementary School, St. Louis, Missouri

Director of choral activities, Kennedy High School, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Opera singer Stephanie Novacek, mezzo-soprano who has appeared at many of the world's opera houses and has been a regular performer at the Houston Grand Opera and Opera Atelier.

Music teacher and band director, Anchorage School District-Hanshew Middle, Anchorage, Alaska

General manager, entertainment operations, Disney California Adventure, Anaheim, California

Graduate schools attended

Students interested in pursuing performance or a professional field requiring a graduate degree are well-prepared by the department’s coursework and fast-paced One Course schedule.

M.M. candidate, percussion performance, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

Ph.D. candidate, musicology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

Master’s degrees, VanderCook College of Music, Chicago, Illinois

Ph.D., psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

Master's degree, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona

M.A., higher education and student affairs, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa

M.A., musicology, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado

M.B.A. & M.F.A., theatre management, University of California at Long Beach, California 

M.M., horn performance, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado

Ph.D., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota; tenor soloist on Naxos 2014 release of Parables, a new oratorio by Robert Aldridge

D.M.A., vocal performance, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa; M.M., Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts

D.M.A., vocal performance, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa; M.M., music theatre, Boston Conservatory, Boston, Massachusetts

M.M., vocal performance, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa

D.M.A., violin performance, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana; M.M., University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa; Hochschule fur Musik, Cologne, Germany