Music Education

Imagine, if you will, a music education degree that:

• Prepares future educators to teach music to PK-12 students across all music disciplines and in any setting.
• Provides specialized courses and learning opportunities for those interested in teaching choral, instrumental, and classroom music.
• Encourages teaching candidates to develop their own unique musical interests and passion points.
• Explores contemporary approaches, including online teaching and learning, modern music and more.
• Celebrates music traditions from around the world.
• Cultivates and engages in musical creativity.
• Fosters student-centered approaches to music education that support and empower the students being served.
• Develops leadership skills - both on campus and within the classrooms of partnering schools.
• Features purposely-sequenced and interconnected coursework.

Now, imagine all of this being possible in four years. 

Our revised degree plan at UWRF is all this and more. To learn more, check out our YouTube video.

Degree Summary - 130 total credits

1. Foundations and Core Courses - Music (40 credits)
2. Techniques Courses - Music (4 credits)
3. Applied Music Courses (9 credits)
4. Ensembles (10 credits)
5. Music Education Courses (15 credits)
6. Professional Education Courses (24 credits)

Course Details

• Degree Requirements

Singular Degree - Plus Areas of Emphases

Although the Bachelor of Music Education is a singular degree that leads to certification for ALL music (PK-12), students have the option to focus on a choral or instrumental emphasis throughout their studies. Click on the links below to see required course lists and recommended course sequences within each area of emphasis. 

Bachelor of Music Education - Choral Emphasis

• Required Course List: Choral
• Recommended Course Sequence: Choral

Bachelor of Music Education - Instrumental Emphasis

• Required Course List: Instrumental
• Recommended Course Sequence: Instrumental

• September 11: NAfME Collegiate Meeting, 6:30-8 p.m. (KFA B94) - NAfME Overview and Group Photo
• September 20: Fall Workshop, noon-4 p.m. (KFA B94 and KFA 129)
• September 20: Fall Picnic, 4-6:30 p.m. (KFA Outdoor Classroom)
• October 7: NAfME Collegiate Meeting, 6:30-8 p.m. (KFA B94)
• October 29-November 1: Wisconsin State Music Conference (Madison)
• November 4: NAfME Collegiate Meeting, 6:30-8 p.m. (KFA B94)
• February 3: NAfME Collegiate Meeting, 6:30-8 p.m. (KFA B94)
• February 12-14: Minnesota Midwinter Convention (Minneapolis). Register by December 1 for the early-bird discount.
• March 3: NAfME Collegiate Meeting, 6:30-8 p.m. (KFA B94)
• April 7: NAfME Collegiate Meeting, 6:30-8 p.m. (KFA B94)
• May 11: MUSASA Spring Picnic, 4-8 p.m. (Location TBD) 

Student Officers:

• Cassidy Boeckermann (President)
• Emma Dvorak (President-Elect)
• Emily Lock (Secretary)
• Gavin Banick (Treasurer)
• Michaela Hasapopoulos (Outreach Coordinator)

• National Association for Music Education (NAfME)
• Wisconsin Music Educators Association (WMEA)
• Wisconsin State Music Conference
• Minnesota Music Educators Association (MMEA)

On March 12, 2025, National Association for Music Education President Deb Confredo and the NAfME Advocacy and Public Policy team hosted a virtual celebration of the 40th anniversary of Music In Our Schools Month (MIOSM). UW-River Falls Music Music Education majors Cassidy Boeckermann and Gavin Banick were invited to be the collegiate reps for this event - and they CRUSHED IT! Check out the full interview at vimeo.com/1065533212. 

Congratulations to UW-River Falls music education major Mark Buchmann, who is one of two recipients for the 2024 Wisconsin Music Educator Association (WMEA) Richard G. Gaarder Award. This annual award recognizes Wisconsin undergraduate music education students who have shown exceptional leadership, musical excellence, and service to campus and community. Way to go, Mark!

Mark joins Cassidy DeWitt, who was one of two 2023 Richard G. Gaarder Award recipients, Robyn Pfeifer, who was one of two 2022 Richard G. Gaarder Award recipients, as well as Marissa Woletz (Altendorfer), who was the 2020 Richard G. Gaarder Award recipient and also received the 2020 National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Collegiate Professional Achievement Award and the 2020 NAfME Shannon Kelly Kane Scholarship. 

Congratulations to all - we couldn't be more proud of you! 

Please help us to congratulate Drew Olson, who took 3rd Place in The American Prize in Instrumental Performance, 2024 - college/university division. Drew, a tuba player, is a fourth-year student pursuing a Bachelor of music education degree at UW-River Falls. Congratulations, Drew! 

As stated on their website, The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation's most comprehensive series of contests in the performing arts. The American Prize is unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, directors, ensembles and composers in the United States at professional, college/university, community and high school levels, based on submitted recordings. 

Ten UWRF students were selected to receive the 2024 Chancellor's Award for Students - including our very own Mark Buchmann, a music education major at UW-River Falls. The Chancellor's Award for Students is the highest non-academic honor our students can receive. It recognizes students who have shown distinguished leadership and service while on campus. 

Congratulations, to Mark - and all recipients of this prestigious award!

• Cera Babb
• Paul Budde
• Deborah Fristad
• Shawn Gudmunson
• Ruth LeMay
• LeAnn Stein
• Kristin Tjornehoj

• Degree Requirements
• Degree Map - Choral Emphasis
• Degree Map - Instrumental Emphasis
• Long-Term Planning Sheet

• Educator Prep Program
• Admission - Tiers I & II
• Admission - Student Teaching
• Chalk and Wire (Anthology)
• Teacher Learning Portfolio
• Content Area Assessment
• STPA (UWRF)
• edTPA (External)
• Tyler Koepke (advising) - Email