CREATE COLLABORATE INNOVATE
The Bass Music Center is a hub of creative activity and work of art itself: a collaboration between musicians, acousticians, architects, and network engineers incorporating advances in sound isolation in its 60 practice rooms, 40 teaching studios, seven high-tech music labs, and six ensemble rehearsal rooms. The 21st century Bass Music Center addition adjoins the historic Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center, home to the 1,100-seat Kirkpatrick Auditorium, 488seat Petree Recital Hall, and 270-seat Burg Theatre.
The school is home to our renowned faculty-artists and scholars, whose top priority is teaching and mentoring. Students are encouraged to build connections with their fellow creatives -- performers, conductors, composers, scholars, and educators -- with the common goal of strengthening their musical foundation, honing leadership skills, elevating their professionalism, and developing and amplifying their artistic voices.
Newly restored 70-rank, 3-manual Holtkamp organ in OCU’s Bishop W. Angie Smith Chapel
UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES
BACHELOR OF MUSIC
Music Education
Instrumental Performance
Piano Performance
Guitar Performance
Composition
Music Theater
Vocal Performance
BACHELOR OF ARTS
GRADUATE DEGREES
MASTER OF MUSIC
Composition
Conducting
Music Theater
Opera
Vocal Coaching
Performance
Instrumental
Multiple Woodwinds
Piano
Voice
STELLAR ALUMNI
The friends and professors that I met during my time at OCU have created a vast network of people that I have and continue to rely on to create opportunities for myself and my students in areas related to performance, educationandcommunityevents!
MAYA JOHNSON
Educator / Percussionist Oklahoma Arts Council Leadership Arts Class XII
One of the most fertile and open-minded composition programs in the country for young composers to be able to learn who they are and to findtheirownvoice.
JAY WADLEY
Composer/Producer Co-Founder, Found Objects Music Productions, NYC
OCU provides students with ample opportunity to succeed. Whether it’s the great repertoitre played in the ensembles, the chamber music program with outstanding coaching, or the wonderful private instruction, the school gives countlesswaystohoneyourcraft.
RYAN BEACH
Principal Trumpet, Alabama Symphony Co-Founder/Host, That’s Not Spit podcast
STELLAR GUEST ARTISTS
The Bass School welcomes top guest artists to campus to inspire throughout the academic year.
RECENT GUESTS INCLUDE
Anthony McGill, principal clarinet, New York Philharmonic / Sheryl Staples, associate principal concertmaster, NewYorkPhilharmonic/AlanBaer,principaltuba,NewYorkPhilharmonic/GerardSchwarz,conductorlaureate, Seattle Symphony / Richard Jay-Alexander, producer / Kalena Bovell, conductor / Jason Vieaux, guitar / Pepe Romero, guitar / Aaron Larget-Caplan, guitar / Martha Masters, guitar / Leona Mitchell, Grammy-winning alumna / Ron Raines, Tony-nominated alumnus / Jay Wadley, alumnus composer/producer / Rick McKee, alumnus composer/producer / Or Kribos, alumnus composer/producer / Luis Salgado, director / Robert Herrings, educator / ETHEL / PUBLIQuartet / Windsync / Septura / Third Coast Percussion / Los Romeros / Ahn Trio / Andrew Worden, entrepreneurial musicianship / Kaitlin Shaw, casting director, Tara Rubin Casting / Michael Kirsten, talent agent, HCKR Agency / Spencer Gualdoni, alumnus and associate casting director, Tara Rubin Casting / Tammy Kernodle, musicologist / Randall Kertz, author/clinician / Carol Vaness, soprano/educator / Joan Titus, Shostakovich scholar / Jon Skidmore, Peak Performance / Craig Mumm, former Associate Principal Viola, Met Orchestra / Frank Lehman, John Williams scholar / Doug Adams, author "The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films: A Comprehensive Account of Howard Shore's Scores" / Kurt Ollman, baritone / Denise Gainey, President, International Clarinet Association / Diane Barger, President-Elect, International Clarinet Association / Shannon Kiewitt, clarinetist, “The President's Own” Marine Band / John Cradler, former principal tuba, “The President’s Own” Marine Band / Christopher Adkins, principal cello, Dallas Symphony / Mimi Stillman, flute / Amanda Harberg, composer/pianist / Julian Schwarz, cello / Michael Daughterty, composer / Nico Muhly, composer / Omar Thomas, composer / Kit Wakeley, composer / Jennifer Jolley, composer / Frank Ticheli, composer / Catherine Likhuta, composer / Jake Landau, composer / Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, composer / Judy Bozone, composer / Jonathan Tunick, EGOTwinning orchestrator / Brian Balmages, composer / Lowell Lieberman, composer / Alexander Mickelthwate, artistic director, Oklahoma City Philharmonic / Dan Fishbach, director / Andrea DelGiudice, director / Stefan Jackiw, violin / Armando Rivera, percussion / Nicki Roman, saxophone / Joe Locarro, director / Anastasiya Petryshak, violin / Peter Bond, trumpet, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra / Brian Perry, double bass, Dallas Symphony Orchestra / Ben Haviden-Williams, double bass, Welsh National Opera / Cynthia Stokes, director / Terri Sundberg, flute / Timothy Long, alumnus conductor/director / Mark Cramer, clarinet / Brian Luce, flute / MarkBilly,baritone/CrestonHerron,conductor/JoeBaxter,bluegrassartist/SheriSanders,RocktheAudition
Kalena Bovell
Pepe Romero Catherine Likhuta Omar Thomas Richard Jay-Alexander
Ahn Trio
Louis Salgado
COMPOSITION
CREATING THE MUSIC OF OUR TIME
The Bass School is a center for the creation and performance of 21st century music.
OCU-created soundtracks, sonatas and symphonies take shape in the studios, composition labs, rehearsal spaces, and concert halls of the Bass Music Center as top-notch performers embrace the music of their generation.
Our student-led composers’ consortium, Project 21: Music for the 21st Century, has premiered more than 1,000 works since its founding in 1997. Project 21 events span an eight-concert season that includes collaborations with vocalists, instrumentalists, poets, lighting designers, filmmakers, visual artists, and choreographers. OCU ensembles regularly program Project 21 works; readings and recordings by the orchestra and wind ensembles are held each semester.
Project 21 composers collaborated with OCU pianists to create eight world premieres written for six grand pianos. The works were part of the Great Britain/Great Plains Composers’ Exchange Competition, with the winner awarded a trip to the U.K. for the European premiere of her work by the London-based Piano Circus.
MUSIC EDUCATION
TEACH MUSIC. CHANGE LIVES.
Education majors are part of an inclusive, collegial, student-focused environment that guides their development as a teacher and an artist, their sense of belonging in the profession, and their agency to make a lasting impact as leaders in the field.
Students become part of an extensive alumni network, join OCU’s active chapter of the National Association for Music Education, and gain access to partners including the OCU Performing Arts Academy, Canterbury Youth Voices, Canterbury Choral Society, Oklahoma Youth Orchestras and El Sistema Oklahoma, with support from the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall.
After completing a concentrated four-year program, our music education graduates have a record 100 percent state certification pass rate and 100 percent placement in the teaching field. Our alumni teachers are leaders in the field, frequently honored with state, regional and district teacher of the year awards.
INSTRUMENTAL PERFORMANCE ORCHESTRAS
Symphony Orchestra
Opera & Music Theater Pit Orchestra Vespers Orchestra
Early Music Ensemble
The core of OCU’s instrumental performance degree program is private studio instruction with faculty artists. Lessons are led by appointed faculty,notgraduateassistants.
Performance opportunties include concerts and recitals showcasing a thriving chamber music program, Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Wind Philharmonic, Jazz Band and Project 21 consortium for new and experimental music. Our Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Orchestra offers valuable experience in the pit for four fully stagedproductionseachseason.
Students gain access to an extensive inventory of instruments and to inspiring guest artists offering insight, one-on-one sessions, and master classes. Our curated collection of period instruments encourages exploraton of historical performance practices in chamber and theatrical settings and throughtheEarlyMusicEnsemble.
Studentensembleshavebeenfeaturedrecentlyat national conferences including PASIC, ITG, International Society of Bassists, National Flute Association,GuitarFederationofAmerica,andthe InternationalSaxophoneSymposium.
Our vocal studies programs emphasize long-term vocal health and artistic versatility, integrating performance skills -- including acting and movement -- with music scholarship and professionalism.
OCU’s acclaimed Oklahoma Opera & Music Theater Company presents an 18-show season featuring six opera and music theater productions, presented in partnership with our schools of theater and dance. The Company has been honored with 13 National Opera Association Production Awards, including two first-place divisional wins in the 2023-24 season. Playbill magazine has recognized Oklahoma City University in back-to-back years as a “Big 10” school for preparing performers for Broadway.
In addition, the student-led organizations OCU Stripped and OPERAtions foster leadership opportunities for undergraduates to select, cast, direct and design music theater and operatic productions each semester.
VIEWBOOK IMAGES: MICHAEL ANDERSON,
PERFORMING WITH COMPANIES AND IN VENUES INCLUDING
The Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, La Scala, Royal Opera House-Covent Garden, Bayreuth Festival, Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Opera Bastille Paris, Opéra de Montréal, Oper Leipzig, State Opera, Hamburg Opera, Opéra de Lyon, Vancouver Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Houston Grand Opera, Teatro Colón, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Teatro Real Madrid, Regio Torino, Grosses Festspeilhaus, SemperoperDresden,StaatsTheaterStuttgart,TeatroRegiodiTorino,Teatrodell’Operadi Roma, Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Aalto-Musiktheater Essen, Wroclaw Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Munich Radio Orchestra, Prague National Theatre, Florence Opera, Opéra Orchestre de Montpellier, Washington National Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Tivoli Festival, Wexford Festival Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Caramoor Festival, Chautauqua Opera, Welsh National Opera, San Francisco Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Dallas Opera, Seattle Opera, Sarasota Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Central City Opera, Tulsa Opera, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Charlottesville Opera, Nashville Opera, Oratorio Society of New York, Bard Summerscape, OperaTheatreofSt.Louis,PragueNationalTheatre,ZurichOpera
MUSIC ALUMNI BROADWAY SAMPLER
Kristin Chenoweth / Tony- and Emmy-winning singer/actress
Kelli O’Hara / Tony-winning and Emmy-nominated singer/actress
Ron Raines / Tony-nominated Broadway veteran; three-time Emmy nominee / Tony-nominated singer/actor; educator
/ Veteran of 10 Broadway shows, most recently Real Women Have Curves
Once Upon a Mattress, Back to the Future, MJ the Musical, Pretty Woman, A Bronx Tale
The Hills of California, Associate Music Supervisor; The Lehman Trilogy, pianist
The Notebook, Bob Fosse’s Dancin’ Music Assistant
Veteran of six Broadway shows, most recently Beauty & the Beast New York, New York; Monty Python’s Spamalot
Tammy Faye, Beetlejuice, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory
Carousel, Lincoln Center’s Sweeney Todd
The Phantom of the Opera, 1776 the Musical
The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables
SpongeBob SquarePants the Musical Chicago, Rent, Smokey Joe’s Café / My Fair Lady, Doctor Zhivago
Nicole Ferguson / Days of Wine and Roses
Julian Diaz-Grandos / Dear Evan Hanson
Tiffany Mann / Waitress, Be More Chill
Wes Hart / Anastasia, West Side Story
Mary Kate Moore / Into the Woods
Jane Bunting / Come From Away
Alex Ross / The Book of Mormon
Will Mann / Oklahoma!; Memphis
Matt McMahan / Les Misérables
Laura Leigh Turner / Mean Girls
Manna Nichols / Allegiance
Molly Rushing / Anastasia
Ernie Pruneda / Sister Act
Belinda Allyn / Allegiance
Jacob Gutierrez / Aladdin
OUR HOME: OKLAHOMA CITY
OCU’s campus is in the heart of Oklahoma City, capital of the stateandavibrantcenterofart,recreation,culture,andcuisine.
In 2024, Oklahoma City joined the ranks of the 20 largest cities intheUnitedStates,jumpingfrom31st-largestin2010.Recently dubbed a “veritable outdoor gallery” by USA Today after being voted the #1 American city for viewing public art, OKC is establishing itself as a modern frontier for creatives and pioneersofallkinds.
LEARN MORE ABOUT OKC!
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