Music education students are given a wealth of classroom experience prior to graduation and will develop the performance skills essential to good teaching through applied lessons, large and small ensemble participation, and an impressive variety of performance opportunities. Non-Western traditions and approaches to popular music are integrated throughout the music education curriculum. While the majority of graduates move immediately into a teaching career, some may also choose to pursue graduate work in music education or in music performance, composition, or arts administration. Approximately one-half of the coursework is in music, while another 15 percent is in education courses. Pennsylvania K-12 music teaching certification is granted upon successful completion of all requirements.

The Sunderman Conservatory of Music devotes itself to the development of the art of music in the lives of the campus and broader community by blending excellent, comprehensive musical training with Gettysburg College's strengths as one of the nation's leading liberal arts colleges.

Music-the traditions of classical, jazz, and world musics working side-by-side and crossing boundaries-provides the lens through which students achieve a rich, well-rounded education. The Conservatory offers a wide range of music opportunities for its majors and minors and for those majoring in other fields who are interested in having music as an important part of their lives. It is our belief that the whole person can be fostered through the transforming and transcendent power of music.