Hope?s Department of Music believes that music can make the world a better place. The department is committed to increasing the awareness of the importance of music to society and encouraging spiritual growth and understanding.

To fulfill this mission, the department has adopted two goals:

• To enable students to become influential leaders in the areas of teaching, performing, research and worship; and to assist them in becoming professionally successful in their chosen fields.
• To cultivate an enduring appreciation of music and its positive impact upon the human condition by providing significant musical experiences to the college community and beyond.

The Department of Music offers both the Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Music, and the Bachelor of Music degrees. The goals and objectives of these two degrees are somewhat different, but both are designed to provide a strong basis for the study of music.

The Bachelor of Music degree is a professional music degree that prepares students for professional music involvement, graduate work in music performance, music teaching at the elementary or secondary level, or a combination of these pursuits. The General Education requirements for this degree are reduced in order to accommodate the depth and breadth of music study expected for this degree.?

There are several different types of courses in keyboard studies: private study, piano classes and keyboard classes. Each course?is open to everyone; piano classes ? offered at introductory and intermediate levels ? are recommended for beginning piano students. Both private lessons and keyboard classes are required for music majors.