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About the Schulich School of Music (Undergraduate)
McGill's Schulich School of Music is the largest university-based school for professional musical training and music research in Canada. Founded as the Conservatorium of Music in 1904 and incorporated as a Faculty in 1920, the school moved to its current location in the impressive and historic Strathcona Music Building (formerly the main section of Royal Victoria College) in 1972. During its 2004-05 centennial season, the Faculty added a new eight-storey building that will evolve into a world-leading facility for sound recording and music technology research.
McGill Music is renowned for its orchestral, choral, opera, jazz, chamber, contemporary and early music programs and for its award-winning creative and research work in composition, music theory, musicology, music education, sound recording and music technology. Pollack Concert Hall (capacity: 600), Redpath Hall (300, with the University Organ), and Clara Lichtenstein Recital Hall (80) are among the busiest and best concert venues in Montreal. The New Music Building adds Tanna Schulich Hall, a 187-seat recital hall, the Wirth Opera Studio, an opera-rehearsal room, and the Multimedia Room, a scoring stage/acoustic research lab, and three control rooms. Three floors of the new building are dedicated to the Marvin Duchow Music Library (www.mcgill.ca/library/library-using/branches/music-library), with its collection of well over 100,000 scores, recordings, books, and periodicals; in addition, the Performance Library has performing parts for over 6000 titles.
Both old and new buildings (as well as satellite locations) house labs for numerous specialized functions: digital composition and electronic music, music education research, multi-channel sound recording, music perception and cognition, sound processing and control, computational modeling, etc. Classrooms, teaching studios, practice rooms (90+), and a student-lounge and cafeteria round out the picture. The Faculty is also home to the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT), an inter-faculty, inter-university, international consortium that brings together researchers in music, sound recording, music technology, psychology, neuroscience, engineering, and medicine ().
The current student enrolment is over 600 at the under graduate level and over 200 at the graduate level. The teaching staff includes 58 full-time and over 140 part-time members. Students and staff play a major role in Montreal's vibrant cultural scene, presenting over 650 concert events annually, as well as master classes, lectures, and symposia, all enhanced by very active student societies, a gig office, and excellent support staff.