What does the Music department offer?
The Bellarmine Music department offers six majors, with Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music degrees available in Vocal Performance, Instrumental Performance, Piano Pedagogy & Accompanying, Jazz Studies, Theory & Composition, and Music Technology.
What makes Bellarmine’s Music department stand out?
The flexibility of Bellarmine’s Music program is unlike any other. Students can not only pursue a B.M. or B.A. degree, they can also experience other areas of the program besides the one they are majoring in. Many schools insist that a student only study their chosen instrument, but Bellarmine allows students to take lessons in areas they are not familiar with. The Bellarmine Music program is an intimate and supportive environment where faculty and students alike are invested in your success and adversarial competition is rarely experienced due to our focus on community, professionalism, and kindness.
The Student Perspective
Evan Bullock is a sophomore double majoring in Vocal Performance and Music Technology, with an interest in pursuing music producing or operatic performance after college. He is a member of the department’s outreach group, Music Ambassadors, and tours with Bellarmine’s choirs.
Here’s what Bullock had to say about his experience in the Bellarmine Music program.
Q: How did you choose Bellarmine's Music program?
EB: I met with a lot of the professors here, and they're all just great people. They're great musicians too. I really got to know them well, and it really helped in bringing me here. It's a great program. I've learned so much and I just really connected with professors and knew that I would have a close relationship and that it would help my career in the future.
Q: Can you describe what the relationship with professors is like in this program?
EB: The relationship with the professors is more than just learning what my topic is, more than just learning music. They care, they want you to succeed, and they want you to do well. So, it's not just them relaying information to you, it's really almost like a peer-to-peer kind of thing.
Q: What are the relationships like with fellow students in this major?
EB: All the other Music students here are working towards the same thing, so we all relate to each other. I would say something that I've noticed is there's just the right amount of competition in this program—just enough to push you further and grow more, but not competition that's going to bring you down and make you stress and struggle. We're all here to build each other up.
Q: What else has stood out to you about this program so far?
EB: I would say what has stood out to me is the professor-to-student relationship and how fast we're moving along, yet still going at our own pace. The professors are really knowledgeable, and they know how to connect with you and teach you at your pace. They know what you need and what other people need.
Q: How is this program preparing you for life after college?
EB: Professionally, we're learning a lot of music-related things in this program and obviously getting better at our craft. We're constantly doing new things, performing new places—building connections is really a big thing in the professional world of music, and that is definitely a big thing in this program. Dr. Glasscock really likes to teach us how to be professional in the real world in the future. For example, if you can't make it to a gig you're doing, find someone else that can do it so that you have a good reputation, because the word gets out there. I would say just knowing how to act, just being professional as much as you can.
Q: Bellarmine is a liberal arts school, so you take a wide variety of classes outside of your major. What has been your experience with that and have you found those classes influencing your Music studies?
EB: I've been taking one or two general education classes every semester and I've liked every single one I've had. It definitely has helped in different ways, like learning how to write better, or write more grammatically correct or more professionally. And that helps with everything, like sending an email [for example]. In my philosophy class, we’re learning how to talk about serious topics in a professional way.
Q: What would you say to a prospective student interested in studying Music at Bellarmine?
EB: I would say come check it out. Come connect with the professors and they'll show you everything you need to know. You'll love it. It's casual yet it's professional at the same time.
The Faculty Perspective
Dr. S. Timothy Glasscock is the choral director and department chair for the Bellarmine Music department. He has sung and conducted in 17 countries and now serves as artistic director of the Louisville Vocal Project, a professional chamber choir specializing in Renaissance and newly composed choral works. Glasscock's research centers on Johannes Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem, baroque-era burial music, and the intersection of music, aging, and end-of-life issues.
Here's what Glasscock had to say about Bellarmine’s Music program.
Q: What makes Bellarmine’s approach to the study of music stand out?
TG: Our approach stands out because it is student-centered, mission-driven, and engaged with the entire community. Singers perform with the jazz ensembles, guitarists sing in the choirs, Music Technology students perform in bands with keyboardists and bluegrass musicians. The possibilities are endless in a department with no boundaries to your curiosity and desire to expand your horizons. Over 50 community members participate in ensembles in our department and perform concerts in cooperation with faculty, staff, students, and local musicians alike. In odd-numbered years, our department tours Europe with our Oratorio Society, sometimes taking along a jazz ensemble as well. Our last trip was in the spring of 2025 to France, where we performed in Paris, Caen, Rouen, at the American Cemetery in Normandy, at Mont-Saint-Michel, and at Chartres Cathedral. All full-time faculty participate in these trips, and every student is encouraged and given assistance to be part of the tour.
Q: How would you describe the learning environment at Bellarmine and what influence does that have on a student’s experience in the Music program?
TG: Bellarmine's focus on students and academic excellence means that every major is encouraged to expand their horizons and be a part of extracurricular activities that enrich their educational experience. Students in the Physical Therapy program sing, Music majors participate in theatre productions, student athletes take voice and instrumental lessons. The wide variety of backgrounds and experience levels make music study here a social, as well as musical, learning endeavor.
Q: How does a Bellarmine Music degree prepare students for life after college?
TG: The most important aspect of real-life preparation at Bellarmine is our focus on employment and professional world readiness. Freshmen begin learning to develop their business acumen in their cohort class, Introduction to the Study of Music, where tax considerations and preparation are discussed alongside LLCs, contract negotiations, entrepreneurship, business ethics, and the place of music in positive social change. Real-world scenarios help to widen budding musicians' focus by incorporating discussions of work ethic, work-life balance, professional courtesy, collaboration, frugality, preparedness, personal manners, and professional dress, as well as dozens of other aspects of being a self-supporting professional musician many potential Music majors have never considered.
Q: What would you say to a prospective student considering studying Music at Bellarmine?
TG: You can get an education in your private instrument anywhere, but Bellarmine is that rare place where you can get an education in life as it really is in the meantime. Besides this fact, you'll be studying with a group of professionals whose daily focus is to make you a better, more professional, more prepared, more compassionate, more grounded individual who is ready to face your challenges head-on and with a smile on your face. There really is no other place like the Bellarmine Music department.
Visit the Music program page for information on individual majors, ensembles, faculty, and more.