The Music I program, the entry point for all music majors, has been suspended at McMaster University effective immediately. Other than a very brief notice that can be accessed via the Humanities homepage of the university website, few other details of the situation are offered.
Admissions for the September 2024 intake are suspended.
A Program Redesign
It does appear that restructuring rather than outright closure is the intention.
Pamela Swett was recently reappointed to lead the Faculty of Humanities for a second term as Dean. In a news release marking the event, she is said to be “looking forward to the redesign of the School of the Arts’ music program…”
The brief website notice also includes some advice for potential music majors.
“Prospective applicants with an interest in pursuing a degree in Music are encouraged to apply to Humanities I. Interested applicants can take relevant courses within this program to work towards obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Music.”
The text goes on to explain that auditions won’t be required — the first sign of a change that would appear to indicate that the program, while it may offer some form of music study, is moving away from performance entirely. Performance was not a specific stream within the program previously.
Music at McMaster
While it has never been one of the bigger or more prominent departments in a university that has become known more for engineering and medicine, the Music Department at McMaster has a distinguished history, and once played a vital role in the city’s music ecosystem.
McMaster was founded in 1887, but it wasn’t until 1954 that the university appointed its first director of music. George Proctor served from 1954 until 1957. A Music Department established in 1965, along with a B. Mus. program. A three-year BA in Music was launched in 1966.
The School maintained a relationship with chamber groups and individual musicians within the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra through the 1960s and 1980s. Marta Hidy, former concertmaster and assistant conductor of the HPO, taught violin and chamber music during the 1960s. Former professor Zdeněk Koníček (1918–2019) was a founding member of the Prague String Quartet, Czech String Quartet, a member of Trio Canada, and Artistic Director of Chamber Music Hamilton from 2000 – 2005. The Czech Quartet were the quartet-in-residence from 1969 to 1974.
The program had its heyday in the 1980s, when Harold Schonberg, former chief music critic for the New York Times, was critic-in-residence and lectured in the university’s innovative Masters degree program in music criticism.
In 1990, the Music Department included 100 students and 42 professors, of which 8 were full-time positions. The Music Department gave rise to multiple performing ensembles, including the McMaster University Choir, Concert Band, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Jazz Band, and Madrigal Singers. The future of any remaining ensembles is not stated.
Several degree programs are still listed on the university website, including Honours Music (B. Mus.), Honours Music (B. Mus.) (Music Cognition), Combined Honours Music and Another Subject (BA), Music (BA), Minor in Music, and Diploma in Music Performance.
It remains to be seen what will remain for new students after the program redesign.
With the recent suspension of the applied music program at the city’s Mohawk College, and if McMaster truly drops performance from any future offerings, it leaves Hamilton with no options for postsecondary education for musicians.
This story will be updated as new information becomes available.
Update (March 12):
The university has also suspended its Studio Art program, a fine arts stream, in favour of the new iArts Program. The description of iArts (culminating in a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts), calls it a “direct entry program that emphasizes interdisciplinary creative practice as a collective mode of learning”, and promises “hands-on media and technique in art and performance”. Other than a mention of sound design it does not appear to include music.
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