A page where alumni, current and future students can connect, update and keep up with the latest happenings of Southeastern's Music Department!
Music at Southeastern is one of only three Oklahoma regional institutions whose program is fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. If you choose to do intensive study in music and want to devote your life’s work to the field, or if you are serious about music but do not particularly want to make a career in it, then Southeastern is the place for you.
A combination of location, small classes, interaction with public school programs, and cultural exchange programs makes Southeastern a unique place to earn your music degree.
Our proximity to Dallas means that there are cultural opportunities that are unmatched by any other University in the state of Oklahoma. We also feature the Musical Arts Series which brings artists from all over the world to Durant. Groups such as the Harlem Boys Choir, American Brass Quintet, The Moscow Chamber Orchestra, and The Czech Girls Choir have graced our stage. World-renowned guest composers and conductors work with our groups and students. The Southeastern Swings Jazz Festival brings artists to our campus that are second to none.
Our small classes mean that you have all the individual attention you need. Your private lessons are taught by a specialist in your area and all of your classes are guided by full-ranking faculty members. Our caring faculty makes the difference.
Our faculty also interacts extensively with the public schools throughout the Texoma area. As you progress towards your degree, you will have the opportunity not only to observe and assist, but to teach privately. Many of our students earn much of their spending money by teaching at rates of around $20.00 per hour.
We are also unique with our cultural exchange program with The People’s Republic of China. You may have the opportunity to visit and interact with other students who may not speak the same language as you but communicate in the universal language of music.
The music faculty is in constant demand to serve as adjudicators, clinicians, and guest conductors. If you are considering a career in music or just want to participate at a high level, Southeastern is the place for you!
The department’s function and its products are to have value in and for society. The values we pursue are in support of self-fulfillment and self-determination. It is our hope that music students leave this institution with a permanent curiosity and an attitude open to life as an unending learning experience; that they will have been prepared to be effective self-teachers with high musical and humanitarian standards.
Specifically, we believe that a student of music must have a working, functioning knowledge of the elements of music combined with basic skills in manipulating those elements (theory, composing, scoring, arranging). Next, we believe that a musician must have the verbal skills and grasp of historical context that will permit communication and description of music (literature, musical analysis, music history, humanities, and methods and media). And third, we believe that a music student must attain a high standard of musical performance capability (applied music, aural skills, conducting, and ensemble performance). The course of study in music at Southeastern is designed to enhance and support these objectives. Ensemble performance, for example, is the laboratory experience wherein the skills learned in private lessons are put to practical application in a context that will be useful in the future for performances and performance preparation.
