Welcome to the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music
The Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music in The University of Texas at Austin
is a very exciting place where talented students study with an excellent faculty
of outstanding performers, scholars, pedagogues, and composers. Ours is a community
where every day is exciting and every evening is filled with multiple musical opportunities.
We offer a comprehensive array of degree programs ranging from the bachelor’s through
the doctorate in performance, composition, music teacher training, jazz, theory,
musicology, ethnomusicology, pedagogy, and liberal studies in music. The Butler School of Music is fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM). Just as Texas
is a place where anything is possible, the Butler School of Music is also a place
where anything is possible.
The Butler School of Music has approximately 100 music faculty who serves some 700
music students. With a student-to-teacher ratio of seven to one, our students receive
valuable personal attention. Housed in one of the country’s major universities,
the Butler School provides our students with opportunities unavailable to students
in many smaller institutions. These enrichment opportunities include the Texas Performing
Arts, the Blanton Museum, the Harry Ransom Center, the LBJ Library and many other
centers and special programs. These organizations regularly bring outstanding guests
to campus, and provide research materials unmatched on most campuses. Furthermore,
the Butler School presents some 500 concerts, recitals, operas and other special
musical events annually.
In March 2008 Sarah and Ernest Butler announced their generous gift to the UT School
of Music, the largest gift ever given to any public university school of music in
America (see press release). Their magnanimous gift of $55 million is designated
to support student scholarships, faculty research and various programs throughout
the Butler School. In appreciation for their generosity we are proud to now bear
their name. We are deeply grateful to Dr. and Mrs. Butler for their generosity.
We welcome our friends, alumni and potential students to visit campus and to attend
our public concerts when convenient. When it is inconvenient to attend in person
we invite you to tune in to our performances via our Webcasts at music.utexas.edu/calendar/.
Mission Statement
Through professional education of the highest caliber, the Butler School of Music
of The University of Texas at Austin prepares students for productive careers as
performers, teachers, composers, and scholars and for satisfying lives as informed
and responsible members of a democratic society. In accordance with the University’s
mission, the School also seeks to extend the boundaries of knowledge and human experience
through research and the creation of new music.
While preserving the best of traditional education in music, the School seeks to
prepare students for the changing realities of the modern world through engagement
with diverse musical traditions, community outreach, and new technologies that can
be used creatively to further the art of music. The School promotes the interdependence
of performance and scholarship, innovative relationships between music and other
disciplines within and outside the arts, and a wider appreciation throughout society
of music and its significance.
B. Glenn Chandler, Ph.D.
Florence Thelma Hall Centennial Chair in Music and
Director of the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music