Mariachi student plays during a staff senate event

School of Music

Hexagons

Mission

The UTRGV School of Music prepares students to succeed as teachers, performers, and scholars by studying diverse musical styles, genres, and traditions; conducting research; and collaborating with each other as well as with local, national, and global communities. Through extensive community engagement, service learning, and exceptional performance opportunities, we expand the understanding of music, and enrich the cultural life in our local society and beyond.

Vision

To be a leader in the education of musicians through the innovation and sustainable approaches to performance, research, and teaching, in a bilingual and multicultural environment.

School of Music Message

The UTRGV School of Music is led by nationally and internationally recognized professors known for their abilities to guide students to high achievements and professional success. Our students receive national recognition as performers and they become highly skilled teachers. We bring the music of the world here and we introduce the world to our music.

The Right Stage for Performers
We have outstanding concert halls in Brownsville and Edinburg which give students the real experience of performing in world-class acoustic halls.

Innovative Programs
The School of Music offers unique chamber ensembles and incorporates tablet-based music instruction on the leading edge. These experiences are guided by faculty who are UT System Regents Outstanding Teachers and Apple Distinguished Educators.

Music, Life, Work
We have programs to engage students in the fabric of the community as musicians and teachers. We create opportunities for students to explore what music can be, how music is a shared joy and deep expression in all its variety.

Inventing New Avenues
We are an emerging research university that gives us the incredibly rare chance to seek new ways to create, present, learn, and teach music that leads to the next level. We invite you to be part of that creative process, to contribute to the future and to discover new insights. 

Academic Programs

Community

 
Mariachi Sol de México de José Hernández will be the featured mariachi at the FESTIBA Mariachi Festival 2025, on March 1, 2025. José Hernández is a master of mariachi music. An internationally recognized musician, composer and arranger, he is the leading mariachi educator in the nation. He has recorded with the most respected and recognized names in the industry, including Selena, Vicente Fernandez, Luis Miguel, and the Beach Boys, and has received four Grammy nominations.

Plan to join us at FESTIBA 2025!! It will be a great workshop, competition and concert!
 

UTRGV Music Major for a Day

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is excited to announce our annual Music Major for a Day, hosted by the UTRGV School of Music! Music Major for a Day is a chance for high school juniors and seniors to come to the UTRGV campuses in Edinburg or in Brownsville, and live a day in the life of a college music major. On these days, we have activities in place for all band, orchestra, choir, guitar, and piano students. They will have the opportunity to take a tour of campus, go to an academic music class, go to an ensemble rehearsal, hear our students perform, and work with our faculty who specialize on their instrument. 

We hope to see you at the UTRGV School of Music Music Major for a Day!

For more information please email teresita.lozano@utrgv.edu.


Youth Orchestra 
 
The Rio Grande Youth Orchestra features talented student musicians from the Rio Grande Valley and communities nearby. Members perform a wide variety of standard and newly composed orchestral repertoire, including full scale symphonies, solo concertos, and works by living composers. Concerts take place at the beautiful UTRGV Performing Arts Complex in Edinburg. Students have the opportunity to meet regularly for sectionals with distinguished members of the UTRGV music faculty and other professional community musicians, including members of the Valley Symphony Orchestra. The Rio Grande Youth Orchestra is open through auditions to all string, woodwind, brass and percussion students ages 12 to 21. 

For the TMEA All State Band Etude Clinics and information, please contact:

Dr. Krista Jobson krista.jobson@utrgv.edu or Dr. Jonathan Guist jonathan.guist@utrgv.edu.

Highlights

Community Outreach

UTRGV School of Music hosts camps, clinics, festivals and a youth orchestra to bring music to the Rio Grande Valley Community.

UTRGV Arts

Attend a performance at one of our state-of-the-art facilities

Audition

Show your talents, join an ensemble