Discover a new era in post-secondary music education with Laurier’s Bachelor of Music. Starting in 2025, our updated, flexible curriculum invites students from all genres to explore diverse musical styles or concentrate on specific areas of interest. Learn from faculty with strong industry ties, providing personalized guidance and collaboration opportunities throughout your education. Benefit from personalized lessons in classical or contemporary/commercial genres, or cross-train for an enduring, sustainable career.
Our diverse courses let you customize your education, improve your job prospects, and build useful skills. Join Laurier by auditioning and shape your musical path to succeed in today’s evolving music industry.
Your future professors work hard to make sure your academic experience is current, complete and designed to open doors in your career. Here are a few things you can count on:
Here are just a few of our students’ favourite ways to apply their learning throughout their degree:
We know your passion for your instrument or voice is a big part of what defines you. Find your instrument below to learn what makes studying it at Laurier unique, as well as audition advice and repertoire requirements.
Complete list of audition requirements.
Don’t study an instrument listed below? Contact musicauditions@wlu.ca for audition information.
At Laurier, our Bachelor of Music program offers a dynamic range of specializations that allow you to tailor your musical education to your passions and career goals. You can combine these areas in various ways to create a customized and comprehensive learning experience.
Choose one large specialization, two small specializations, or a mix of one large and one small specialization — or opt for a broad-based education with no specific specialization. Find the perfect combination that aligns with your musical ambitions and career aspirations.
The Afrodiasporic Music specialization explores the rich and diverse musical traditions of the African diasporas in the Americas, the Caribbean and Europe. This program is designed for music and non-music students interested in the history and performance of music of genres such as jazz, reggae, hip-hop, gospel, and more.
The history courses will provide a comprehensive understanding of the cultural and social influences that have shaped Afrodiasporic musical traditions. Performance classes will equip students with practical skills in performing and creating Afrodiasporic music which will be of value to, and provide an advantage for, students interested in a career in performance, education, music production, community music, music therapy, social work, and music history.
Opportunities for collaborative research with faculty and community organizations will further enhance and enrich study in this concentration as students engage in experiential learning that will demonstrate the real-world relevance and application of Afrodiasporic music.
Courses in this specialization include Music of the Afro-diaspora; Afrodiasporic spoken word practices; History of jazz; Gospel Music History; Music of Afrodiasporic Divas; Jamaican Dancehall Gospel; Reggae in Canada; Pan-African Children's Games; Class drumming; Jazz orchestra; Gospel Choir; Jazz Arranging; and Hand Drums for Group Music Making.
These are a few of the many popular academic opportunities which allow you to dive deeper into your major area of study or broaden your knowledge:
Check out other options to enhance your degree.
Students can pursue a double degree with music in most areas. For more information, contact us at choosemusic@wlu.ca.
Blend a Laurier music degree and a Metalworks diploma, receiving state-of-the-art, hands-on audio engineering experience from Metalworks alongside the traditional and innovative music degree options at Laurier in as little as four years.
Earn a Laurier Bachelor of Music and a Performing Arts College Diploma focusing on acting, singing and dance from Randolph College for the Performing Arts in a condensed time frame.
Blend your Laurier Bachelor of Music degree with the Suzuki String School of Guelph and earn 1.0 credits towards your degree by completing this two-year program. The Suzuki Pedagogy Program equips students with the skills to teach young violin, viola or cello students utilizing the Suzuki Teaching Method.
Prepare for future studies and a rewarding teaching career. The Teaching Option direct entry pathway is a path to the Bachelor of Education program (BEd). Students applying for an honours degree with the Teaching Option will be considered for admission directly into the BEd program.
Optional: Applicants may submit a portfolio featuring original compositions or performances on other instruments or across different genres
Students applying to this program from a Canadian province outside of Ontario are encouraged to review our course equivalents by province chart. This chart will show you what courses from your province are equivalent to the admission requirements listed under the Ontario High School Admission Requirements section.
Students applying to this program from an international curriculum must present the following:
Students applying to this program from an international curriculum are encouraged to review our curriculum-specific requirements. You will find which courses from your country's curriculum are equivalent to the admission requirements listed above. If your country or curriculum is not listed, please reach out to international@wlu.ca.
Laurier's language of instruction is English, and so we may require you to provide evidence of your English proficiency to help make sure you are successful in your academic courses.
Your three most recent years of full-time education must be in English without taking any ESL (English as a Second Language) courses. If you do not meet this requirement, you must provide evidence of your English proficiency.
We reserve the right to request an English-language test from any applicant.
If you do not meet Laurier's English proficiency requirement but are academically qualified for your program, you may be eligible for a conditional offer of admission.
The Academic Transition Pathway (ATP) program is offered through our affiliated institution, Wilfrid Laurier International College, and provides an option for meeting our English-proficiency requirement. If you have received an offer to Laurier with a condition to meet our English-proficiency requirement, you can meet that condition by successfully completing the ATP program.
Students applying to this program from another post-secondary institution are encouraged to review our transfer-specific requirements. This page will show you the admission requirements for your unique transfer situation and provide more details about transferring to Laurier.
College graduates applying to Laurier’s Music program may be eligible for admission with one of our articulation agreements with specific college partners.
Learn more about our college pathway opportunities.
Visit our admission requirements section to find specific requirements for transfer students, indigenous applicants, mature learners, homeschooled applicants, senior citizens, refugees, and more.
Auditions and interviews will take place in-person on Laurier's Waterloo campus. Virtual auditions and interviews can be arranged based on distance (400+ km) or extenuating circumstances.
Applicants may choose to bring their own accompanist or work with one of Laurier’s professional coach-accompanists at no additional charge for an in-person audition.
Audition repertoire should be prepared based on the instructions listed for your instrument.
Don't hesitate to contact us at musicauditions@wlu.ca for questions regarding repertoire choices.
Interviews are relaxed conversations with a Laurier Faculty of Music faculty member to leanr more about your love of music. Your interviewer will be different from the faculty members sitting on your audition panel.
Auditions run from January to April. Dates are available to applicants through Laurier’s Audition Portal.
Meet our auditions coordinator, find out how to apply, what happens after your audition, as well as more about our keyboard facilities on our auditions page.
Applicants will provide contact information for one reference who can speak to their musical abilities. Contact information for references is submitted through the Audition Portal.* Laurier will contact your reference with a list of questions that can be submitted electronically.
*A link to the Audition Portal will be provided to you after Laurier receives your application.
An optional portfolio of past performances, composed and/or original music may be uploaded to the Audition Portal* through video or audio links. This does not replace your audition.
*A link to the Audition Portal will be provided to you after Laurier receives your application.
It’s not only about the journey; the destination matters. Let us help you get set up for a meaningful career.
Laurier's Bachelor of Music graduates pursue both traditional and non-traditional career paths, leveraging their versatile skills beyond music-specific roles.
Many alumni venture into fields such as medicine, law, and technology, applying their creativity and discipline in unexpected ways.
Note: Additional training and education may be required.
Alumni for life means that you have access to Career and Employment Support offered at Laurier for your entire career.
Getting a university education is an investment in your future.
At Laurier, we take financial health seriously by providing a wide variety of funding opportunities for you throughout your degree, such as scholarships and bursaries, and by equipping you with the skills to manage your finances effectively in the years to come.
On top of any entrance scholarships, you may earn a Faculty of Music audition scholarship. Audition scholarships recognize well-rounded students who demonstrate strong technical ability, academic achievement, recreational/extracurricular involvement and/or financial need during their audition process.
Our top first-year scholarships based on audition include the $5,000 Ken Murray Entrance Scholarship and the $2,000 Martens-Falk Voice Scholarship. Roughly $100,000 is awarded to first-year students each year.
Financial success doesn’t end in first year; scholarships are available to upper-year students by application.
Want to know what it’s really like to be in this program? U Community is our Discord server where future Golden Hawks like you can connect with current students to get their first-hand stories and tips on living and learning at Laurier.
Questions? Email choosemusic@wlu.ca, call 548.889.8888 or see all Music faculty and staff.
Think this program might be the perfect fit for you and your future?
