Undergraduate ProgramsIf the performing arts are your passion, IUP will prepare you to make it, design it, write it, respond to it, and use it to change the world.
Music, BA (includes optional Music Industry Specialization)
Theatre, BA with Concentrations in Performance, Design/Tech/Management, or Theory/Criticism
Graduate ProgramsWhether your goal is to achieve your level II certification as a music teacher or heighten your musicianship for a career as a professional musician, IUP has the resources to bring your passion for music to its highest level.
Education Specialization, Music MA
Performance Specialization, Music MA
Applied Theatre and Performance Certificate
Popular Music Studies Certificate
Dance Pedagogy and Research Certificate
Register now for your music audition
All students interested in being a music major or minor are required to audition. Information about auditioning for the IUP Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance can be found on our Music Auditions page.
Register now for your theatre audition
If you are accepted to IUP, you may declare a major in theatre without an audition. Auditions and portfolio reviews are required to be eligible for a Freshman Talent Scholarship.
All music, theatre, and dance majors are eligible for scholarships, which are determined based on your audition.
If you have any questions regarding scheduling an audition, please contact the department at 724-357-2397 or email Dawnette Shellhammer (dmshell@iup.edu).
Indiana University of Pennsylvania is an All-Steinway School and is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music and the National Association of Schools of Theater.
IUP voice students of Joseph Baunoch, Erin Koolman, and Oliver Lo competed for the Tri-State National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Audition on November 8, 2025 at Duquesne University. There was a total of 160 contestants, and among the 40 finalists selected from the nine colleges, IUP voice students won a total of 12 awards in their categories.
Tuba and euphonium players from IUP and Slippery Rock University met at Butler High School on Sunday, November 16, to share an afternoon of music-making. Soloists from each school performed in a master class and received feedback from teachers Phil VanOuse (SRU) and Zach Collins (IUP).
Four students in the IUP Tuba and Euphonium studio visited three Indiana County schools on Friday, November 14. Alistair Horton (senior), Jessie Reed (junior), Hayden Cooper (sophomore), and Nate Vinson (sophomore), along with Zach Collins, professor of tuba and euphonium, visited Marion Center High School, Indiana Junior High School, and United High School.
Following a blind peer-review process, the IUP Wind Ensemble was selected to perform at the conference on March 21, 2026. Among the more than 200 member institutions in the Eastern Division, the IUP Wind Ensemble is one of only five juried ensembles invited to perform at this prestigious event.
Christine Clewell, assistant professor of organ at IUP, was featured as a guest performer for the inaugural concert celebrating the installation of a newly relocated Wicks Opus pipe organ at Worthington Lutheran Church in Armstrong County on Sunday, October 12.