Welcome From The Director

 

Let me tell you about a thing I am passionate about — the LSU School of Music. We are home to 400 music majors, including 90 graduate teaching assistants, 70 faculty and professional staff, and one tiger named Mike on the campus of a flagship, Research I university. This makes us a compelling destination for an opportunity-filled higher education in music. 

But what do the numbers and designations mean, really? Well... there is the historic Turner-Fischer Center for Opera, the venerable Golden Band from Tigerland, the Constantinides New Music Ensemble, the Manship Guest Artist Series, and the Experimental Music & Digital Media program. There are one-of-a-kind endeavors such as the Sunshine Project, Collaborative Piano Institute, Conductor’s Art Workshop, Stravinsky in America Symposium, and Inclusive Repertoire Initiative.

Importantly, we are an unusual faculty, a collective of eminent and versatile musicians, researchers, and teachers who enjoy working together. In what could possibly be your School of Music, you will experience a determined, thriving, and invigorating culture like no other. “Like no other” because your presence in that culture makes us unique. Your presence will be acknowledged. Your presence will change us.

We acknowledge the richness of a college education that derives from the quality of the day-to-day experience, underpinned by the unchanging fundamental principles of teaching and learning in the disciplines of music. You will acquire knowledge and develop skill, of course, but beyond that, our faculty will help you find your strengths as well as the gaps in your preparation, and they will work with you to confront the inevitable ambiguity and uncertainty that characterize the process of getting ready for life after college.

For more context, I hope you will visit the People section on this website to meet our faculty, contact our Music Coordinator in the Office of Student Success, or reach out to me. We would be happy to interact with you.

James L. Byo

Director, School of Music
Carl Prince Matthies Professor, Music Education
102 School of Music Building

jbyo@lsu.edu | (225) 578-3261