The School of Music is located within the hub of musical activity in the Pacific Northwest, only three blocks from the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. It maintains close ties to the Oregon Symphony, Portland Opera, Portland Symphonic Choir, Portland Jazz Orchestra, and Portland Youth Philharmonic, among other organizations. Faculty and students alike interact with these performing organizations in various ways. Both traditional and innovative musical opportunities through the study of classical performance, jazz performance, pedagogy, music history, ethnomusicology, theory, conducting, composition and music education are available for PSU students who live in the community or in campus housing.
Faculty members in the School of Music are internationally recognized performers, conductors, composers, and scholars. From the beginning of their studies, music majors and minors study with some of the finest faculty in the nation in the string, wind, brass, percussion, piano, jazz, vocal, composition and music education areas. Standards are high as students pursue the conservatory-like Bachelor of Music degree or the more general Bachelor of Arts or Science in Music. Graduates have consistently demonstrated their excellence in the fields of performance, conducting, composition, and scholarship. Many are leaders in music around the Northwest and elsewhere.
Programs in the School of Music are accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. The School also offers many courses for the non-major, including: Beginning Guitar, Beginning Piano, Beginning Voice, Introduction to Music, Survey of Music Literature, Applied Music, University Chorus, Women's Chorus, University Band, PSU Orchestra, Basic Materials of Music, Music Theory I, Music in the Western World, History of Rock, Jazz History, Guitar History, World Music, Improvisation, and American Musical Traditions.