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Music at SDSU

Tradition. Excellence. Travel.

The School of Performing Arts is where Jackrabbits come to express themselves through music. SDSU students have been making music on campus for over 125 years.

We are known as a school on the go. The Pride of the Dakotas Marching Band has been featured in parades and festivals from coast to coast. Our choral ensembles have performed in some of the most well-known concert halls in the United States and Europe, as well as during prestigious national music conferences.

Not only do our students see the world, we also bring the world to our campus. In our state-of-the-art Larson Memorial Concert Hall, we have played host to performances by Leslie Odom Jr., Wynton Marsalis, the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Kristin Chenoweth, the Soweto Gospel Choir and practically all of the top military service bands.

Led by dedicated and knowledgeable faculty who were educated in some of the nation’s most prestigious music schools, our students are challenged to do their best in their studies, whether they be applied lessons, music theory and history courses or in music ensembles. More than 7% of all SDSU students, regardless of their major, participate in the music program each year. For those who want to major in music, three options are available – the Bachelor of Music Education (B.M.E.), the Bachelor of Arts in music studies and the Bachelor of Arts in music (music entrepreneurship specialization).

Music at SDSU News

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Musicians in a jazz ensemble from the United States perform in their last engagement in Cuba, which was sitting in with a community band. Bradley Snyder, instructor of low brass at South Dakota State University, is shown in the back row, beneath a Cespedes statue.

Snyder shares trombone expertise during trip to Cuba

A South Dakota State University faculty member shared his love of the trombone and jazz music earlier this semester in a part of the world that not many people will ever experience firsthand. For the third time in his music career, the School of Performing Arts’ Bradley Snyder, instructor of low brass, traveled to Cuba to perform for, educate and learn from students, teachers and professional musicians.
Phillip Swan

SDSU Concert Choir to present ‘Untraveled Worlds’

The South Dakota State University Concert Choir, under the direction of Laura Diddle and guest conductor Phillip Swan, will present a spring choral concert, “Untraveled Worlds,” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 22, at the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center.
Musician Lun Li holds a violin.

Brookings Chamber Music Society concert postponed due to weather

This concert has been postponed due to weather and will be rescheduled for a later date.