Did you know: Facts about McGill's internationally ranked music program

The Schulich School of Music of McGill University has ushered in a new era of excellence, propelled by a new name and new building and built on a 100-year tradition of music leadership. Please read on to discover some facts and figures about Canada's leading university music program:

• With over 600 undergraduate and 200 graduate students, the Schulich School of Music of McGill University boasts Canada's largest university–based music program.
• The Faculty of Music began its existence in 1904 as the Conservatorium at McGill, thanks to the efforts of Clara Lichtenstein, Lord Strathcona and McGill Principal William Peterson.
• Harry Crane Perrin was the Conservatorium at McGill's first dean.
• The Conservatorium's first public concert, held on October 14, 1904, featured 6-year-old pianist Ellen Ballon and 18-year-old violinist Albert Chamberland.
• Charles Albert Edwin Harriss was appointed as McGill's first Chair of Music in 1908.
• The Conservatorium evolved into the Faculty of Music in 1920, following a generous gift by tobacco millionaire Sir William Macdonald.
• One of Canada's first electronic music concerts was presented by McGill's Faculty of Music in 1959.
• The Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT) was created in 2001.
• The CBC/McGill music concert series, broadcast from coast to coast for 27 years, is the longest university-broadcasting affiliation in Canada.
• Alumni and staff from McGill's Sound Recording program have received major international acclaim in recent years. Steve Epstein and Richard King won four Grammy Awards for their work on Yo-Yo Ma's Obrigado Brazil CD.
• McGill's in-house recording label, McGill Records, has an award-winning reputation for quality around the world.
• Canadian artist and musician Joni Mitchell received an honorary doctorate of music from McGill in 2004.
• The Schulich School of Music of McGill University has partnerships with major electronics companies such as Sony, Philips, Harman Kardon and Bang & Olufsen.
• Approximately 600 music concerts are performed each year at various McGill venues.
• Every day, the halls of the Schulich School of Music of McGill University resonate with the music of traditional orchestral instruments, as well as with the sounds of computerized instruments and voice.
• The Marvin Duchow Music Library welcomed over 200,000 visitors in 2004.
• The McGill Conservatory of Music community program reaches over 1,200 people annually, giving many children their first musical experience and providing fundamental training for the next generation of professional and amateur musicians.
• Students completing a Bachelor of Music can choose to specialize in composition, music education, music history, music technology, theory, performance, early music performance, or jazz performance.
• Students completing their Master's in Music can specialize in music performance and sound recording.
• Students completing their PhD in Music can specialize in composition or performance or in the academic disciplines of music education, musicology, music technology, sound recording and theory.