Music has occupied a central role in the Fisk experience since the University’s opening in 1866. The Fisk Jubilee Singers’® first historic tour established a reputation for excellence in musical performance and preserved the rich heritage of the Negro Spiritual. Today, Fisk continues to provide students the opportunity to develop individual talent, appreciation, and aesthetic sensibility. The Fisk University Music Department is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music.

With full-time faculty for brass, organ, piano, voice, and woodwind instruction, the department has a sound history of combining conservatory-style training with African-American traditional music, and provides excellent education with a broad-based technical competency and proficiency in preparing students for careers in music. Strong leadership qualities and personal and musical growth are nurtured by the provision of a creative atmosphere.

The acclaimed composer-musicologists John W. Work Sr., John W. Work Jr., and John W. Work III were Fisk alumni and members of the faculty. Dr. Joyce Bolden ’53 became the first African-American woman to serve on the Commission for Accreditation of the National Association of Schools of Music, Dr. Kaye George Roberts ‘71, the first African-American woman to complete the orchestral conducting program at Yale University.