UCLA Enters a New Era in
Music with the Formation of
The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music
November 16, 2007 — UCLA announced today the formation and naming of The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and a $30 million endowment gift made possible through the generosity of the renowned, performer, producer and philanthropist Herb Alpert and his wife Lani Hall Alpert. This endowment gift from the Herb Alpert Foundation in support of the new school is the largest ever made to the arts in the UC system and the single largest individual gift to music higher education in the western United States.
Aligning the university’s Departments of Ethnomusicology, Music and Musicology, The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music will be devoted to the performance and study of music in all of its global diversity, including world music, popular music, jazz and classical music. UCLA students will have the opportunity to augment their academic studies in music with such courses as the music business, music in the public sector, and music and health. This balanced approach to performance, scholarship and practical knowledge, as well as to the broad sweep of music in today’s world represents a significant departure from the emphasis in many U.S. schools of music on the theory, history and performance of European classical music… More