Music Ministry Degree at Duquesne University

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A career in modern-day music ministry requires a diversified skill set that extends beyond the basics of theology and sacred music. While these are central elements to our Music Ministry program, you will also develop career-enhancing skills including music technology, performance, leadership, and more. This unique approach will enable you to become a well- rounded music minister prepared for work in Christian-tradition churches, including Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox congregations. The faculty at Mary Pappert School of Music represent multiple Christian denominations and are active in ministry in their local churches as worship leaders, choir directors, sound engineers, and musicians.

Here’s What Makes Our Program Unique

As the only Catholic institution of higher education offering a degree in Music Ministry, this program addresses a growing need for versatile, skilled leaders in Christian churches around the world by integrating traditional worship styles with contemporary worship practices.
This comprehensive music experience will include applied lessons on your primary instrument, music ensembles, conducting, choral rehearsal techniques, worship leading labs, as well as voice, piano, keyboard, and guitar studies.
In addition to the core music curriculum, students will learn to navigate and utilize cutting- edge music technologies including digital audio workstations, notation software, video production/streaming platforms, and other skills that are essential to modern-day music ministry.
With a minor in Theology built into the curriculum, students will graduate with the ability to speak the language of the pastor, priest, or theologian in addition to speaking the language of music.
Through internships with an extensive network of local churches and
congregations, including Duquesne’s own Spiritan Campus Ministry, students will be able to apply the skills you learn in the classroom directly to ministry sites in the real world.
The Mary Pappert School of Music provides you with access to superior facilities, including 68 Steinway pianos in performance and rehearsal spaces, multiple recording studios, computer labs with the latest software, and seven on-campus organs where you will have opportunities to perform for liturgies and recitals.

“This program is relevant and practical for today’s worship leader: musicianship, theology, leadership, technology, and real-life experiences are the core of this program,” said Dr. Stephen Benham, Professor of Music Education at the Mary Pappert School of Music.