For over half a century of its existence, the DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC has educated thousands of qualified music teachers for all school types and levels. Among the teachers and graduates of this department, there are personalities of international scholarly and artistic renown.
The bachelor's degree program offers Music for education, which is further developed in the follow-up master's degree Music education for primary and secondary schools. The doctoral study program is offered as Specialization in pedagogy – Music theory and pedagogy. Within the music field of study there is also an accredited habilitation procedure (associated prof.) and proceeding for appointment of professors.
Programs of study aim at preparing fully qualified teachers and equipping them not only with theoretical knowledge but also with practical music skills, which are a prerequisite for a creative and musically attractive style of teaching music.
Students attend courses in harmony, history of music, leading a choir, playing an instrument, voice training, music pedagogy, didactics, music aesthetics, the theory of art, multimedia computer applications, popular music, and others. Students can become members of the chamber orchestra Collegium musicum, choirs representing the whole university, and a cimbalom ensemble MUNIcimbal. (conductors/choirmasters/band leaders – Eduard Tomaštík, Jan Ocetek, František Ostrý, Markéta Musilová, Adéla Jurčíková).
An important activity of the department with a tradition going back to the 1960s is the international music and pedagogical conference MUSICA VIVA IN SCHOLA. It is organized in cooperation with the Czech Music Association (Česká hudební společnost) and ISME (International Society for Music Education). The topics always emphasize current issues of music education. Scholarly, professional and research activities of the department focus, apart from studying materials, textbooks, and monographs, on the area of current music education, music sociology, aesthetics, semiotics, folk music and musical heritage, early music practice, music genres, modern technologies, etc. Specific empirical research in all fields of music and musical culture tries to portray the transformations of social functions of music in the public and in the life of young people. (Bedřich Crha, Blanka Knopová, Judita Kučerová, Marek Sedláček and others).
Besides the cooperation with partner universities, the department's international engagement is strengthened by organizing lectures at foreign universities, interpretation courses, competitions, and participating in international projects (Arts Without Limits, Musik kreativ+, and others).
The department cooperates with prominent societies, such as the above-mentioned Czech Music Society, EAS (European Association for Music in Schools), together with the Society for Music Education of the Czech Republic and the Music Didactics Club.
The profile of the department is significantly completed by the artistic activities of the teaching staff and students. It focuses on the composition and interpretation of contemporary music (Michal Košut - composition, Petr Hala - composition, piano), on the authentic interpretation of baroque and renaissance music (Vladimír Richter - singing, Eduard Tomaštík - singing, conducting), works in the field of popular, rock and film music (Marek Olbrzymek, Ondřej Musil), opera singing (Marie Kábelová, Daniela Taylor, Marek Olbrzymek, Ondřej Musil) and other areas of instrumental playing (Lenka Kučerová - piano, Eduard Tomaštík - cimbalom, Ondřej Musil - guitar) including concert accompaniment (Petr Hala, Judita Kučerová, Lenka Kučerová). The balance of creative activities and artistic interpretation includes, for example, participation in prestigious festivals in the Czech Republic (Prague Spring), abroad (Bach Tage Hamburg), cooperation with the Brno National Theater, Janáček Academy of Performing Arts, radio, and television in the Czech Republic and many European countries, as well as with major music publishers (Supraphon, Arta). The members of the department also apply their erudition in the field of music journalism (KlasikaPlus, OperaPlus, Hudební rozhledy).