Best Music Director programs in Tennessee, ranked by enrollment
Conduct, direct, plan, and lead instrumental or vocal performances by musical artists or groups, such as orchestras, bands, choirs, and glee clubs; or create original works of.
20 schools in Tennessee run programs that feed this job, graduating 765 people a year. The job pays a median of $79,640 in Tennessee across about 400 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Tennessee that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
12 programs in Tennessee that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Tennessee (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Tennessee page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.1003In Tennessee → | 332 | 43.4% | 5 | $28,050 | $25,468 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0999In Tennessee → | 175 | 22.9% | 8 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0913In Tennessee → | 129 | 16.9% | 3 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 4 | CIP 50.0903In Tennessee → | 62 | 8.1% | 9 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 5 | CIP 50.0904In Tennessee → | 16 | 2.1% | 5 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 6 | CIP 50.0509In Tennessee → | 14 | 1.8% | 4 | $20,667 | $24,994 |
| 7 | CIP 50.0908In Tennessee → | 13 | 1.7% | 5 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 8 | Religious/Sacred Musicmain feeder CIP 39.0501In Tennessee → | 10 | 1.3% | 4 | $30,092 | $27,000 |
| 9 | CIP 50.0905In Tennessee → | 7 | 0.9% | 1 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 10 | Worship Ministrymain feeder CIP 39.0502In Tennessee → | 4 | 0.5% | 2 | $30,092 | $27,000 |
| 11 | CIP 50.0906In Tennessee → | 2 | 0.3% | 1 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
| 12 | CIP 50.0917In Tennessee → | 1 | 0.1% | 1 | $25,929 | $25,980 |
Top 20 schools in Tennessee
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 7 of the 20 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belmont University Nashville, TN Private not-for-profit · 6 feeder programs | 370 | Music Management | $30,666 | 71% | $29,246 | 95% |
| 2 | Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN Public · 2 feeder programs | 227 | Music Management | $27,172 | 54% | — | 69% |
| 3 | Lipscomb University Nashville, TN Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 37 | Music, Other | $19,352 | 72% | $24,309 | 68% |
| 4 | Lee University Cleveland, TN Private not-for-profit · 6 feeder programs | 24 | Music Performance, General | — | 63% | $18,918 | 71% |
| 5 | Visible Music College Memphis, TN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 24 | Music Performance, General | $25,929 | 23% | $26,266 | 28% |
| 6 | Trevecca Nazarene University Nashville, TN Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 12 | Music, Other | — | 53% | $14,286 | 69% |
| 7 | University of Memphis Memphis, TN Public · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Music, Other | $27,353 | 51% | — | 72% |
| 8 | Nashville State Community College Nashville, TN Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Music, Other | — | 18% | — | — |
| 9 | Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 10 | Voice and Opera | — | 94% | $14,854 | 6% |
| 10 | East Tennessee State University Johnson City, TN Public · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Musicology and Ethnomusicology | $30,004 | 53% | — | 86% |
| 11 | Union University Jackson, TN Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 6 | Music Theory and Composition | — | 66% | $25,882 | 60% |
| 12 | Milligan University Milligan, TN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 5 | Musical Theatre | — | 63% | $19,143 | 72% |
| 13 | Johnson University Knoxville, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Religious/Sacred Music | — | 57% | $19,333 | 65% |
| 14 | Southern Adventist University Collegedale, TN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 3 | Music Performance, General | — | 49% | $24,187 | 65% |
| 15 | The University of Tennessee - Knoxville Knoxville, TN Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Voice and Opera | $31,888 | 74% | — | 42% |
| 16 | The University of Tennessee - Martin Martin, TN Public · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Music, Other | — | 53% | — | 88% |
| 17 | Bryan College - Dayton Dayton, TN Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Worship Ministry | — | 50% | $16,130 | — |
| 18 | Carson - Newman University Jefferson City, TN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 2 | Voice and Opera | — | 53% | $19,537 | 90% |
| 19 | Cumberland University Lebanon, TN Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 2 | Musical Theatre | — | 46% | $19,206 | 67% |
| 20 | Volunteer State Community College Gallatin, TN Public · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Music Performance, General | — | 28% | — | — |
All 20 schools in Tennessee
Every school in Tennessee with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belmont University | Nashville | Private not-for-profit | 370 | 6 |
| Middle Tennessee State University | Murfreesboro | Public | 227 | 2 |
| Lipscomb University | Nashville | Private not-for-profit | 37 | 5 |
| Lee University | Cleveland | Private not-for-profit | 24 | 6 |
| Visible Music College | Memphis | Private not-for-profit | 24 | 2 |
| Trevecca Nazarene University | Nashville | Private not-for-profit | 12 | 5 |
| University of Memphis | Memphis | Public | 12 | 1 |
| Nashville State Community College | Nashville | Public | 11 | 1 |
| Vanderbilt University | Nashville | Private not-for-profit | 10 | 3 |
| East Tennessee State University | Johnson City | Public | 7 | 1 |
| Union University | Jackson | Private not-for-profit | 6 | 3 |
| Milligan University | Milligan | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 2 |
| Johnson University | Knoxville | Private not-for-profit | 4 | 1 |
| Southern Adventist University | Collegedale | Private not-for-profit | 3 | 2 |
| The University of Tennessee - Knoxville | Knoxville | Public | 3 | 1 |
What music directors and composers earn in Tennessee
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $73,710. Tennessee pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: Tennessee employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Tennessee
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Music Directors and Composers page.
How to become a Music Director
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- Work experience needed
- Less than 5 years
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Tennessee
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 12 majors mapped to Music Directors and Composers12 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 39.0501Religious/Sacred Music
- 39.0502Worship Ministry
- 50.0509Musical Theatre
- 50.0903Music Performance, General
- 50.0904Music Theory and Composition
- 50.0905Musicology and Ethnomusicology
- 50.0906Conducting
- 50.0908Voice and Opera
- 50.0913Music Technology
- 50.0917Sound Arts
- 50.0999Music, Other
- 50.1003Music Management
Common questions
Answers for people weighing music directors and composers programs in Tennessee.
What degree do you need to become a Music Director?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Music Management, which awarded 332 degrees in Tennessee in 2024-25, 43.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Music Director?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 12 programs to this occupation. The largest are Music, Arts, Religious Music and Worship, Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. Together they graduate about 765 people a year in Tennessee.
How much do music directors and composers earn in Tennessee?+
The median is $79,640 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 8.0% above the U.S. median of $73,710. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for music directors and composers growing?+
BLS projects a -0.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 4,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Tennessee?+
20 institutions in Tennessee reported graduates from at least one of the 12 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do music directors and composers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Conductor, Choir Director, Music Composer, Music Director among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-2041.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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