University of the Pacific’s Conservatory of Music was founded in 1878 as the seventh Music School in the United States, and the first on the west coast.
Today, the conservatory boasts deep community roots and influential alumni, while offering a vast array of degrees and programs including vocal, piano, and instrumental performance, composition, jazz, music education, history, and music therapy. “The cultural sector is a 704-billion dollar enterprise, annually,” explains Dean Peter Witte. “With 330 billion dollars coming from the creative sector here in California there are many different career options in the industry, and we celebrate that at Pacific.”
Striving to empower students with a sense of community and possibility, passionate and dedicated faculty members guide students through their four-year experience with a rigorous and supportive learning environment.
That’s why Stockton native, Isaac Lopez, chose Pacific. A saxophone player since age 10, Isaac flourished at Pacific with guidance from his professor and mentor, David Henderson. “I wouldn’t be here musically, or at this point in my career, without him,” Isaac notes.
Pacific requires their performance majors to take two hours of lessons per week. As Dean Witte notes, the long-standing tradition is twice that of national standards, but Isaac certainly wasn’t complaining. “That aspect was a game changer for me. It gives students and professors the opportunity to spend substantial time together during an important developmental period.”
Today, Isaac is living in LA, leading and composing for a progressive-soul band, and pursuing his doctorate at University of Southern California. “My experience with Professor Henderson was so meaningful that I wanted to continue to pass that experience on—to be a meaningful professor to the next generation of students, performers, and musicians.”
Isaac also tips his hat to the Music Management Program, saying “it is so fundamentally necessary for musicians who are stepping out into the world of music, to take their head out of the practice room, and become educated on today’s industry. There are so many routes that one can take as a musician, but if you’re practicing the whole time and not looking at trends, you could be shooting yourself in the foot by not preparing for what’s out there in the real world.”
For students considering Pacific’s Conservatory, Isaac says, “Go with an open mind and heart about what you really want to do in the music industry, the options are vast!”
Isaac is just one of many alumni who made their passion a profession—and your future is waiting for you at Pacific!
For More Information:
University of the Pacific Conservatory of Music
3601 Pacific Ave., Stockton
(209) 946-2418
Pacific.edu