History of Music

History of the Department

The Department of Music was established in November, 1982 as a unit in the then Department of Arts. The Department of Arts was then under the Faculty of Social Sciences. The Department of Music was one of the ten Departments which broke off as Sub-departments in 1999 to form the Associate Faculty of Arts under its pioneer Associate Dean, Late Rev. Fr. Prof. Ikenga Metuh. The full-fledged status of the Faculty of Arts came in December 2000 with the sub-departments, including Music, becoming independent Departments. In the Department of Music, the pioneer members of staff were Dr. Dan C. C. Agu and Dr. Chukwuemeka E. Mbanugo, who later rose to the rank of Professors before their retirements.

Since then, the Department of Music has grown in various ways to the enviable height it occupies among Nigerian Departments of Music in various universities today. The numerical and qualitative strength of both the staff and students is outstanding. The hard work and commitment of both staff and students have been the secret of the brilliant performance for which the Department of Music is associated within and outside the university. The Department has lecturers; many in the professorial cadre, who have contributed immensely to music scholarship within the country and on the international stage. The devotion to this sublime art on the part of the lecturers has, so rubbed off well on the students that most end of academic sessions see the emergence of some first class music graduates. The 2018/2019 session will remain ever green and very significant in the history of the Department as it witnessed the employment of about seven of the Department’s first class products as Graduate Assistants. The Department remains grateful to the University management, for this giant stride in the very right direction of rewarding excellence and hard work.

The Post-graduate programmes of the department have, like the gravitational force, pulled students from all over the country. This is as a result of reputation earned through dedication to the maintenance of peace and mutual respect among the staff and constituted student authority.

The Department of Music produces an academic journal: AWKA JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN MUSIC AND THE ARTS (AJRMA). We have remained committed and consistent in this part of our pursuit of musical arts excellence in theory and practice.

In other Departments, they may call what they do “WORK”; what we do here is “LIVING OUR NORMAL LIVES.” We live, perform, create, theorize, teach and enjoy what we do – MUSIC. Once again, welcome to the UNIZIK Great Department of Music.