Department of Music Education

The Department of Music Education, within the Department of Fine Arts Education of the Faculty of Education at Pamukkale University, was founded in 1995 and began undergraduate education in the 1995-1996 academic year with 5 instructors and 20 students. In the 1997-1998 academic year, a master's program was also opened, and graduate education began. Over the 10 years following its establishment, it expanded its staff to 16 instructors and 135 undergraduate students, and to date has produced nearly 750 graduates. In 2006, on the occasion of the department's 10th anniversary, the "National Music Education Symposium" — opened with a concert given by the artist Hakan Aysev and organized together with TÜBİTAK and Pamukkale University — hosted academics from 25 universities.

Initially housed in a prefabricated building on the İncilipınar campus, the department began carrying out its educational services in 2010 in its "new building" on the Kınıklı campus — completed that year and designed according to the needs of the field of music education. In 2017, Pamukkale University's "1st International Art Education Symposium", conducted jointly with the Department of Art (Painting) Education under the theme of art education for a sustainable future, was held. In the 2019-2020 academic year, a "doctoral program" was opened and student admission began.

The language of instruction in the undergraduate and graduate programs is Turkish; the duration of study is 4 years for the undergraduate program, 2 years for the thesis-based master's program, and 4 years for the doctoral program. Education is offered at the undergraduate and graduate levels in instrument training, voice training, and music theory. The undergraduate program includes compulsory and elective courses covering nearly all dimensions of music, made up of "Field Education", "Professional Knowledge", and "General Culture" courses. Within the scope of the "Erasmus and Farabi programs", domestic and international student and staff exchange programs are also actively maintained.

With ensembles formed by its undergraduate students — such as the PAÜ Polyphonic Choir, the PAÜ Youth Chamber Orchestra, the PAÜ Turkish Folk Music Choir, and the PAÜ Turkish Art Music Choir — and through the projects and works prepared by its instructors, the Department of Music Education has taken part in many musical events both within and outside the institution and has received awards. Its fundamental aim is, through its undergraduate and graduate programs, to contribute both to academic life and to the art and music education institutions in national and international circles, and to support the development of Turkish musical life.

As of the 2025-2026 academic year, a total of 16 instructors — 4 Professors, 4 Assistant Professors, 6 Lecturers, and 2 Research Assistants — work in the Department of Music Education, which continues its activities with 135 undergraduate students.

Department of Music Education

A view of the Department after moving to its new building (2021)

Department of Music Education

A view of the Department looking down from the 3rd floor (2012)

Hasan Kasapoğlu Culture Center

A view from the PAÜ Youth Chamber Orchestra concert (2016)