Its focus is the study of music, awarding baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degrees as part of the College of Arts and Science.

Alumni include singers Sheryl Crow and Neal Boyd, Canadian Brass founder Gene Watts, and jazz artist Mike Metheny.

Instruction as part of official curriculum began in 1885 with the founding of the Cadet Band at the suggestion of military science professor Enoch Crowder.

[10] That same year Pommer, along with German professor Hermann Almstedt and future University President Albert Ross Hill, formed the Zeta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (ΦΜΑ).

[16] Other dramatic changes occurred in 1924 as the Department of Music found a new home in Lathrop Hall, a re-purposed dormitory near Francis Quadrangle, and the university assumed responsibility for the Phi Mu Alpha Concert Series which had become too popular for the fraternity to manage.

[17][18][19] Outside of the concert series, famous Columbia ragtime pianist Blind Boone attended rehearsal and performed for the Cadet Band.

[22] In 1941, as women became increasingly involved in the department, they established an international music fraternity, Sigma Alpha Iota.

[28][29] In 1975, composition professor John Cheetham introduced a music appreciation course entitled "Jazz, Pop & Rock."

[30] Apart from the budding study of music history, composition, and jazz, faculty members established the Esterhazy String Quartet in 1968.

[31] Its brief existence included visits to the university by judges Vincent Persichetti, Lukas Foss, and Aaron Copland.

[32] The next year, Virgil Thomson premiered two compositions on campus as part of a symposium and series of concerts in Shaw's honor.

[34] Beginning in 1988, the Zeta Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia sponsored an annual jazz festival, drawing high school bands from across Missouri.

[31] By 1994 the department found itself in need of more space and a former Unitarian church adjacent to campus was acquired and dubbed the Fine Arts Annex.

[46] On April 8, 2018, ground was broken for a new School of Music Building, which includes new large ensemble rehearsal spaces, a recording studio, faculty offices and practice rooms.

[57] As well as meeting the general requirements for admission to the University of Missouri, undergraduate students must audition on their primary instrument.

[61][63] The first of these began with a tour of Brazil, and performance in the city of Belém by professors Eva Szekely, John McLeod, Carolyn Kenneson and Carleton Spotts; this led to the partnership with the Brazilian Fundação Carlos Gomes and continued with the State University of Londrina in 1998.

[69][70][71] In 2019, the Mizzou New Music Initiative announced a 2.5 million gift from the Sinquefields to go towards undergraduate scholarships and graduate assistants.

Across the street, the Fine Arts Building on Lowry Mall houses more faculty offices, classrooms, Whitmore Recital Hall, and Rhynsburger Theater.

The Missouri United Methodist Church, whose large Skinner pipe organ was acquired by former school Dean James Quarles, is occasionally utilized.

[54][91] Faculty ensembles include the Esterhazy Quartet, the Missouri Quintet (woodwinds), Mizzou Brass, and DRAX, a percussion/saxophone duo.

[96] The Mizzou International Composers Festival takes place as part of the New Music Initiative, and host yearly artist in residence, such as Alarm Will Sound.

The Zeta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (ΦΜΑ), a fraternity for men with an interest in music, was established in 1907.