A wide variety of performance opportunities await our students each year, with orchestras, bands, choirs and opera, jazz nonets and combos, small ensembles, and more.
A variety of programs and initiatives operate continuously or annually to enhance learning experiences and help students prepare for their future in music.
The MSU College of Music supports and challenges students, values innovation and creativity, and helps every community member achieve professional excellence.
Jack Budrow retired from the College of Music as professor of double bass and co-chair of the string area. He joined the MSU faculty in 2017. Professor Budrow joined the MSU faculty in 1996 and enjoyed a long and varied career in double bass performance and teaching. He was a member of the Houston Symphony and principal bass of the North Carolina Symphony, Santa Fe Opera and the American National Opera orchestras. A well-known teacher, his students have played in many leading symphony orchestras, including Atlanta, Charleston, Cincinnati, Chicago Civic, Florida Gulf Coast, Grand Rapids, Houston, San Antonio and San Francisco, as well as in the Michigan Opera and the Army Band. Internationally, he placed students in the Oslo Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Munich Radio Orchestra, Heidelberg Symphony, and the Caracas Symphony. During his time at MSU, he taught at the Interlochen Center for the Arts during summers and served on the board of directors of the International Society of Double Bassists. He was awarded the 2014 String Teacher of the Year in the State of Michigan by the American String Teachers Association. A presenter of master classes throughout the United States, Budrow received his BM from Bowling Green State University. Dr. Budrow passed away in 2024.