A new degree at Canadian University College in Lacombe this fall will be music to some student’s ears.

The new program is a bachelor of music, which will allow students to hone their performance skills.

Prior to this, the school had a bachelor of arts program in music and a bachelor of education with a focus in music.

“This (new degree program) is very specifically focused on those who want to go into music professionally,” said Andrea Luxton, CUC president.

“I think it will be excellent because some of the students really see themselves as wanting to go into music as performance and not necessarily tied to another career because music is their life. This will make it possible for those students to focus even more on their music skills.”

The four-year degree will allow students to focus on their keyboard, vocal or other instrumental skills.

Luxton said she believes music is one of the strengths at the school, with a choir — which has just returned from Beijing after being invited by Carnegie Hall to sing in a mass choir leading up to the Olympics — and also an orchestra.

She said in the past there have been anywhere from 12 to 15 bachelor of arts music majors, but a large number of the 400 students who attend the university college are involved in either the choir or the orchestra.

“So we feel that we have real strengths in music so this has really just put the icing on the cake,” Luxton said.

The bachelor of music degree was approved recently and is one of 30 degrees offered at the school. Luxton said she doesn’t expect it will add a lot to student numbers this fall, but will have a significant effect on numbers in 2009.

The Canadian University College in Lacombe celebrated its 100th anniversary last year. The Seventh-day Adventist school was given full recognition in the 1990s and is one of six university colleges in the province.

Contact Stacy O’Brien at sobrien@reddeeradvocate.com