Music
where every genre, from classical to hip hop, finds its voice
The UNC Music Department hits all the right notes as a vibrant intellectual and artistic community where every genre, from classical to hip hop, finds its voice. This major orchestrates a unique blend of performance, theory, cultural history, and entrepreneurship, allowing students to compose their own academic and creative journey. In the Music track, students will participate in the summer ensemble Ecco Chamber, dive into music theory and cultural history classes, immerse in musical improvisation, and tour UNC’s audio engineering facilities, beat lab, and world-class Music Library research archives. You’ll hear directly from accomplished UNC faculty and current students, as well as musical entrepreneurs who are making waves in the field. Whether you’re drawn to the stage, the studio, or the sound lab, you’ll explore career pathways that prove a music degree is anything but a one-hit wonder.
Instructor: Evan Harger
Prof. Harger (Assistant Professor of Music) is the conductor for the UNC Symphony Orchestra; an advocate for new music and living composers, Dr. Harger also serves as a Staff Conductor for Global Arts United festivals in Sofia, Bulgaria; Vienna, Austria; and São Paulo, Brazil. Additionally, he holds the position of Associate Conductor of the Newfound Chamber Winds (formerly known as the Maryland Chamber Winds), an ensemble made up of professional musicians from around the United States and Canada. Dr. Harger holds a D.M.A. in Orchestral Conducting from Michigan State University. At UNC, he also teaches courses in the history of rock music and courses in philosophy and music.
Guest lecturer: Pablo Vega
Pablo Vega is an audio engineer and composer based in Durham, North Carolina. Originally from Lima, Peru, he moved to Chapel Hill with his family in 1992, where his love for Carolina began. He earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2008, professional audio engineering certificates from Living Arts College and Berklee College of Music in 2013, and a Master of Music in Music Production from Berklee in 2025. He has worked professionally as a composer and audio engineer since 2009.
Pablo owns and operates The Workshop recording studio, is a member of the Collective at Sonark Media, and has composed and scored music for more than 20 video games, documentaries, films, and television shows. He belongs to ASCAP, the Audio Engineering Society, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, and is a voting member of the Recording Academy/GRAMMYs.
He records local artists, choirs, and orchestras and has worked on major televised productions, including the 2019 CBS Christmas Special with the SoundMirror team and the 2020 PBS New Year’s Eve special, United In Song: Celebrating The Resilience of America, featuring artists such as Patti LaBelle, Juanes, Joshua Bell, Renée Fleming, Josh Groban, Yo-Yo Ma, and Audra McDonald.
Guest Lecturer: Kerwin Young
Kerwin Young is a Teaching Assistant Professor, composer, and recording producer whose work spans Hip-Hop, jazz, classical, and popular music. As a member of Public Enemy’s production team, The Bomb Squad, he has collaborated with artists including Ice Cube, Janet Jackson, Busta Rhymes, and George Clinton. His film and television credits include Do the Right Thing, He Got Game, New York Undercover, and Euphoria.
Young has composed works for renowned orchestras, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and created The Five Elements, a Hip-Hop concerto commissioned in 2024. He also serves as a Performing Rights Associate for the international Next Level program, sharing his expertise in entrepreneurship and intellectual property. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music composition from the University of Missouri–Kansas City.