The Department of Music at Cornell provides opportunities for the study and performance of music under the guidance of a distinguished faculty within the broader framework of a B.A. degree in the College of Arts and Sciences, or as part of a degree in another college. The program is designed to develop an increased understanding of music that may already be familiar but also to allow explorations of music that may be less well known. The Department of Music is also renown for research and scholarship in music, represented by three graduate programs: musicology (Ph.D.), composition (D.M.A), and critical performance (D.M.A).

In addition to enjoying world-class facilities, such as the Sidney Cox Library, Bailey Performance Hall, and the Electroacoustic Music Center, students can study subjects ranging from 18th-century and 21st-century performance practices to Asian music, jazz, rock, and composition. Hundreds of students participate in large performing ensembles such as orchestras, wind ensembles, gamelan, jazz ensembles, glee club and chorus, as well as many more chamber ensembles.