{"id":2501804,"date":"2026-07-14T16:17:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T16:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2501804"},"modified":"2026-07-14T16:17:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T16:17:14","slug":"mercer-launches-new-music-degree-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/mercer-launches-new-music-degree-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercer launches new music degree programs"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Townsend School of Music Dean Dr. Gary Gerber. Photo by Matt Odom for Macon Magazine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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Editor\u2019s note: This story was originally published in the June\/July 2026 issue of Macon Magazine. Read it here.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Mercer University is launching two new degree programs focused on the modern music industry from Townsend School of Music, expanding its offerings in partnership with Mercer Music at Capricorn and opportunities at the newly acquired Robins Financial Capitol Theatre and The Piedmont Grand Opera House.<\/p>\n

Beginning in fall 2026, students can enroll in these new undergraduate degree pathways, earning either a Bachelor of Science in music business or a Bachelor of Music in music production. Both programs will combine traditional music study with hands-on industry experience at Capricorn\u2019s recording studios and production facilities and gain live concert experience at theatrical venues in downtown Macon.<\/p>\n

Townsend School of Music Dean Dr. Gary G. Gerber said the programs grew naturally out of Mercer\u2019s investment in historic Capricorn Sound Studios, which, after decades of the building being unoccupied, reopened in 2019 as a recording studio, museum, business incubator and educational space.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis building down here at Capricorn was built for multiple reasons, but one of the reasons was for Mercer to use it as an educational space. That\u2019s always been the vision,\u201d Dr. Gerber said. \u201cIt\u2019s used by the music community and for the public as the incubator, as a museum, as a working studio, but now it\u2019s actually fulfilling the educational mission that it was originally repurposed for.\u201d<\/p>\n

The music business program is designed for students interested in the management and business side of the music industry. The program includes 30 credit hours through Mercer\u2019s School of Business, blending music coursework with classes in entrepreneurship, management and business operations.<\/p>\n

Students in the music production program will also complete foundational music courses and join applied lessons and ensembles while taking 21 credit hours in music production. Courses will be taught using Capricorn\u2019s studios, classrooms and digital audio workstation labs.<\/p>\n

These degree pathways are geared toward students who are passionate about music but may not see themselves primarily as performers. The degree combines musicianship courses with production and industry training, along with business courses intended to broaden students\u2019 understanding of the music industry.<\/p>\n

According to Dr. Gerber, music production students will complete coursework designed to provide \u201creal world experiences,\u201d including a senior-year internship. Students will have the opportunity to observe and intern at The Grand and The Capitol as \u201clive labs,\u201d putting themselves in the action at venues that have hosted marquee names such as Country Music Hall of Fame artist Emmylou Harris or multi-Grammy Award-winning indie singer-songwriter Phoebe Bridgers<\/a> in 2026<\/p>\n

Both degree tracks will give students access to Capricorn\u2019s working studio environment, where they will be able to interact with professional engineers, producers and recording artists.<\/p>\n

Dr. Gerber said that connection to a commercial studio environment is one of the strongest aspects of the new programs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most exciting thing is using the facilities at Capricorn because it\u2019s kind of getting the best of both worlds,\u201d he said. \u201cA student has the undergrad experience of a degree with everything that happens on the main campus and the music building but also being able to come downtown to Capricorn to use the tools and lab here and then the actual recording studios being available for their degree.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd to be able to have internships and work alongside a working studio, that\u2019s a game changer for us to drive great student outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The programs recently received approval through the National Association of Schools of Music, the accrediting organization for music schools, as well as approval through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.<\/p>\n

Dr. Gerber said Mercer has also hired a new faculty member to lead the programs, Dr. Sean Gehricke.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a new professor who is going to head up all this, and he has been out in Los Angeles for the last 16 years. He has been in the industry and has taught at Chapman University,\u201d Dr. Gerber said. \u201cSo we have someone with some really interesting experiences to teach the courses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mercer officials believe the programs could help prepare students for careers within Georgia\u2019s growing entertainment industry, particularly as film, television and music production continue expanding in Atlanta and across the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of those things where hopefully our graduates will get an understanding of the music industry side of it so that they can stay in Georgia and actually be employed,\u201d Dr. Gerber said.<\/p>\n

The University has already seen early interest in the programs ahead of their launch. Dr. Gerber said that more than a dozen students have applied so far for the inaugural class.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really haven\u2019t done a whole lot of advertising for it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a little bit on social media and things like that and word of mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mercer Music at Capricorn opened in downtown Macon as part of a larger effort to preserve and expand the legacy of Capricorn Records, the historic label associated with Southern rock acts like The Allman Brothers Band, Marshall Tucker Band and Wet Willie. The facility now houses recording studios, educational spaces, offices and artist development programs.<\/p>\n

For more information about the new degree programs, Mercer directs prospective students to contact Dr. Gerber through the Townsend School of Music.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source den.mercer.edu \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Townsend School of Music Dean Dr. Gary Gerber. Photo by Matt Odom for Macon Magazine Editor\u2019s note: This story was originally published in the June\/July 2026 issue of Macon Magazine. Read it here. Mercer University is launching two new degree programs focused on the modern music industry from Townsend School of Music, expanding its offerings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2501805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2501804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Mercer-launches-new-music-degree-programs.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2501804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2501804"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2501804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2501806,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2501804\/revisions\/2501806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2501805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2501804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2501804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2501804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}