南京艺术学院音乐学院是我国办学历史最悠久的高等音乐教育机构之一。南艺前身“上海美专”的音乐教育最早起源于1921年与上海专科师范学校联合举办的暑期学校音乐组及1921年创办的高等师范科，标志着音乐人才培养正式进入“上海美专”教学体系。1925年，上海美专创设音乐系，首任系主任刘质平，音乐学科独立建制发展，丰子恺、赵梅伯、程懋筠等先后担任系主任。1952年与山东大学艺术系音乐科合并成立华东艺术专科学校音乐系，址于无锡。1958年迁址南京丁家桥，同年更名为南京艺术专科学校音乐科，次年更名为南京艺术学院音乐系，1999年改为现名。
音乐家郑觐文、刘惠佐、吴梦非、潘伯英、张湘眉、薛瑶卿、程桂生、柳尧章、陈道安、黄自、吴伯超、华文宪、应尚能、丁善德、戴粹伦、胡然、贺绿汀、蔡绍序、邓尔敬、窦立勋、卫仲乐、朱起东等曾在美专担任或兼任教职。新中国成立后，歌唱家黄友葵、琵琶演奏家程午加、音乐家甘涛、二胡演奏家瞿安华、马友德、古琴演奏家刘少椿、成公亮、小提琴教育家盛雪、钢琴演奏家叶惠芳、指挥家石中光、作曲家徐振民、王建民、音乐美学家茅原、刘承华、民族音乐学家高厚永、伍国栋、音乐学家居其宏、管建华等一大批在中国音乐发展历程中具有重要影响力的著名专家学者曾在这里辛勤耕耘，培养了大批音乐创作、表演、理论研究及应用型专业人才。
历经百年发展，音乐学院已具备雄厚的办学实力和学科基础，现有教职工110余人，其中专任教师80余人。拥有音乐学、作曲与作曲技术理论、音乐表演、音乐教育四大专业为基础的完整音乐学院建制，下设音乐学系、东方音乐系、作曲指挥系、管弦系、民乐系、声乐系、键盘系、音乐教育系、音乐剧系、基本乐科教研室等系科及音乐学研究所、民族音乐学与世界音乐研究中心、当代音乐与歌剧音乐剧研究中心、巴赫艺术中心、民族声乐研究中心、江南丝竹研究中心、琴学研究中心等学术研究机构。1978年被教育部确定为首批硕士研究生学位授权单位；2003年获批音乐学（二级学科）博士学位授权单位；2008年获批音乐学（二级学科）博士后科研流动站。2011年升格为音乐与舞蹈学一级学科博士、硕士学位授权单位；2012年获批音乐与舞蹈学一级学科博士后科研流动站。2016年，在教育部组织的全国高校第四轮学科评估中排名“A-”。
音乐学专业现为国家一流专业、江苏省品牌专业、江苏省“十一五”“十二五”重点学科、江苏高校优势学科一、二、三期建设项目，获教育部“国家高等学校特色专业（建设点）”；作曲与作曲技术理论专业现为国家一流专业、江苏省特色专业；音乐表演（中国乐器演奏）为江苏省品牌专业。现有音乐美学、中国传统音乐美学、民族音乐学/音乐人类学、中国音乐史、作曲与作曲技术理论、音乐分析、音乐教育、民族器乐表演研究等方向博士生导师10余人，音乐学理论、音乐表演等方向硕士生导师50余人。学院师生在国家级“金钟奖”“文华奖”等国内外权威专业赛事中获得金银铜奖数十项，创作各类音乐作品百余部，举办各类音乐会千余场；出版各类音乐专著和编、译著百余部，发表各类学术论文、译文、报告千余篇；承担各类国家级、部省级科研项目数十项，获得国家级、部省级奖励数十项，国家级、部省级教学成果奖数十项。
音乐学院在师资结构、学科建设、人才培养、科研创作、社会服务等方面形成了鲜明优势和地域特色，在全国同类型院校、学科或专业领域享有较高声誉。我们的目标是以面向世界、面向人类未来的视野和胸襟，建设弘扬中国文化精神、追求德艺双馨、与时代同步发展的国内一流、国际知名音乐学院。
The School of Music of Nanjing University of the Arts (NUA) is one of China's oldest higher music education institutions. In 1921, Shanghai College of Fine Arts, the predecessor of NUA, opened a six-week summer music training class for art teachers, marking the official incorporation of music professional training into the College's teaching system. In 1925, Shanghai College of Fine Arts established the Department of Music with Zhiping Liu as the first department dean. Music subjects are developing independently. Zikai Feng, Bomei Zhao, and Maoyun Cheng all have been department deans. In 1952, the Department of Music of East China Institution of the Arts was founded in Wuxi, after the Department of Music of Shanghai College of Fine Arts merged with the Music Major of the Department of Art, Shandong University. In 1958, the department moved to Dingjiaqiao of Nanjing. In the next year, it was renamed the Department of Music of NUA. In 1999, it was named the School of Music of NUA.
Many distinguished musicians have been taught at Shanghai College of Fine Arts, including Jinwen Zheng, Huizuo Liu, Mengfei Wu, Boying Pan, Xiangmei Zhang, Yaoqing Xue, Guisheng Cheng, YaoZhang Liu, Dao’an Chen, Zi Huang, Bochao Wu, Wenxian Hua, Shangneng Ying, Shande Ding, Cuilun Dai, Ran Hu, Luting He, Shaoxu Cai, Erjing Deng, Lixun Dou, Zhongle Wei, and Qidong Zhu. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, a large number of influential experts have been tutoring in the school including Youkui Huang (singer), Wujia Cheng (pipa performer), Tao Gan (musician), Anhua Qu (erhu performer), Youde Ma (erhu performer), Shaochun (guqin performer), Gongliang Cheng (guqin performer), Xue Sheng (violin educator), Huifang Ye (piano performer), Zhongguang Shi (conductor), Zhenmin Xu (composer), Jianmin Wang (composer), Yuan Mao (musical aesthete), Chenghua Liu (musical aesthete), Houyong Gao (folk musicologist), Guodong Wu (folk musicologist), Qihong Ju (musicologist), and Jianhua Guan (musicologist). They have cultivated a large number of professional talents in musical creation, performance, theoretical research, and practical application.
In the course of over one hundred years of development, the School of Music has built a solid foundation of education. It now employs over 110 staff members, of which over 80 are full-time teachers. The School of Music has a complete college structure building on four majors: Musicology, Composition and Compositional Theory, Music Performance, and Music Education. It has Musicology Department, Oriental Music Department, Composition Department, Orchestral Instruments Department, Traditional Chinese Instruments Department, Vocal Music Department, Piano Department, Music Education Department, Musical Department, the Institute of Musicology, Ethnomusicology and World Music Research Center, Contemporary Music and Opera-Musical Research Center, Bach Art Center, National Vocal Music Research Center, Bamboo Instruments of Jiang Nan Research Center, and Guqin Research Center. In 1978, the School of Music was included in the first batch of Master’s degree conferring institutions by the Ministry of Education. In 2003, it was recognised as a Doctor’s degree conferring institution of Musicology (secondary discipline). In 2008, it was allowed to establish a post-doctoral research station in Musicology (a secondary discipline). In 2011, the School of Music was ungraded to be a Master’s and Doctor’s degree conferring institution of Music and Dance Studies (first-level discipline). In 2012, it was allowed to establish a post-doctoral research station for Music and Dance Studies (first-level discipline). In 2016, it ranked A- in the fourth round of discipline evaluation of national universities organized by the Ministry of Education.
Musicology has been recognised as the National First-class Major, the Higher Education Institution Star Major of Jiangsu Province, and the Jiangsu Province 11th and 12th Five-Year Plans” Key Major in Higher Education Institutions. It has been selected in the construction project of the first, second, and third batches of the Higher Education Institution Featured Major of Jiangsu Province and has been recognised as the National Higher Education Institution Featured Major (construction site). Composition and Compositional Theory has been recognised as the National First-class Major and the Higher Education Institution Featured Major of Jiangsu Province. Music Performance (Chinese Traditional Musical Instruments) is the Higher Education Institution Star Major of Jiangsu Province. The School of Music has over 10 doctoral supervisors in Music Aesthetics, Chinese Traditional Music Aesthetics, Ethnomusicology, Chinese Music History, Composition and Compositional Theory, Musical Analysis, Music Education, and Traditional Chinese Instruments Performance Research. It also has over 50 postgraduate supervisors in Musicology Theory and Music Performance. Faculty members and students of the School have won over 10 medals in various domestic and international competitions, such as the Chinese Golden Bell Award and the Wenhua Award, created over 100 musical works, and held at least 1,000 concerts of different types. They have published over 100 music-related monographs and more than 1,000 papers, translations, and reports, undertaken over 10 national and provincial research projects, won over 10 national and provincial awards and obtained over 10 national and provincial educational awards.
The School of Music has established distinctive advantages and regional characteristics in terms of teacher structure, disciplinary construction, talent training, scientific research and creation, social services, etc., and enjoys a high reputation among the same type of colleges, disciplines or professional fields across the country. Our goal is to strive to build a first-class music school in China and around the world with the spirit of Chinese culture, with an outstanding level of professional skills and morality, a vision of the world and the future, and develop in step with the times.