Music has been part of the Wesleyan University experience since the early days of the institution. Known as a "singing college," Wesleyan inherited a tradition of music from the hymnody of its Methodist roots (see David B. Potts's ). The first music performances at the university were organized by volunteers and sponsored by groups such as the Middlesex Musical Association. Beginning in the 1840s, glee clubs were created for special occasions, and in 1862 Wesleyan singers had their first public tour. In 1882 the university hired a professional musician as glee club coach, and the group gave standing-room-only public appearances, including an 1888 concert at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. From the 1880s on, undergraduate students as well as alumni composed songs; these were collected in the Wesleyan Song Book, first published in 1901. Weekly sings took place on the chapel steps beginning in about 1901, and in about 1913 the university began offering a small stipend to students who participated in the chapel choir.

During the 1920s, the music program at Wesleyan became more formalized. In 1921, the Music and Dramatics Board was created to supervise musical and dramatic organizations and arrange concerts and trips. The university also offered its first course work in music. In the academic year 1925/26, Hugh L. Smith (class of 1915), an assistant professor in the Department of Romance Languages, offered a course on the history and appreciation of music. In 1928/29, courses in dramatic music and harmony were added. Then, in 1929, alumnus John Spencer Camp (class of 1878) donated a large sum to set up a chair of music at the university. Joseph Stephen Daltry was appointed to the newly endowed chair, and the Music Department was established.

The music program at Wesleyan continued to expand over the years. By the late 1940s, two professors--Joseph Daltry and George McManus--were offering about ten courses a year. In 1949, Richard Winslow (class of 1940) joined the staff. By the mid-1950s, singers performed not only with the Chapel Choir and Glee Club but also with the Choral Society, a male quartet called the Jibers, and a group of eight or nine called the Cardinals. The Wesleyan Band performed at football games and various campus affairs, and a woodwind and brass ensemble played several recitals a year. The Music Department, at that time housed in Judd Hall, had several sound-proof studios and an extensive collection of phonograph records. By the late 1960s, musical opportunities at the university included private lessons; the Wesleyan University concert series; the college orchestra, a "town-gown" organization; the Wesleyan String Quartet; and the Collegium Musicum, which performed medieval and Renaissance music.

A significant development in the music program that occurred around the middle of the twentieth century was the introduction of the study of music "as a universal phenomenon beyond the confines of Western European tradition" (Wesleyan University Bulletin, 1956/57). In 1956/57, associate professor David McAllester, an anthropologist whose specialty was the culture and music of the Navajo, first offered Music 31, Ethnic and Folk Music, in addition to the anthropology courses he taught in the Department of Psychology. In 1961, McAllester teamed up with Robert E. Brown, a specialist in the music of India, to teach classes in the university's new World Music Program. McAllester and Richard Winslow proposed an advanced program of study, and in 1966 the department began offering a doctorate in ethnomusicology in addition to undergraduate and master's degrees. By the 1970s, courses taught by resident and visiting members of the department's faculty covered Western classical, Afro-American, South Indian, North Indian, and Japanese music; the 1970/71 catalog listed some thirty-two courses and seminars in non-Western music. Study groups were organized focusing on the music of South India, Japan, Persia, Korea, and the Javanese gamelan.

In 1973, Wesleyan opened its Center for the Arts, a complex of eleven buildings housing undergraduate programs in art and art history, dance, theater, and music, as well as the graduate program in ethnomusicology. The Center comprises classrooms, galleries, and studios, and its music facilities include a recording studio, a computer and experimental music studio, Crowell Concert Hall, and World Music Hall.

The Music Department currently provides course work and performing opportunities in music from around the world. More than sixty courses are offered. A number of activities--including a variety of chamber ensembles and ensembles in Asian, African, American, and European traditions--are available to students. Music facilities include a collection of instruments from many different cultures; a music-instrument manufacturing workshop; a scores and recordings collection; and a world music archives. An ongoing departmental colloquium presents lectures on issues in the world of music by students, faculty, and outside speakers. In addition, the department sponsors events such as concerts by world-renowned jazz artists, the Wesleyan World Percussion Festival (2000), New England Gamelan Weekend (2002), the Celtic Routes Festival (2003), and the annual Navaratri Festival.