MA: Music

Master of Arts in Music (MA) Overview

The Master of Arts (MA) degree program in music has emphases in composition, musicology/ethnomusicology, or performance practice, and integrates studies in performance, composition/analysis, and research.

The program seeks to maintain a balance of skills and interests and to encourage a diversity of approaches among its graduate students. In consultation with a faculty adviser, the student pursues a two-year course of studies culminating in a final project that combines an original composition, written thesis, or essay with a related public performance or lecture recital. The student’s role in the performance may range from that of a performer or conductor to that of a coach (of original compositions or a selected repertoire).

The curriculum includes courses in research methods, analysis, composition, and performance practices in Western music from the Renaissance to the 21st century and in the musics of India, Latin America, and Asia. Graduate students have completed diverse final projects: theses in non-Western performance practice include “Continuity and Change in the Learning of Balinese Gender Wayang” and “Classification and Analysis of Rhythm and Harmony in Flamenco Guitar”; theses in Western performance practice include “Early Scottish Keyboard Music: William Kinloch. A Critical Edition” and “Piano Jewels of Alberto Ginastera: Performance Practice through Analysis in ‘Danzas argentinas’  and “‘Twelve American Preludes’ ”; theses in composition include “Cantigas Das Folhas” (composition) and “Atom Turning in the Sun of Eternity” (composition).

The faculty consists of 15 regular research professors active in scholarship and performance, 5 adjunct faculty, and 21 performing artists who provide individual instruction in applied music. Working with faculty in small seminars, independent studies, and performance-thesis preparations, students develop multiple skills and competence in several musical traditions while mastering materials in their areas of specialization. Graduates of the MA program have become successful candidates for doctoral programs, academic positions, and other technical and professional careers in music.

Learning Outcomes

MA graduates will demonstrate:

• Mastery of the creation and performance of compositions
• Mastery of techniques of musical composition
• Mastery of critical and analytic thinking about musical language
• Mastery of critical thinking about music’s cultural context
• Mastery of oral and written communication skills about music
• Independent research skills

For more detailed information regarding course requirements, please reference the resources linked below:

• Music Department Graduate Student Handbook
• General Catalog – MA Course Requirements

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