M.A. in Music
Study music at the graduate level
The Master of Arts in Music is a 32-unit graduate degree completed over 4 semesters of full-time study. It joins a shared seminar core, in analysis and post-tonal practice, the history and theory of jazz, conducting, interdisciplinary collaboration, entrepreneurship, and the social and ecological dimensions of music, with concentrated private study and ensemble work in your area of emphasis. The degree ends in a public capstone and a comprehensive examination.
Areas of emphasis
You declare one area of emphasis when you are admitted:
- Performance (Classical or Jazz). Concentrated applied study and ensemble work on your instrument or voice, in either the classical or the jazz track, building to a public capstone recital.
- Choral Conducting. Advanced conducting study and podium work with the Department's choral ensembles, building to a capstone conducting performance.
- Composition. A body of original acoustic and electroacoustic work, building to a public capstone lecture on your portfolio.
The degree at a glance
| Component | Units |
|---|---|
| Graduate seminars (8 courses) | 17 |
| Applied study (4 semesters) | 8 |
| Ensemble (4 semesters) | 4 |
| Capstone (MUS 693) | 3 |
| Total | 32 |
The comprehensive examination is a degree requirement and carries no units.
A typical path
The standard sequence runs 8 units a semester across 4 semesters. Applied study and ensemble recur every semester, and the capstone begins in the second.
| Semester | Courses |
|---|---|
| First (8 units) | MUS 601 Analysis of Musical Styles: Birth and Death of Tonality (2), MUS 603 Entrepreneurship in the Arts (3), applied lessons (2), ensemble (1) |
| Second (8 units) | MUS 605 History and Theory of Jazz (2), MUS 606 Interdisciplinary Collaboration in Music (2), applied lessons (2), ensemble (1), MUS 693 Capstone (1) |
| Third (8 units) | MUS 602 Analysis of Musical Styles: Post-Tonality and Beyond (2), MUS 630 Advanced Conducting (2), applied lessons (2), ensemble (1), MUS 693 Capstone (1) |
| Fourth (8 units) | MUS 631 Teaching Music in Higher Education (2), MUS 604 Sounding Justice: Unveiling the Ecological and Social Dimensions of Music (2), applied lessons (2), ensemble (1), MUS 693 Capstone (1) |
Applied lessons (MUS 661–668) are taken at the graduate Level 6, and an ensemble runs concurrently each term.
Capstone and comprehensive examination
The degree ends in two culminating requirements. The capstone (MUS 693) is the public event your applied study builds toward: a recital for performers, a conducting performance for choral conducting students, or a public lecture for composers, with a written paper alongside. The comprehensive examination is oral, taken in your final semester before the area faculty and the Graduate Coordinator, and ranges across your area of emphasis and the seminar core.
Applying without a music degree
A bachelor's degree in music is the usual preparation for the M.A., and we strongly encourage it, though it is not a strict requirement. We review applicants without one case by case, and self-taught musicians have entered the program and completed it successfully.
Where a background has gaps, most often in theory and analysis or in conducting, we may ask you to take a few undergraduate courses alongside the graduate sequence to build the foundation the degree assumes.
Where it leads
Graduates continue as performers, conductors, and composers, teach privately and at the college level, and move on to doctoral study.
Learn more
M.A. students may also earn the Single Subject Matter Preparation Certificate in Music alongside the degree. Several scholarships are open to graduate students, along with Graduate Teaching Associate and Instructional Student Assistant appointments. Every graduate student works with the Graduate Coordinator to plan the sequence. The Department is an accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM).
Applying without a music degree
A bachelor's degree in music is the usual preparation for the M.A., and we strongly encourage it, though it is not a strict requirement. We review applicants without one case by case, and self-taught musicians have entered the program and completed it successfully.
Where a background has gaps, most often in theory and analysis or in conducting, we may ask you to take a few undergraduate courses alongside the graduate sequence to build the foundation the degree assumes.