Composition
Master of Arts (MA) in Composition
The master of arts in composition offers intensive study through courses and lessons in composition and orchestration while customizing your studies with a variety of supplemental course selections.
Composition students receive individual lessons and participate in group seminars, and both the School of Music and the Twin Cities offer a wide range of new music performance opportunities. The New Music Ensemble provides ongoing interaction between composition and performance students. Composition faculty represent national and international profiles in a variety of media and seek to nurture students’ original creative interests and knowledge.
Coursework or other documentation of competence in counterpoint, orchestration, and music technology. If any/all of these are missing, they will not preclude admission, but the requirements must be fulfilled during matriculation.
For your MA, you will be expected to meet the following requirements:
- 12 credits of composition lessons
- 9 credits in Creative Studies and Media, including 3 credits in Music Information Technology
- 6 credits of music theory and musicology/ethnomusicology courses
- 2 credits in ensembles
- 3 credits from outside the School of Music related to your course of study
- Knowledge in special research skills or reading knowledge in at least one language outside of English
- Completion of one or two projects during the final semester of composition lessons
- 45 minutes of music created while enrolled in the MA program
- Final oral examination