Music Ph.D. with a concentration in Composition

Program Overview

Music Ph.D. with a concentration in Composition

Program Overview

The graduate Composition program at the University of North Texas is one of the largest and most diverse in the nation, with 70 composition students and six faculty composers representing a wide range of compositional aesthetics and approaches. The program integrates state-of-the-art music technology with acoustic composition within the curriculum, providing both artistic flexibility and academic rigor.

Program Details

• Degree Type: Doctoral Degree
• Format: On Campus
• Estimated Time to Complete: 2-3 years
• Credit Hours: 60 (with prior M.S.), 90 (with prior B.S.)

Program Highlights

• The weekly Music Now forum encourages the exchange of ideas and information about the creation, performance, and understanding of recent music.
• The Composers Forum student organization brings new student works to the public's attention, coordinating performances of UNT composers' works on and off campus.
• The division has access to a national network of professional composers through the Society of Composers, Inc. and an institutional membership to the American Composers Forum.
• The Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia (CEMI) provides a unique environment to explore time-based arts and is internationally renowned for its long history of innovation, particularly in electroacoustic music.

Marketable Skills

• Pedagogical practices
• Music editing, copying, transcribing, and arranging
• Public event management
• Book/journal editing, creating, and promoting
• Advanced data collection, analysis, and interpretation

Career Opportunities

Alumni of the program have achieved national and international success, enjoying careers as university professors, commercial and media composers, arrangers, and arts administrators.

Courses

• Topics in Computer Music (3 hrs)
• Contemporary Notation and Performance Practices (3 hrs)
• Topics in Composition (3 hrs)
• Topics in Contemporary Music (3 hrs)
• Intermedia Performance Arts (2 hrs)
• Composition Seminar (3 hrs)

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The Music Composition Ph.D. program at the University of North Texas is a comprehensive program designed to refine composition skills and prepare students for careers as professional composers. It is one of the largest and most diverse composition programs in the nation, with 70 composition students and six faculty composers representing a wide range of compositional aesthetics. The program integrates state-of-the-art music technology with acoustic composition, providing artistic flexibility and academic rigor.

Objectives:

• Refine composition skills
• Develop a personal compositional voice
• Prepare for a career as a professional composer

Program Description:

• The program is on-campus and typically takes 2-3 years to complete.
• It requires 60 credit hours for students with a prior Master's degree and 90 credit hours for students with a prior Bachelor's degree.
• The program features a diverse faculty representing a wide range of compositional aesthetics.
• It integrates state-of-the-art music technology with acoustic composition.
• Students have access to a national network of professional composers through the Society of Composers, Inc. and the American Composers Forum.
• The program offers numerous performance opportunities, including the Spectrum concert series.

Teaching:

• The program features a diverse faculty representing a wide range of compositional aesthetics.
• Students, faculty members, guests, and collaborators from a variety of disciplines engage in research, creation, and performances in CEMI's four production studios and the Merrill Ellis Intermedia Theater.

Careers:

• Alumni of the program have achieved national and international success.
• They enjoy careers as university professors, commercial and media composers, arrangers, and arts administrators.

Other:

• The college is a vital component to the region's arts community, presenting more than 1,000 formal and informal concerts annually.
• Its facilities include more than 300 practice rooms, seven performance halls, numerous classrooms and rehearsal rooms, and computer labs.
• The program offers a variety of courses, including:
• Topics in Computer Music
• Contemporary Notation and Performance Practices
• Topics in Composition
• Topics in Contemporary Music
• Intermedia Performance Arts
• Composition Seminar