The Bachelor of Music in Music Composition offers students a well-rounded curriculum that provides foundational training in the theories, contexts, and practice of contemporary music. At the center of the BMus in Music Composition is a sequence of four courses that combine composition, orchestration, counterpoint, and digital music production in a holistic project-based approach, designed to help composers succeed in the 21st century. The program focuses extensively on current compositional techniques, with special emphasis on methods utilized by concert music composers since 1970. Working in tight integration with the Music Composition for the Screen MFA program, the BMus in Music Composition features the MFA program’s Composers in Residence as part of their advanced composition classes.

As a result of successfully completing program requirements, students should be able to:

• read, notate, hear, perform, and analyze music at an advanced musicianship level;
• demonstrate performance and improvisational skills on an instrument or voice;
• demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics, performance practices, and historical context of a diverse range of musical styles and genres;
• critically assess music performances;
• demonstrate advanced knowledge and skill in composition, improvisation, and digital music production in order to create and produce original music;
• demonstrate a capacity to produce a portfolio of original music culminating in a final media product or live performance experience; and
• demonstrate the acumen required to prepare a viable business plan for a career in music or a career in music composition or production.