New Students

Undergraduate students interested in declaring composition as a major will audition on their concentration instrument or voice during one of the scheduled audition dates; application and audition procedures are available on the College of Music website. There is no portfolio requirement for new undergraduate composition students. Once accepted to the College of Music, prospective composition majors must meet with the academic advisor during one of the summer orientation sessions prior to admission. Any student accepted to the College of Music may initiate studies in the undergraduate composition program through open enrollment in Beginning Composition I-II (MUCP 1180-1190); prospective composition majors will be admitted to the Bachelor of Arts degree in Music, and may be considered for the Bachelor of Music degree in Composition once they have met the following requirements:

1. Completion of MUCP 1180-1190 with no grade lower than B.
2. Completion of MUTH 1400-1410 and 1500-1510 with no grade lower than B.
3. Successful completion of the Freshman Barrier Examination.
4. Acceptance at the concentration level on an instrument or voice.
5. Continuous enrollment in a music laboratory.
6. Regular attendance at composition division events, including Music Now.
7. Consent of the composition faculty.

Students who meet all of the above requirements may be coded as "Music Composition" (MUCP), but are considered provisional composition majors until they have successfully completed the undergraduate composition jury at the end of the sophomore year.

Transfer Students

Students transferring from other undergraduate music programs must meet the same requirements as new and continuing composition students in order to qualify for the composition major. Because the Bachelor of Music degree in composition requires eight sequential semesters of composition courses/lessons (which are only offered during the fall and spring semesters), transfer students are strongly encouraged to consider the Bachelor of Arts degree in Music rather than the Bachelor of Music degree in Composition. This option typically allows the transfer student to graduate in a timely manner while still being able to take advantage of all available composition course offerings. Please contact the Office for Academic Advising in Music for further information about this option.

Required course work for transfer students interested in the Bachelor of Music degree in Composition will be determined in consultation with the academic advisor and composition division chair. Transfer students with at least two semesters of college-level composition courses who place into MUTH 2400-2410 or higher may be eligible for Intermediate Composition (MUCP 2180-2190). Consideration for Intermediate Composition is based upon the following criteria:

1. Acceptance to the College of Music at the concentration level on an instrument or voice.
2. Enrollment in MUTH 2400-2410 or higher; no grade lower than B in any transferred theory courses will be accepted.
3. Submission of a completed application and portfolio to the College of Music Admissions Office. The portfolio must be submitted electronically with the application and will include:
   1. At least three scores demonstrating a variety of compositional approaches and techniques.
   2. Recordings (on CD) of representative works, preferable corresponding to the enclosed scores. MIDI realizations may be submitted in exceptional cases.
   3. A complete list of works: title, medium, date composed, duration, and performance information (dates, locations, and performers) for each work, where applicable.
   4. Letter of recommendation from previous composition instructor.
4. Interview with the composition division chair.
5. Successful completion of the Freshman Barrier Examination.

At the discretion of the composition division chair, students who fulfill requirements 1-4 above but do not pass the Freshman Barrier Examination may enroll in Secondary Composition I (MUCP 2080) and audit the lecture portion of MUCP 1180 and/or 1190. As with entering freshmen, transfer students interested in declaring composition as a major will be admitted as Bachelor of Arts (BA) students until meeting the requirements outlined above.

To be considered for Advanced Composition I (MUCP 3180) or higher, transfer students with significant composition and theory experience who have met the above requirements may, upon recommendation of the composition division chair, petition to take a jury at the beginning of the semester. However, this is an extremely rare occurrence, and most students transferring during the junior or senior year are encouraged to pursue the Bachelor of Arts degree in Music.

Electronics Concentration*

Undergraduate applicants may audition with Electronics as their musical instrument concentration for the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Composition. The audition consists of the submission of a pre-screening portfolio as well as an on-campus audition.

The pre-screening portfolio will consist of a video (up to 7 minutes) and audio examples (up to 2 tracks, 5 minutes each) that demonstrate your use of technological tools in your creative process. The video and audio files will be submitted through the Acceptd application portal.

Faculty will evaluate the creative breadth and imagination as well as the technical skill of the pre-screening portfolios. Finalists will be invited to campus for a live audition.

Click here for more information about the live audition and tips about creating your pre-screening portfolio

*Electronics is a broad category of creating audio and audio/visual music using electronic devices including computing devices (computers/tablets/phones), electronic audio hardware (analog synthesizers/digital controllers), and audio/arts technology software (audio production/video production/music programming languages).