Applied Lessons and Courses

composition student looking closely at sheet music while in a studio class

Applied Lessons

Composition students study individually with faculty in weekly composition lessons centered on student’s creative work and supplemented with study of relevant topics assigned by the instructor.

Composition Courses

In addition to applied lessons, composers study topics germane to creating music and art in the 21st-century in small, focused courses and seminars taught by composition faculty.

Composition course topics include:

Screen Scoring – composing for film, television, and games
Real Time (Electronic Music) Performance
Projects in Computer Music
Music Preparation and Presentation (notation/engraving and topics in entrepreneurship)
Scoring for Orchestra and Band
Advanced Scoring for Orchestra and Band
Musical Symbiosis (course pairs composition and performance majors to create new works in close collaboration)
Graduate Seminars in various topics chosen by faculty

Composition Studio Class

Studio classes are led by faculty, students, and a variety of visiting composers and performers and help foster lively and serious discourse, complementing the composition curriculum. The composition studio class meets weekly on Fridays for an hour and a half. The class provides an open forum on topics raised by students and faculty, discussion of area business, and guest presentations relevant to music composition.