Master of Music Comp -- Generous Schools

College Majors Music Major
1

Hello everyone! I’m here for another round! Four years ago, this forum helped me find University of Hartford, where my child is now a senior with a full tuition music composition scholarship. Now they are applying to master’s programs. They have an extremely high GPA and have received a major award from the comp department, so it seems like they must be a competitive student. They have a list of close to a dozen schools and are trying to narrow the list down. Finances are a big issue, but a lot of websites are very unclear about what financial support options are possible. Please share with me the names of any schools that you know to be generous, along with details of their generosity. I will pass it on to my child.

My kid has fairly broad composition interests. They’ve done lots of electronic, small ensemble, and choral work. They are not particularly interested in band music, although they are currently completing a band piece for a score call.

Thank you to anyone who shares. I really appreciate this forum!

2
3

@PronghornD Where they apply for a Masters very much depends on whom they wish to study with and whom they’re looking for as peers. I feel finances should be an afterthought while they narrow down the list - as often there is full funding, if combined with a DMA or PhD program. Certainly they shouldn’t go anywhere which ends up unaffordable - but that will only be known after the acceptances and financial offers. The only exception would be the film/media music focused programs - which are expensive, but may lead to a lucrative career.

I imagine as a senior they now have a good sense of the kind of music they’re most interested in composing, and where they feel their creative bent would flourish best. If not, they may want to take some time off to feel sure of those answers before applying. There’s no harm in applying as an older student and no need to go directly to grad school. They might also want to look at international programs as a transitional experience.

4

Canada, and Europe or UK are the most affordable for master’s. McGill might be a good choice (good with electronics).

UNT might be good: " An interdisciplinary center within UNT’s Division of Composition Studies, the Center for Experimental Music & Intermedia (CEMI) provides a unique environment for the exploration of time-based arts and is internationally renowned for its long history of innovation, particularly in the realm of electroacoustic music. "

SUNY’s tend to be more affordable but I don’t know about the grad level and expenses are high. Yale School of Music is tuition free. Northwestern, UMichigan, UCSD, UChicago, Eastman, UVA, many others- all depends.
’
Otherwise, look at doctoral programs that include a master’s (some are terminal so you have the choice to continue). Those tend to be funded, whereas many master’s programs are not.

I don’t know much about merit aid at the grad level.

Has he been to any summer programs (COVID interfered for many)? Does he have an idea of who he would like to study with, or the prevailing aesthetic of a program (if there is one)?

Once fit and budget are taken into account, he might have a very short list. My kid applied to two schools, one affordable and one fully funded. Funding includes health insurance, at least in our experience, but often does not cover all living expenses.

What is his career goal? Does he want to do film scoring (USC might be the best), concert music, electronics, teach at a university, gig and teach? I have come to believe a student needs to be able to value the experience of the further degree regardless of career goal.

PM’ing you. Editing to add: teachers and peers should have good input!

5

@thumper1 do you know if the MM at Ithaca was but?

Masters in music program eliminated due to APP | The Ithacan

Just checked and it looks like they just have master’s in music ed and workshops Graduate Music Education (M.M. or M.S.) | School of Music, Theatre, and Dance | Ithaca College

6

That’s too bad…it was a good program.

7

The second article you linked is about masters programs that can be completed in three summers. The composition program never could be done that way.

It does sound like Ithaca is cutting programs, however…and that the grad programs are on the chopping block. That is a shame.

To the OP…I would want a firm commitment that a program was going to be there until you graduate. So…it seems like Ithaca isn’t a good choice right now…unless they change their minds.

8

Here’s my kid’s list of the moment, SUNY was recently crossed off:

UMich
U of British Columbia
Yale
Peabody
U of Texas in Austin
UCLA
The New School (Composer/Performer or Comp)
NYU
University Illinois
Dartmouth
Columbia

9

I can see how a student can figure out who they want to study with, just by who is faculty. However, I don’t see how they figure out who their peers would be. Are you meaning that a very competitive school would have very top-notch peers to spur you on to greater achievement, and a less competitive school would have more mellow peers to help you feel more confident? Is that the line of thinking?

10

My kid did not manage to do any summer programs – and covid was a definite factor there! Some of the schools on their list are based on teachers whose work they admire. As far as the aesthetic of the program, I may not have a totally accurate view of it. From my untrained perception, my kid is not very minimalist in their compositions. They like some richness of sound and some variety – not too much repetition. They like some dissonance. As far as vibe, they probably would not thrive in a cut-throat environment. They don’t like stuffy or pretentious at all! They are very collaborative and like to be a mover and a shaker, able to start a new concert series if they have a vision for one. They are also creative in multiple areas, including visual arts. Teaching (at university or outside of the university) is probably in their future, as well as some choral and/or vocal performance and some electronics. I think they believe film scores tend to be dull, so they are not likely to go that route. The career goals are still a work in progress.

11

My kid would also prefer some diversity in race and gender and a place that has some sensitivity to the concerns of those in the minority. I would think most universities would meet these needs, but I just thought I would mention it. In recent years we’ve become more concerned about racial violence and hate toward trans people.

12

Interesting list. Do they have a faculty mentor who can advise them?

Dartmouth is Digital Music, right? Brown has a MEME program they might like. U of North Texas is known for electronics and McGill is good with that too.

Back to PM’ing.

13

I think this is the most important line to date:

So the idea is that the MM is an extra year of school for the kid to make up their mind? Sometimes 25% more schooling helps with this, but mroe often it doesn’t.

I’ve been kind of going “hmmmm…” throughout this thread. There are a lot of flags, and while they may not be exactly red, they might be pink. Perhaps dark pink.

First, for a job composing music, I can think of no job requiring a MM over a BM. It’s not a line of work that pays a lot to credentials. Teaching, yes, credentials matter, but at the college level, a masters is not a doctorate, and many - probably most - places are looking more towards having some real-life experience in their faculty. A Masters will help the career progressing if he decides to teach high school, but it doesn’t have to be in composition.

There are fewer fields more competitive than commercial music. The OP’s kid might not want a cut-throat environment (who would?) but it’s merely postponing the inevitable. There are many more people who want jobs composing music than there are available jobs.

“Financial aid” isn’t really a thing in graduate schools. You have assistantships and fellowships. The former requires some work for the department, and the latter does not. Fellowships are rare - really rare. Where I want tyo grad school, maybe 2% of the students got them, and they were one-year, after which you went on an assistantship. This is a well-funded department, and typically music is not. For assistantships, they very from half-time covering tuition plus a stipend to quarter-time, covering half-tuition and a smaller stipend. This work could involve TA’ing, being an accompanist (which is more work than it sounds!) and the like. So it’s not really about “generous aid” - it’s about how many assitantships there are, how much they cover, what the competition is like, and so on.

Supply and demand tells you that the odds are best with large undergraduate porograms (demand) and small graduate programs (supply). The problem with this is that small graduate programs accept few students (small, right?) so there aren’t so many slots for this. There will be more than a little needle-threading going on.

Same argument - a school with a high proportion of fellowships (e.g. Yale) will have a lot of competition for admission.

I would turn this around. They should figure out exactly what they want out of an MM program, identify likely candidates in conjunction with Hartford, and then and only then look at how students are supported. After all, if they don’t have what you want, it doesn’t really matter how good a deal it is.

14

I don’t have time for a full reply at the moment, but I know all about assistantships etc. I was trying not to be too wordy in my original post and assuming people could read between the lines and understand that generosity takes the form of assistantships with a rare fellowship now and then.

Also, your last sentence goes both ways. If we can’t afford it, it doesn’t really matter how much it meets our kid’s needs. We are looking at both the financial side and the needs-meeting side. I just thought maybe I could get some suggestions to look into further to see what they offer.

15

A question: Are graduate schools in music comp extremely narrow in focus, by and large? I don’t think that is true of University of Hartford’s music comp graduate programs.

16

Grad school for composition is all about networking - both with the professors, and with one’s peers. And, yes, there is a good reason for composers to go to grad school - specifically for the networking. As well as developing one’s work at a deeper level with more informed feedback.

One can determine the peers at an institution through research, and by talking to other composers. Look at the graduates of the program and listen to their music, listen to current students’ work - usually you can dig up info on current and recent students via the website or google searches or bios. Talk to other recent graduates about their experiences. Speaking with other composers is the best way to learn about the atmosphere at the programs, as well. Where did their favorite composers study? Where do they teach?

Like Compmom’s, my kid only applied to one school. It was that one, or they were going to take time off. They have many friends who just now, however, in their late twenties or early thirties are going back to school for their Masters or Phd.

The list seems fine - it’s many of the major players right now - I would throw in Princeton & USC. (I know nothing about UBC or Illinois right now for music.)

17

@MITPhysicsAlum I am really curious what you mean by “a job composing music.” Even well-known composers also teach, guest at festivals, and sometimes other types of jobs. Are you referring to film scoring?

To my knowledge, a lot of master’s degrees are part of a PhD or DMA, and those that are terminal are usually not funded. Yale is an exception. McGill has a terminal master’s that is more affordable than US programs. UNT has terminal master’s and is a quite large grad program. I am sure the OP and kid are checking which schools have terminal master’s. I won’t go through them all.

The most affordable route is to do a doctoral program. The best reason to do this is to have the time and opportunity to develop as a composer, develop your “voice” as they say. Some programs may be “narrower” in focus with emphasis on ensemble and orchestral work (concert music) and some will encourage electroacoustic work, computer music, installations and mutli-media work, collaboration with dance, theater and film, and so on. You can look for info on websites with words like “innovative,” “experimental,” “diverse” and so on.

I think a plus is being able to take classes in other departments. Composers really benefit from some breadth over the long term, I think.

As for “career outcome,” right now, I don’t know that many PhD students who are sure of their “career outcome” throughout their 12+ years of study. Some people are in the gig economy, freelancing performing or arranging, some go to residencies, some seek post docs (tough to find), some get a day job. If the priority is to continue to do creative work, you still need to eat. And students spend their doctoral years TA’ing on a stipend that doesn’t really meet expenses. If they are lucky they get to teach for a year or two for $30k.

Academia increasingly relies on adjuncts and humanities and arts are not thriving at some schools. I know PhD’s who applied to a lot of teaching jobs (like 50) and got one at an obscure school, despite impressive qualifications.

You have to do this because you love it. These years in school can be incredibly rewarding. COVID has affected the richness of the experience and I hope summer festivals again become possible. Concert are happening, often still masked. A lot has been happening online.

Finally, one PhD I know suggested that visiting is probably the best way to assess fit. Your kid can meet with a faculty member, tour the campus and meet with current students. Much of this can be done virtually if necessary. I cannot see doing this for a long list though! Maybe…

Read bios of faculty and current grad students. You can tell a lot from websites if you read between the lines. And I hope your child can talk to a mentor and go over that list with a faculty mentor to assess fit.

18

Agreed.

Another excellent reason is “networking”. But it’s a different excellent reason.

By the way, I looked it up - there’s about 1000 doctorates in music composition or general music every year. That’s a lot of competition.

19

I think networking is overrated. Instrumentalists are building careers and need to play already well-known composers or recent big award winner up and coming composers for the most part. It’s nice to make friends in the same field but that has little effect on career development in my view.

@MITPhysicsAlum Separate out composition and general music doctorates and you might have a useful statistic for comp. Of course it is competitive. It is competitive to get into undergrad, competitive to get into festivals, competitive for calls for scores, competitive for grants and awards and more competitive for grad programs, and extremely competitive to get a tenure track academic position. It continues to be competitive forever, basically.

Young composers can focus on building a resume, or keep their heads down and develop what they want to do, or sometimes both. Success often comes to those doing orchestral commissions and residencies, but not everyone wants to do that. The field is diversifying in every possible way and there are many directions to go in creatively.

@MITPhysicsAlum I would still like to know what you mean by a “job composing.” Again career outcome is uncertain but there are many possibilities, including a regular job and composing at night or weekends. Composition undergrads and grads alike are well-served by doing internships, organizing concerts, serving on committees, taking other classes, and generally building skills.

And again, those years of freedom to create, while under the doctoral program umbrella, are so valuable no matter what the career outcome might be. Creative people usually find a way to create no matter how they earn a living.

1 Like
20

Just adding that my posts are intended to be positive, ultimately. Grad work is wonderful for developing as an artist. And you do not have to be working toward a specific career goal. Once done with the master’s or doctorate, there will be many options. And there will always be ways to compose and create.

1 Like