Admission and Degree Requirements
All applicants are required to furnish a statement of intent in graduate study and three letters of reference pertaining to their potential for graduate work in music. Graduate Record Examinations scores are not required for performance and composition applicants, except for applicants to the Doctor of Musical Arts performance major with a voice pedagogy emphasis. Applicants seeking admission to performance degree programs must perform a live audition; off-campus auditions can be arranged in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. Exceptions and detailed instructions can be found on the Butler School of Music Web site . Those seeking admission to conducting and certain other areas must submit a recorded audition or performance before arranging for a live audition on campus; those planning to major in composition must send scores of their music, accompanied by recordings if possible; and those planning to major in musicology, music theory, and performance with a voice pedagogy emphasis must submit samples of their written work. Those applying for admission to doctoral degree programs in music and human learning must submit samples of written work and a videotape or DVD of their teaching.
Diagnostic examinations in music theory and in music history and literature are required of all students before registration for the first semester of graduate work; musicology students must also take proficiency examinations in foreign languages. Passage of these examinations or removal of deficiencies by the means prescribed is necessary for completion of the degree, and, in the case of doctoral students, is a prerequisite to doctoral comprehensive examinations.
Entering graduate students in voice should have had the equivalent of the language and diction courses required at the University for the Bachelor of Music with a voice performance major: one semester each of Italian, French, and German; and two semesters of diction. All entering graduate students in voice are given a diagnostic examination consisting of reading in these three languages. The examination stresses proficiency in pronunciation and is used to help the student plan a program of study.
Master of Music
The Master of Music is offered in performance (including conducting, opera, and chamber music), composition, theory, music and human learning, literature and pedagogy, and musicology (including ethnomusicology).
Entering students should have a bachelor’s degree (or the equivalent) with a major in music from an accredited institution. Students are expected to have had from six to twelve semester hours of upper-division coursework in their major field at the undergraduate level (the exact number of hours required varies with the major), and to have completed the equivalent of Music 260M, Pedagogy, in their principal instrument.
Most programs of study leading to the Master of Music require a total of thirty semester hours of coursework, consisting of a major of eighteen to twenty-four semester hours and a minor of six to twelve semester hours. A program with a report in lieu of the thesis, requiring thirty-three semester hours, is used for musicology (ethnomusicology), music theory, and literature/pedagogy.
A comprehensive examination is required of all master’s degree candidates, usually in the final semester of study.
Further information about master’s degrees is given in Degree Requirements . Details of departmental requirements in the various areas of concentration are available from the graduate adviser.
Doctor of Philosophy
The Doctor of Philosophy degree in music is offered with major emphasis in music and human learning, musicology (including ethnomusicology), or music theory. Candidates for this degree are required to pass a comprehensive examination and to write a dissertation based on original research. Information about requirements in the various areas of concentration is available from the graduate adviser.
Doctor of Musical Arts
The Doctor of Musical Arts degree allows for four majors: performance (including opera, collaborative piano, and voice pedagogy emphases), conducting, composition, and music and human learning (including jazz and piano pedagogy emphases). Candidates for this degree must pass a comprehensive examination. They must demonstrate outstanding professional competence, artistic maturity, and exceptional knowledge of the historical and practical aspects of their major field. Each candidate must prepare a scholarly treatise in a field appropriate to the major or complete the alternative requirements of the nontreatise degree option. For composition majors, a musical work replaces the treatise. A jazz emphasis is also available in the performance and the composition majors.
Further information about requirements in various areas of concentration is available from the graduate adviser.
Artist Diploma in Music Performance
The Artist Diploma is a highly specialized and performance-oriented non-degree graduate certificate program for exceptional musicians who have great potential for a professional career in music performance at the international level. To be considered for admission, applicants must meet the admission requirements for performance majors. The program requires completion of at least twenty-seven semester hours of graduate coursework, including but not limited to courses in performance, performance practice, and advanced music literature, as well as an artist recital course taken for each of three required recitals. Additional information is available from the graduate adviser.