Graduate Composition
Graduate Composition
The graduate composition program at University of North Carolina School of the Arts is dedicated to helping advanced composers refine their artistic languages as they prepare to enter the profession.
Program Features
- UNCSA Symphony Orchestra performs a concert of student compositions annually.
- Winston-Salem Symphony chooses one student work annually for professional premiere.
- Annual recording sessions with guest ensembles. Recent ensembles include eighth blackbird, Sandbox Percussion, Prism Saxophone Quartet, yMusic and Borromeo String Quartet.
- Performance faculty sponsor annual competitions for student composers for professional premieres.
- Frequent performances by UNCSA Wind Ensemble, nu ensemble, etc.
- Opportunity to collaborate with artists in all disciplines – Dance, Design and Production, Drama and Filmmaking.
- Individualized instruction stemming from an outstanding student-to-teacher ratio.
Master of Music
This is a great time to be a composer. More and more performing musicians are including new works on their programs, and the standard of playing has improved dramatically over the last few decades. New innovations in technology are extending our understanding and capabilities in composition. Composers are collaborating with dancers, actors, filmmakers and designers to create innovative artistic events. The range of viable styles of new music has never been broader, from the most intimate songs to the most complex multimedia productions.
Where do you fit in? At UNCSA, as a graduate music composition degree student, you are engaged in answering this question on a daily basis – honing your craft, expanding your horizons, engaging in constant creative inquiry – under the guidance of established, experienced mentors. Our Composition Seminars are lively opportunities for you to gather, sometimes with special guests, to discuss some of the most important issues facing all of us. With professional training schools in dance, design, drama and filmmaking, in addition to music, UNCSA provides a special environment for collaboration and artistic exploration.
In addition to the wide range of artistic possibilities, our graduate curriculum provides specially designed courses to enhance your career perspectives in a contemporary, market-sensitive approach to educating musicians.
Professional Artist Certificate
If you already have a graduate degree, you may also choose to pursue a Professional Artist Certificate. This post-master’s program is designed to advance your career potential as a young professional composer. If you are interested in independent studies offered through this program, you are encouraged to propose a one-year course of study that is tailored to your interests and experience.
Related Programs
HIGH SCHOOL COMPOSITION UNDERGRADUATE COMPOSITION
The School of Filmmaking also offers a graduate degree in Film Music Composition:
