The final project for the degree includes both performing and scholarly components, which vary according to the degree emphasis.
Two types of master’s degrees are offered: “A Thesis Plan I master's requires a research thesis, while a Capstone Plan II master's has a capstone requirement, which may be a comprehensive exam, an individual project, or a group project.”
Students with a composition emphasis will complete a Thesis Plan I masters. Students with this emphasis submit a thesis composition together with an essay that addresses historical, technical, and/or interpretive issues of the music (Music 299); and they complete a full-length recital (MUSC 298) of their compositional work.
Students with a musicology/ethnomusicology emphasis will complete a Thesis Plan I master's, regardless of whether or not they complete a performance or lecture-recital. Students with this emphasis will complete a thesis (MUSC 299) and may choose to give a short performance or lecture-recital related to the thesis (MUSC 298).
Students with a performance practice emphasis will usually complete a Capstone Plan II master's and write a short essay to accompany a recital, but may have the option to choose a Thesis Plan I master's instead. Students in this emphasis complete a full-length recital (MUSC 298) and an accompanying short essay that addresses historical, technical, and/or interpretive aspects of the music performed in the recital. Students in this emphasis whose main area is conducting complete a full-length recital (MUSC 298) and one of the following: a shorter lecture-recital, a short analytical or contextual essay on a different topic, or a collaboration with a graduate student composer or faculty composer on a premiere public performance. Students are encouraged to create a program involving corollary studies such as computer studies, area cultural studies, linguistics, anthropology, theater arts, and visual arts.
Graduate students must take all core courses for a letter grade. These courses include the following: MUSC 200, MUSC 201, MUSC 202, MUSC 203A-H, MUSC 206A-D, MUSC 219, MUSC 220, MUSC 253A-D, and MUSC 254A-M. Graduate students must take all courses for a letter grade with the exception of independent study courses (MUSC 261, MUSC 265, MUSC 295, MUSC 297, MUSC 298, and MUSC 299) and the colloquium course (MUSC 252), which may be taken with the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grade option. Grades of C or D do not satisfy any course requirement for a music graduate degree.