Music Programs & Degrees: Graduate
Click here for Undergraduate Music Programs & Degrees
Click to download the Graduate Music Student Handbook (Word doc)
General Description and Contact Information
The Master of Music Degree
The Doctor of Philosophy Degree
List of Instruments/Voice
Accreditation
General Description and Contact Information
The UMass Amherst Department of Music & Dance offers graduate programs leading to the Master of Music (M.M.) and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree. These programs offer optimal professional training for careers as music teachers, performers, composers, arrangers, and conductors. The specific concentrations offered are described below.
Individuals may complete up to twelve hours of academic study as an "undesignated" graduate student before being required to apply and be accepted into a specific graduate degree program.
To enter a graduate music degree program, prospective students must meet the admissions requirements of both the Graduate School and the Department of Music & Dance. The Graduate School Admissions Office is located at Room 530 in Goodell Hall, (413) 545-0722. While applications, transcripts and letters of recommendation must be submitted to the Graduate School, all supporting materials relating to music, such as CD's, scores or research papers, should be sent to the Music & Dance Department:
Professor T. Dennis Brown, Graduate Program Director
Department of Music & Dance, UMass Amherst
265 Fine Arts Center East
Amherst, MA 01003-9330
(413) 545-6135
Email: tdbrown@music.umass.edu
Please see the Graduate Music Student Handbook (Word doc) for details about Admission, Auditions, Graduate Assistantships and other financial aid, placement exams, jury, thesis and language requirements and many other topics.
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The Master of Music Degree
Download the Masters degree subplan file (PDF-available soon, Word Doc)
Total of 33 graduate credits, of which six may be transferred from other institutions (with approval by the Graduate School and Graduate Program Director)
Concentrations: (Click on each for Degree Checklist)
Core Requirements for all Master of Music concentrations:
Graduate Music Theory - 2 approved courses, 500 level or higher (6 credits)
Graduate Music History - 2 approved courses, 500 level or higher (6 credits)
All M.M. students majoring in History/Musicology, Theory or Music Education/Research are required to write a thesis. In lieu of the thesis, Accompanying majors must accompany four recitals, Composition and Jazz Composition/Arranging majors must submit an original composition in large form, and Performance and Music Education/Applied Music majors must perform a full recital.
Vocal Performance and Music History/Musicology majors have a foreign language proficiency requirement. Please see the Graduate Music Student Handbook for details.
All M.M. students must take a one-hour comprehensive oral examination, conducted by three faculty members, usually in April of the last year of study. Group meetings and consultation with the major professor are offered to help students prepare for the exam.
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The Doctor Of Philosophy Degree (Ph.D.)
The Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Music is intended for advanced musician/scholars who desire to complete their graduate study in a specific area of music and continue the development of their creative, analytical, theoretical, pedagogical and scholarly analytical skills and knowledge.
Concentrations: (Click on each for Degree Checklist)
The Ph.D. degree is conferred upon satisfactory completion of a curriculum consisting of a minimum of sixty semester hours of approved course work beyond the Master's degree in Music, including eighteen hours of dissertation credit.
A Ph.D. student must spend a minimum of one academic year of full-time study beyond the Master's degree in residence (not including summer). There is a two-language reading requirement for Ph.D. candidates in Music Theory. Please see the Graduate Handbook file (PDF, Word Doc) for details about the language requirement, admissions requirements, the qualifying exam and the dissertatation process.
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List of Instruments/Voice
For a faculty list, please see the Faculty by Discipline page.
Private Lessons (as part of graduate music degree programs) are offered in:
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Flute
Oboe
Clarinet
Bassoon
Saxophone
Trumpet
Horn (French horn)
Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
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Percussion
Violin
Viola
Cello
String Bass
Piano
Organ
Voice
Guitar (Jazz only)
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Please note: There is no graduate degree in Jazz performance, but candidates for the Masters degree in Jazz Composition and Arranging may study one of the traditional jazz instruments: saxophone, trumpet, trombone, percussion/drums, bass, piano, voice or guitar. Please contact the Jazz Program Director, Jeffrey W. Holmes, jwholmes@music.umass.edu, 413-545-6046 if you have questions.
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Accreditation
The UMass Amherst music degree programs are fully accredited by all appropriate state and national agencies such as the Massachusettes Board of Higher Education, the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM), and the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).
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