The composition program is for students who want to express their creative vision by writing music with depth and meaning. Through intensive instruction in compositional techniques, composers will develop their musical interpretation, taste, and direction to form their own expressive voice. With the knowledge and tools to create music, composers will be given ample opportunities to work with their peers and hear their works come to life every semester of their program.

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• Program-Specific Course and Non-Course Requirements by Year: 

Requirements for the midterm, final juries, recitals, and 10-minute concerts for composers differ from the Performance program. 

 

• Midterm and Final Jury

  • Both the midterm and final jury for the composers’ Private Lessons course will be an evaluation of the music written and not a performance evaluation. Students will submit their work-in-progress during the midterm and a 2-piece portfolio for the final jury.

 

• 10-Minute Concerts

  • Composers will have 10-minute concerts starting from their 2nd term of Year 1. 

 

• Recitals

  • Recitals have a 15-minute length requirement except for the first term of Year 1, which will be 10 minutes. For all terms after, recitals must be a minimum of 15 minutes and contain 50% new work. 

 

More specific requirements for midterm and final juries, recitals, and 10-minute concerts for composition students can be found in the Repertoire Requirements manual. Pre-screening and live audition requirements can be found on the Admissions page on the school website. In addition to the core curriculum, composition students have the following requirements: 

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• Instrumentation

  • In Year 1, students will enroll in two terms of Instrumentation where they will develop their understanding of all instruments in the orchestra and how to score for both small and larger combinations of instruments.

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• Score Reading

  • In Year 1, students will enroll in two terms of Score Reading to develop and reinforce their ability to read choral and orchestral music in all clefs and apply these skills to the process of reading transposing instruments in orchestral scores. 

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• Orchestration

  • In Years 2 and 3, students will enroll in four terms of Orchestration to study the orchestrational techniques and styles of various eras and apply the various elements of orchestration to scoring projects for ensembles of various sizes. 

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• Analysis

  • In Years 2 and 3, students will enroll in four terms of Analysis where they will discuss the musical forms, harmony, and counterpoint of various eras. These courses will focus on analyzing, rather than writing, music from each area. 

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• Polyphony 

  • In Year 4, students will enroll in two terms of Polyphony which focuses primarily on the writing of counterpoints in certain styles and will also examine these styles from a historical and analytical perspective.