Nov 24, 2024  
2023-2024 Graduate Catalog 
    
2023-2024 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Music Composition, M.M.


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E-mail: musicgraduate@bgsu.edu

The Master of Music degree program is designed to prepare musicians to practice their specialization in the changing environment of current American music culture. The program encompasses eleven emphases: music composition, music education, music history, ethnomusicology, music performance, collaborative piano, conducting, jazz studies, piano pedagogy, vocal pedagogy, and music theory.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the graduate degree, students in Music Composition are expected to be able to:

  • Create original musical compositions reflecting the technical skills necessary to realize their ideas. 
  • Assess strengths and weaknesses in their own writing, and revise their work accordingly. 
  • Integrate new ideas into their writing and synthesize them into an original statement. 
  • Relate salient aspects of their own and others’ works to larger historical, formal, stylistic, cultural, and/or aesthetic contexts. 
  • Listen critically to and speak critically of contemporary compositions. 
  • Explain their ideas to performers, colleagues, and audiences.

Admission Requirements

Funding deadline is March 1. Since application reviews may begin immediately after the deadline, we recommend submitting your application and providing all required documents before the deadline.

Additional documents required:

  • Three Letters of Recommendation
  • Professional Resume
  • Portfolio - Submit three or four original scores of their best works for review by the composition faculty through the Portfolio in the application.

Audition/Interview required:

  • Domestic applicants must select an audition/Interview date under the Secondary Music Application tab 
  • International applicants must submit either a recorded videos/papers/scores online* OR select an audition/Interview date under the Secondary Music Application tab 

    *under the Portfolio section, if available in this application, or on your Application Status Page after you submit your application

Application Requirements

Admissions Categories and Grade Point Average Requirements

International Application Information

Degree Requirements

Curriculum Requirements


Required Courses (13 credits)


Composition seminar. Students are expected to register for MUCT 6160 every semester in residence except for summer.

Electives (18 credits)


Other Requirements


Student must take placement examinations in Music History/Literature and Music Theory as they begin their program. Those who do not pass one or more portions are permitted to retest during the first semester of residence. If the re-test is not passed, student must take the appropriate remedial courses, depending on the exam and the score. NOTE: Remedial courses listed here may not be used to satisfy degree requirements, except in the case of MUCT 6080 and MUCT 6120.

1. Music Theory Placement Exam - Pass 1 Exam or select 1 from the following remedial courses:

2. Music History/Literature Exams - Pass 2 Exams or select 2 from the following remedial courses:

Culminating Experience (3 credits)


An oral defense of the thesis composition is required of all composition majors. Performance of the thesis composition may stand in lieu of a defense. 

Minimum Total Credits (34 credits)


Additional Requirements


  • Minimum of 3 credits of 6990 required for Plan I master’s students.  Maximum of 6 credits may be applied toward degree requirements. 
  • Minimum 3.0 graduate cumulative grade point average
  • Minimum of 18 credits must be at the 6000-level or higher
  • Minimum of  24 credits must be earned at BGSU
  • All requirements must be completed within six years from the end of the earliest course used to fulfill degree requirements.

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