The Bachelor of Music in Composition
The Bachelor of Music in Composition is a four-year program which introduces you to the discipline of composition and prepares you either for a professional career involving composition, or for continued graduate study in the field. Because the BM program is the first step beyond secondary school study, it is an important time of growth and transition, and our curriculum is designed to prepare you for the transition from relative beginner to accomplished composer.
Our BM program features an extremely strong curriculum designed to develop your compositional technique and academic skills. Featuring 2 semesters each of counterpoint, orchestration, form and analysis, and conducting, as well as 2 semesters of private study on a principal instrument or voice and 8 semesters of private composition lessons, students in the BM program are provided with a rigorous and thorough grounding both in the compositional craft and in performance: integral to a compositional career.
Additionally, your own development within the profession is emphasized: the weekly Composition Seminar devotes at least one session each semester to such topics as the preparation of strong competition entries, creation of legible scores and parts, and rehearsal etiquette. More broadly, you are expected to attend as many concerts and productions as possible, whether of contemporary or traditional repertoire, both at the university and in the DC metro area; to familiarize yourself with as much musical literature as possible through regular listening and score study; to be conversant with the most prominent current compositional trends, personalities, and literature, all with the goal of developing a broad perspective of the field and of their own place within it.
Curriculum
Admission to the BM Composition program requires both an audition on an instrument or voice as well as submission of a portfolio of compositions. For more information about the admissions process, please click here.
A printable outline of the BM in Composition degree curriculum and its requirements is also available here as a pdf file.
| Freshman Year |
Fall |
Spring |
| Studio X (MUS 100) |
0 |
0 |
| Ear Training and Sight Singing I, II (MUS 121, 122) |
2 |
2 |
| Accelerated Harmony I, II (MUS 125, 126) |
3 |
3 |
| Principal Instrument or Voice (MUPI 171) |
3 |
3 |
| Composition: private study (MUPI 151) |
1 |
1 |
| Secondary Piano (non-piano principals) (MUPI 181) |
1(0) |
1(0) |
| Composition Seminar (MUS 629) |
1 |
1 |
| Performing Organization (MUS XXX) |
1 |
1 |
| Rhetoric and Composition (ENG 101); Composition and Literature (ENG 102) |
3 |
3 |
| The Classical Mind (PHIL 201) |
3 |
0 |
| Academic elective |
0 |
3 |
| Total: |
18(17) |
18(17) |
| |
|
|
| Sophomore Year |
Fall |
Spring |
| Studio X (MUS 100) |
0 |
0 |
| Ear Training and Sight Singing III, IV (MUS 221, 222) |
2 |
2 |
| Composition: private study (MUPI 191) |
3 |
3 |
| Secondary Piano (non-piano principals) (MUPI 181) |
1(0) |
1(0) |
| Form and Analysis I (MUS 321) |
0 |
3 |
| 18th Century Counterpoint, 16th Century Counterpoint (MUS 539, 540) |
3 |
3 |
| Composition Seminar (MUS 629) |
1 |
1 |
| Performing Organization (MUS XXX) |
1 |
1 |
| Music elective (piano principals) |
0 |
0(3) |
| Introductory level Religion course (TRS 200-260) |
3 |
0 |
| Introductory level Religion course (TRS 200-290) |
0 |
3 |
| Academic elective |
3 |
0 |
| Total: |
17(16) |
17(19) |
| |
|
|
| Junior Year |
Fall |
Spring |
| Studio X (MUS 100) |
0 |
0 |
| Composition: private study (MUPI 191) |
3 |
3 |
| Secondary Piano (non-piano principals) (MUPI 181) |
1(0) |
1(0) |
| Form and Analysis II (MUS 322) |
3 |
0 |
| Orchestration I, II* (MUS 323, 324) |
3 |
3 |
| Composition Seminar (MUS 629) |
1 |
1 |
| History of Music I, II, or III |
3 |
3 |
| Performing Organization (MUS XXX) |
1 |
1 |
| Music elective (piano principals) |
0(3) |
0 |
| The Modern Mind (PHIL 202) |
0 |
3 |
| Academic elective |
0 |
3 |
| Total: |
15(17) |
18(17) |
| |
|
|
| Senior Year |
Fall |
Spring |
| Studio X (MUS 100) |
0 |
0 |
| Composition: private study (MUPI 191) |
3 |
3 |
| Conducting (MUS 337, 342) |
3 |
3 |
| Composition Seminar (MUS 629) |
1 |
1 |
| History of Music I, II, or III |
3 |
0 |
| Performing Organization (MUS XXX) |
1 |
1 |
| Music electives (by advisement) |
3 |
3 |
| Upper level Religion course (TRS 300 level) |
0 |
3 |
| Academic elective |
3 |
0 |
| Total: |
16 |
13 |
|
|
|
| Piano principals: Level VI |
|
|
| |
|
|
| Additional graduation requirement: Senior recital (MUS 499) of original compositions (30-45 minutes of music); the candidate must participate in the recital either as performer or conductor. Completed scores for the graduation recital must be submitted to the Composition faculty for approval no later than 30 days in advance of the recital date. |
|
|
* Advanced Orchestration, a 500-level course, may be substituted for Orchestration II.
Learning about the liberal arts component of a School of Music degree
The School of Music requires a central core of music and non-music (related to the university-level study of the liberal arts) courses. Some general information about these requirements is available here.
Additional notes and requirements pertaining to composers
Please note that initial admission to the School of Music as a Composition major does not automatically admit you formally to the BM degree program in Composition. Typically, at the end of the first two years of study, Composition majors apply for formal admission to the BM degree program. This formal admission is made by notifying your composition teacher of your intent to apply for formal admission, who in turn informs the chair of the composition division. At the final Composition jury in the relevant semester, your submitted portfolio of work (representing your work in all prior semesters at CUA) is then evaluated for formal admission to the BM degree program. The Composition faculty, during this jury, reviews your submitted work as well as your overall academic progress to determine whether or not these factors warrant your formal admittance to the degree program.
If you are not formally admitted on a first attempt, you may make a second attempt. If you are not formally admitted on your second attempt, you will no longer be eligible for formal admission to the BM Composition program, although you remain a student in the School of Music, and may apply for admission to other majors within the School.
As an additional condition of formal admission to (and remaining in the program after formal admission), grades of B- or higher are required in the following courses (whether prior to, or following, formal admission to the BM Composition degree program):
| Ear Training I, II, III, IV (MUS 121, 122, 221, 222) |
| Accelerated Harmony I, II (MUS 125, 126) or Harmony I, II, III, and IV (MUS 123, 124, 223, 224) |
| Form and Analysis I, II (MUS 321, 322) |
| Orchestration I, II (MUS 323, 324) |
| Counterpoint I, II (MUS 539, 540) |
| Composition Seminar (MUS 629) |
If you do not obtain a B- or higher in any of the courses above, you will be required to repeat the course until the requisite grade is attained.
At the conclusion of each semester of private composition study, you submit a portfolio of your compositional work done during the semester to the Composition faculty for a jury, during which the semester grade is assigned by the faculty.
For at least the first year of study in the School of Music, you will also pursue instruction on the principal instrument or voice (3 credit hours): a jury will be required at the end of each semester of applied study to be eligible for credit to be awarded. Note: those students whose principal instrument is piano must pass a keyboard proficiency establishing them as Level VI in order to graduate (click here to view a pdf file listing the various levels and their representative repertoire). In satisfying the music elective requirements listed in the curriculum abode, you may, with your advisor's approval, elect additional private instruction in piano.
A Minor in Piano is also available for those BM Composition students who may wish to pursue this option: students who pursue this option must attain Piano Level IX (click here to view a pdf file listing the various levels and their representative repertoire) and must present a 60-minute recital.
A double major (Music and a non-Music field) is possible, although such an option generally increases the number of credit hours tremendously. If you wish to pursue a double major, you should consult with the academic advisor in Composition (Andrew Simpson, simpson@cua.edu) and also with Joseph Santo, Associate Dean of the School of Music (santo@cua.edu)
You must take 8 semesters of Composition Seminar, for 8 credit hours total. (Transfer students or students entering the Composition major from another major must take Composition Seminar for each semester of study as a Composition major. If the total number of credit hours is less than 8, you must make up those remaining credit hours with coursework or applied music credits which can be substituted.
You must participate in a major performing organization (such as orchestra or chorus) during each semester of full-time enrollment, for a minimum of 8 credit hours. Unlike Composition Seminar, however, transfer students need not make up the additional credit hours for semesters not spent at CUA.
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