Graduate
The Fred Fox School of Music offers course work leading to a Master of Music in Composition and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition. Visit the Composition website for more information.
Students interested in the study of music in its cultural context, and with interests in vernacular or non-western music, may pursue training in ethnomusicology through several different degree options at The University of Arizona. For undergraduates, the Bachelors of Arts in Music, the Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts, or the Bachelor of Arts in International Studies (Culture Track) are the most common choices. On the graduate level, students may earn a Master of Music in Musicology with a concentration in ethnomusicology, or a Doctor of Musical Arts with a minor in ethnomusicology. At all levels, students majoring in other disciplines, such as Religious studies or Anthropology have also added ethnomusicology as a minor area or a significant component of their curricular plans.
Courses in the Fred Fox School of Music include: Music in World Cultures, Rock and American Popular Music, Mexican Music, Studies in Latin American Music, Seminar on Publishing and the Music Industry, Recording Techniques, Independent Study in Fieldwork, Independent Study in Area Research, Graduate Seminar in the Theory and Method of Ethnomusicology, and Thesis or Dissertation Research. Students have access to the comprehensive research resources of The University of Arizona, including the Fine Arts Libratory, the Southwest Archives, the Arizona State Museum, and the Fred Fox School of Music Library Collection. Performance ensembles offer experience in non-western music making, including: UA Steel – the steel band, and the World Music Gang – a West African drum ensemble. Curricular partnership with the Honor’s College, the Center for Latin American Studies, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Africana Studies, International Studies, and the Department of Anthropology has provided ethnomusicology students with scholarships and travel fellowships (funding for fieldwork in Spain, Ghana, Brazil, Israel, etc.) as well as visiting lecturers and classroom instruction in theoretical, methodological, area, and language studies.
Awards received by students in ethnomusicology include Medici Scholarships, the McNair Fellowship, the Library of Congress Folk Arts internship, the Fulbright Fellowship, and the Smithsonian Latino Studies Fellowship. Students have presented their research at regional, national, and international professional meetings, including for the Society for Ethnomusicology and the International Council for Traditional Music. Several UA graduates have earned full scholarships to Ph.D. programs in ethnomusicology at institutions including: UCLA, Columbia University, and Indiana University.
For additional information, contact Dr. Janet Sturman, ethnomusicology coordinator, at 520-621-1255, or sturman@email.arizona.edu.
Degree Programs
Students who wish to specialize in musicology may pursue either a Master of Music in Musicology (with concentrations in Historical Musicology or Ethnomusicology). A full range of courses pertaining to western art music and selected ethnomusicological courses are offered. Musicology students have access to the comprehensive research resources of the school’s Music Library, and may explore historical performance practices and perform on early music instruments in the Collegium Musicum. The Master’s program in Music History is especially designed to prepare undergraduate performance majors for future doctoral study in musicology. Recent master’s theses have been written on topics ranging from 17th-century Roman opera to the songs of C.P.E. Bach, 20th-Century Symphony, and Musical Patronage in Oman. Recent master’s students have gone on to doctoral programs at distinguished universities including Princeton University, NYU, The University of Texas, Columbia University, and The Université de Liège.
Degree Programs
The Fred Fox School of Music offers course work leading to a Master of Music in Theory and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Music Theory. The theory faculty offers a full range of regular courses and seminars in both traditional and contemporary theory. Recent graduates have focused on the study of music of the late 19th and 20th centuries. UA graduates are teaching at leading universities and colleges throughout the country and internationally.
Degree Programs
Master of Music in Theory
Doctor of Philosophy in Music Theory