About

Graduate study in music at UC Riverside takes place within a unique, collaborative, and intellectually adventurous environment. The department awards M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in three areas—digital composition, ethnomusicology, and musicology—and is known for cultivating close working relationships between faculty and students. The program encourages inquiry that bridges creative practice and scholarly research, drawing on approaches from history, ethnography, theory, cultural studies, and technology. Faculty expertise extends across Western art music, global and diasporic musical practices, digital and electronic media, popular music industries, and performance. A sustained commitment to interdisciplinarity, equity, and innovation shapes the department’s academic and artistic mission.

Current program areas include:

• Digital Composition, encompassing electroacoustic and multimedia work, acoustic composition, music software development, opera and musical theater, and music production.
• Ethnomusicology, with emphases on Latin America, Indigenous traditions of the Americas, and diasporic and popular forms such as hip hop.
• Musicology, with foci on Iberian, Latin American, and Western repertoires, now broadened to include popular music and media studies.

The department offers a combination of stipends, teaching assistantships, and campus-wide fellowships to support doctoral students from their beginning years to their dissertation writing. Applications received before December 31 have better opportunities for financial aid.

Admission

Applicants intending to pursue a Ph.D. as their final degree objective should apply directly to the Ph.D. program. Students with an M.A. degree from other universities are eligible for admission. The process of admission is the same as for students with a B.A.

Applicants are admitted into the graduate program in the fall quarter only. All applicants must submit an example of their writing.

• Composers must also submit three to five original compositions and corresponding recordings (MIDI mockups are acceptable). At least two pieces should be realized with notation software, while others may take the form of electronic music. In addition, composers are encouraged to submit music software that they have authored or other digital audio related activity (papers, sound installations, etc.).
  • Graduate composition applicants may come from an untraditional background and not possess previous music degrees. However, applicants must have earned an undergraduate degree to be considered for admission.
• Musicology applicants must have an M.A. or undergraduate degree in music, including piano proficiency and musicianship (ear training).
• Ethnomusicology applicants must have a background in music or anthropology. Evidence of superior intellectual ability in another field combined with some demonstrable expertise in any musical tradition is also viewed favorably.

Entering graduate students in composition and musicology must take an advisory examination. In musicology, admission to full graduate status is contingent upon the removal of any deficiencies in undergraduate preparation as shown by this advisory examination. In digital composition, deficiencies in undergraduate preparation must be completed by the time of the Comprehensive Examination.