A composing session in the electro-acoustic music studio

The Music Composition program at The Fred Fox School of Music prepares composers to successfully meet the challenges and opportunities of an ever-changing profession. The School of Music offers coursework leading to a Bachelor of Music degree in composition, a Master of Music degree in composition, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition.

Students receive intensive private instruction in music composition in traditional and electro-acoustic media from award-winning faculty members. In addition, they are offered classes in music theory, improvisation, music history, orchestration, and conducting. Students benefit from the Electro-Acoustic Music Studio; the Recording Studio (a professional facility offering 24+ track analog and digital recording); the Visiting Composer Series, which brings in internationally-renowned composers; and the Arizona Contemporary Ensemble, which performs major works of the 20th and 21st century.

The composition faculty strives to provide students with a fundamental understanding of the aesthetics of musical design and the operations of creators, performers, and listeners as they use music to shape their world. The curriculum design is meant to cultivate habits of mind, and enhance critical faculties so that students prepare to assume roles as stewards and creators of musical expression for future generations.

Acclaimed Canadian composer R. Murray Schaefer talks about his music and writing.

Our BM and MM students have gone on to highly regarded graduate programs including the University of Arizona, University of Texas at Austin, McGill University, Rice University, Brandeis University, San Francisco Convervatory of Music, Duke University, San Francisco State University, Florida State University, SUNY Buffalo, University of Oregon, University of California at San Diego, University of Missouri/Kansas City and Bowling Green State University, among others.

Graduates of the composition program can be found teaching at the University of Florida at Gainesville, Florida International University, Purdue University, Virginia Tech, University of Minnesota at Duluth, Centennial College, Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Kansas, Western Michigan University, Clark University, and Soochow University, among others.