Mar 28, 2024  
2012-2013 Graduate Catalog 
    
2012-2013 Graduate Catalog [Not Current Academic Year. Consult with Your Academic Advisor for Your Catalog Year]

Music Performance (Keyboard,Keyboard Collaborative Arts, Orchestral Instrument, Voice) D.M.A.


Doctor of Musical Arts


Admission Requirements

  1. A Master of Music degree with a major in performance, conducting, composition, or music education or an equivalent degree from an accredited university with a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.00 (A=4.00) for all graduate work attempted.
  2. Satisfactory scores on the Graduate Record Examination General Test. [Minimum - 400 verbal]
  3. An audition before members of the graduate faculty consisting of repertory for a standard graduate recital (performance and conducting majors); submission of scores and tapes of original compositions for varying media for evaluation by the composition faculty (composition majors). Applicants who do not display beginning doctoral-level performance or composition skills will not be admitted. For applicants in music education, evidence of successful professional experience in a field of music teaching.
  4. Satisfactory results on placement examinations in music literature and music theory; deficiencies in either of these areas (a maximum of six semester hours in each area) must be made up in the first year of doctoral studies; remedial courses do not count toward the degree requirements.
  5. Admission standards will be highly selective. A 3.00 GPA and satisfactory GRE scores will not be sufficient. Each applicant also must submit a writing sample showing evidence of musical scholarship and demonstrate considerable talent and accomplishments in his major area in addition to the other requirements above.

Language Requirements

All doctoral students except those in music education must demonstrate reading proficiency in French, German, or Italian in order to gain admission to candidacy. Proficiency may be demonstrated in one of the following ways:

  1. Completion of two semesters of graduate reading courses in the language with a grade of B-(2.67) or higher.
  2. Completion of four semesters of undergraduate language courses.
  3. Demonstration of competency in the language to the satisfaction of the major professor and the Director of Graduate Studies. In this case, the student would be assigned articles or chapters from a book in the foreign language, and after an adequate time for preparation, be expected to translate portions from this material. An evaluation would be made by an expert in the particular language.

Residency Requirement

One year (consecutive fall and spring semesters) of full-time study (9 hours per semester); the year of residency should preferably be the first year of doctoral studies.

Degree Requirements

  1. Completion of 60 semester hours of graduate course work beyond the master’s degree with a cumulative grade point average of 3.00; grades C+ or below are not accepted for credit toward the D.M.A. A student who receives a grade of C+ or lower in 12 semester hours of credit attempted at this institution for graduate credit or for application toward the graduate degree, regardless of the student’s classification, whether or not in repeated course, is ineligible for any advanced degree at this institution and will not be permitted to re-enroll for graduate study. The Termination of Enrollment section specifies other regulations.
  2. Completion of four public performances (see degree plans for specific requirements); a grade below B on any required performance will not be satisfactory and the performance must be repeated within six months. If the second performance receives a grade below B, the student will no longer be eligible to continue in the D.M.A. program.
  3. Completion of a doctoral document.

Doctoral Committee

The Doctoral Committee for each D.M.A. student should be formed during the student’s first year of study, once the student has had the opportunity to take a portion of the required course work and become familiar with the faculty. Forming the committee also implies acceptance into the minor area (see requirements for the various majors).

The committee will consist of four members, including the major professor, a second representative from the major area, and a representative from the minor area. The remaining representative should come from the areas of music theory, music literature, composition, or music education (whichever is not already represented). In music education, the remaining committee member might be an at-large faculty member from another college, as determined by the student’s needs and research requirements.

The committee will have the following responsibilities:

  1. Meet with the student at least once during each year of doctoral studies to discuss progress toward the degree.
  2. Approve repertoire for the required public performances and the proposal for the doctoral document.
  3. Serve as a jury for the required public performances.
  4. Administer the oral examination of the comprehensive examination.
  5. Evaluate the doctoral document.
  6. Recommend the candidate for graduation.

Comprehensive (Qualifying) Examination and Admission to Candidacy

The comprehensive examination is designed to measure the student’s abilities in a broad range of musical activities (performance, music history and literature, music bibliography, theory and analysis, and pedagogy) as well as specific examination of his or her knowledge of the major area.

Before scheduling the comprehensive examination, the student must have:

  1. Removed all deficiencies.
  2. Fulfilled the language requirement.
  3. Completed course work with a cumulative grade point average of B (3.00) or higher.
  4. Satisfied the residency requirement.
  5. In the case of performers, completed the first three degree recitals.

The comprehensive written examination will consist of the following parts:

Part 1. Major area: any questions which pertain to the major area of study. The student should seek more information from the major area coordinator.

Part 2. Music history and literature:

  • literature and performance practice in the student’s major area.
  • bibliographical knowledge of source materials for research in the student’s major area.
  • general knowledge of music history and literature.

Part 3. Music theory:

  • analysis of selected repertoire.
  • analysis of unidentified musical scores.

Part 4. (If requested) Oral Examination: any questions which pertain to Parts 1, 2, and 3, or any questions concerning other information which the committee feels should be part of the student’s field of knowledge.

Part 1 of the examination should last either half a day or a whole day, depending on the student’s area. Parts 2 and 3 should be taken on consecutive days, each lasting approximately three hours. Part 4 will be scheduled as soon as the committee has read Parts 1, 2, and 3 and has had time to discuss them.

If any part of the examination is not passed, that part (alone) must be retaken within six months; otherwise, the entire examination must be retaken. If any part of the examination is twice failed, the student will be dropped from the D.M.A. program.

Upon satisfactory completion of all parts of the comprehensive examination, the student will be recommended for candidacy.

Doctoral Document

The doctoral document should be a unique, scholarly contribution to the student’s particular field, showing originality of thought and a command of basic musicological and theoretical tools. Doctoral candidates must submit a formal proposal for their document to their entire committee after successful completion of their comprehensive exams. The candidate is expected to follow the guidelines prescribed by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. The completed document must be approved by the candidate’s doctoral committee at a formal defense.

Time Limitation

Students who enroll as doctoral candidates must complete their degree requirements within ten years of the date of first enrollment with a doctoral degree objective. Failure to comply will result in the candidate being ineligible for that doctoral degree.

Doctoral students who fail to complete the doctoral document within five years after passing the comprehensive examination must retake the examination.

Semester hour requirements - Majors in performance, composition, and conducting


  • Required Core Cr. 48.
  • Designated Electives (minor) Cr. 12.

Total 60


Special Requirements


  • Public performances (see curricula for specific requirements)
  • Doctoral document: a scholarly and analytical expansion of material presented in the public performances, or a presentation of original research in an area of music education.

Requirements


Total 60


Public performances required:

Orchestral Instrument 1 solo recital
1 chamber music recital
1 lecture recital
1 concerto performance with orchestra or 2nd solo recital Keyboard Instrument 1 solo recital (2 for organ majors)
1 accompanying/chamber music recital (piano and harpsichord majors)
1 lecture recital
1 major solo work with orchestra or an additional solo recital Voice 2 solo recitals (may include chamber music)
1 lecture recital
1 major solo work with orchestra or major opera role

Works must be performed from memory when appropriate.