Resources and Information for Current Students

Prior to the advancement to degree candidacy, DMA students will perform a minimum of two full recital programs containing significant solo and ensemble works composed since 1950 and pass a qualifying examination focused on their creative work as a performer, examining aspects of their repertoire and research interests.

The fourth-year dissertation requirement (2 credits) consists of a written thesis and lecture recital focused on a special topic of interest to the student and must be approved by the student’s doctoral committee and graduate advisor. The dissertation requirement encourages students to connect aspects of contemporary music performance practice with original research and analysis.

Performance faculty should submit recital requests on the student’s behalf to the department’s concert manager, Alex Sesentón, as early in the season as possible. Please provide the concert manager with two or three preferred dates so that she can check availability and confirm a time. Please also attach any stage plots or technical needs the student may have for the performance. For any live streaming or recording needs, the faculty member or the student may submit a request using the Recital Recordings form.

Two recitals of advanced solo and chamber music (0 credits) constitute the culminating experience for the MM program, while one recital constitutes the culminating experience for the certificate in Contemporary Performance. In lieu of giving a second recital on their primary instrument, MM students concentrating in woodwinds present two lecture-demonstrations on their secondary and tertiary instruments, addressing the history of the instrument, relevant literature, and a playing demonstration.

Performance faculty should submit recital requests on the student’s behalf to the department’s concert manager, Alex Sesentón, as early in the season as possible. Please provide the concert manager with two or three preferred dates so that she can check availability and confirm a time. Please also attach any stage plots or technical needs the student may have for the performance.

For any live streaming or recording needs, the faculty member or the student may submit a request using the Recital Recordings form.

Students must prepare a capstone portfolio of at least three representative works completed while in residence, accompanied by a recording if possible (0 credits).

The MA in Music History or Music Theory concludes with a comprehensive exam and an assembled portfolio of work. (2 credits.) These capstone experiences are direct preparation for a career as a scholar, as well as job interviews and graduate school applications. Students may choose which portion to complete in the fall of their final year and which portion to complete in the spring. 

Students prepare to complete the capstone portfolio, containing two revised seminar papers, by registering for one credit of MUS 600 with an assigned member of the musicology or theory faculty. Students planning to apply to PhD programs may wish to complete the portfolio during the fall semester so that the revised papers may be submitted as writing samples with their application(s).

Students prepare for the comprehensive exam by registering for one credit of MUS 600 with an assigned member of the musicology or theory faculty. The comprehensive exam has two components: First, the student will answer a question concerning an area of research interest declared by the student and approved by the musicology/theory faculty at the beginning of the exam semester. Second, the student will be given a piece of music in a repertoire area of interest (also declared at the beginning of the semester) and asked to answer questions in relation to that piece.

Students are expected to prepare for their qualifying examinations by working closely with faculty advisors in three areas: the analysis of contemporary music and two areas that reflect the student’s interests and influences. Students generally register for 1–2 semesters of MUS 600 (1 credit) with each advisor, for 4–6 credits in total, during their fourth year.

For the analysis of contemporary music, a student presents ten analyses of contemporary music over the course of an academic year to their composition advisor. The choice of the compositions is determined by the advisor in consultation with the student. After the presentations are concluded, a 15 to 20-page paper is required that focuses on three of the presented works. 

For the other two parts of the qualifying exam, a student chooses two additional advisors for their committee from different areas of the department (performance, musicology, theory) by the end of their third year of study. With each advisor, they develop a research topic which they explore over the course of their fourth year, resulting in a final 15 to 20-page paper for each topic.

The resulting qualifying portfolio consists of three papers (music analysis paper and two papers on topics developed with their qualifying committee members) and three compositions (scores and/or recordings) composed in a student’s first three years at UB. The student must then present the qualifying portfolio to the three advisors in an oral examination administered prior to beginning the dissertation.

Students working on their dissertation generally register for 1 credit of MUS 700TUT Doctoral Dissertation per semester, during the fall and spring of their final year of study. The dissertation is an ambitious composition of substance with an accompanying performance or recording. In addition to the composition is a 10-page paper discussing the composition as well as the student’s general aesthetic orientation and concerns. The graduation examination is a public presentation by the student of their music, particularly their dissertation composition, before the committee.

The unauthorized use of generative AI technologies in connection with dissertations, theses, and other capstone projects is a violation of the UB Academic Integrity Policy. Graduate students in the Department of Music who wish to employ such technologies for legitimate scholarly purposes must first obtain specific and well-documented permission from their faculty advisor(s). Students approved to use generative AI must clearly identify its contributions within capstone materials.