MA in Music History

Our MA is designed to prepare students for a diverse set of paths after UB, ranging from further study in the field's most competitive PhD programs, to high school teaching that integrates a student's enhanced understanding of music history and music history pedagogy, to public intellectual work, and archival employment.

Every student is involved in our department's prestigious Baird Lecture Series. This series brings prominent guest lecturers to our campus throughout the year. Giving lectures, teaching courses, and working directly with our graduate students, this series gives students access to the most important scholars, composers, and performers today.

And finally, students in our MA program have the unique opportunity to complete a dual degree, earning an MS in Music Librarianship. This program is one of the strongest in the country, and features an exceptional record of placing its graduates in libraries and collections across the world.

Graduates of the UB MA in Music History are extremely well prepared for the most competitive Ph.D. programs. Every student completes four seminars in music history, three seminars in music theory, two performance electives and a semester-long colloquium. The program concludes with a comprehensive exam and an assembled portfolio of work containing two revised seminar papers in the student’s final year. These capstone experiences are direct preparation for a career as a scholar, as well as job interviews and graduate school applications.

For a complete list of required courses for the MA in Music History, please visit the Degree and Course Catalog. All degree coursework must be completed with grades of "A," B," or "S."

Students in the music history or music theory master's program can also apply to do a cooperative degree program with the Department of Information Science. This program awards students with two masters degrees (an MA in Music Theory and an MS in Music Librarianship) and makes them highly qualified for both music and other librarianship positions.  

The cooperative degree program has a long and venerable history, being one of only 7 such programs in the country to be recognized by the Music Libraries Association. Students from the program have been notably successful in securing significant job placements including music librarianship posts at the University of Michigan, Belmont University, College of the Holy Cross, National Defense University, and the University of Oregon; and other prestigious positions including Manager of Metadata Services at the New York Public Library, Media and Metadata Librarian at the Curtis Institute of Music, Head of Shared Cataloging and Special Formats Metadata at Brown University, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage archives, and Technical Services Librarian in the Conservatory Library at Oberlin College.  

The MS in Information and Library Science degree requires 36 credit hours; the MA in music history or music theory requires 38 credit hours. Up to six (6) credits can be shared by both degree programs. The program generally requires five semesters and at least one summer session to complete. Students must be accepted by both the Department of Information Science and the Department of Music.