Music with a Concentration in Performance (MM)

Overview

The Master of Music with a Concentration in Performance (MM) program provides graduate level study in Performance, which will result in the improvement of students’ musical skills and techniques, as well as knowledge of music literature beyond the scope of undergraduate training. 

Admission Requirements

To be admitted to the graduate program in music, prospective candidates must first meet all requirements for graduate admission to UT Rio Grande Valley, as well as the other requirements listed below:

  1. Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution in the United States or a recognized international equivalent in a similar or related field.
  2. Undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 in the last 60 semester credit hours.
  3. Three  letters  of  recommendation  from  professional  or  academic sources.
  4. Letter of intent detailing reasons for pursuing the graduate degree.
  5. Submission of an essay on professional goals
  6. Resume including educational background and work experience.
  7. Personal interview
  8. The applicant must perform an audition, either for the spring audition committee or for a graduate faculty committee organized by the appropriate applied teacher or graduate advisor. Specific repertoire, scales, and memorization requirements are available from the appropriate applied professor. The applicant will also be asked to sight read. Following the audition, the committee will recommend or not recommend the applicant for admission. Voice students seeking a degree in Music Performance must meet prerequisites in both conversational language study and lyric diction in French, German, and Italian. Deficiency in any of these areas will require additional course work.

Application for admission must be submitted prior to the published deadline. The application is available at www.utrgv.edu/gradapply.

Additional Requirements

The performance degree requires a minimum of a 60-minute public recital (MUSI 6199) of music repertoire appropriate to the level of graduate study. A recital committee will decide what portion of the music will be performed from memory. The student must pass a pre-recital hearing a minimum of 10 days prior to the recital date.

For the thesis option, MUSI 7300 and MUSI 7301 will require a research study designed to produce new and original conclusions and knowledge. The student must prepare a formal proposal that must be approved by the thesis committee. Approval of the final paper by the thesis committee will be a required for graduation. The student must also successfully defend the thesis.

For the non-thesis students in the Master of Music Program must pass a general written and oral comprehensive exam designed and administered by the student’s advisory committee at the end of the degree program

Program Requirements

Required Course - 3 Hours

Choose one of the following:

MUSI 6334Research Methods in Music

3

MUSI 6338Music Ethnography & Fieldwork Methods

3

Concentration Coursework - 15 Hours

MUAP 62XX
Applied Lessons instrument

2

MUSI 62XX
Pedagogy of Instrument/Voice

2

MUSI 6199Masters Recital

1

MUEN 61XX
Chamber Music/Large Ensemble

1

MUAP 62XX must be taken four times in instrument or voice. MUEN 61XX must be taken four times (can be the same course or different courses). 

Prescribed Electives – 12 Hours

Music Theory

Choose two from the following:

MUSI 6350Music Theory

3

MUSI 6351Music Theory - 20th and 21st Century

3

MUSI 6352Music Theory - Counterpoint

3

MUSI 6353Music Theory - Composition/Arranging

3

MUSI 6354Music Theory - Analysis

3

MUSI 6355Music Theory - Music of the Americas

3

MUSI 6356Music Theory Pedagogy

3

MUSI 6350 may be repeated when topic varies. 

Music History

Choose two from the following:

MUSI 6348History of American Music Education

3

MUSI 6360Music History & Literature

3

MUSI 6362Music History and Literature - 20th and 21st Century

3

MUSI 6366Music History and Literature - Wind Band

3

MUSI 6367Music History and Literature - Medieval and Renaissance

3

MUSI 6368Music History and Literature - Baroque

3

MUSI 6369Music History and Literature - Music for the Stage

3

MUSI 6370Seminar in Music and Culture

3

MUSI 6371World Music Cultures

3

MUSI 6372Studies in Music & Gender

3

MUSI 6373Music of Africa and the African Diaspora

3

MUSI 6374Music of Latin America and the Caribbean

3

MUSI 6375Music, Race & Ethnicity

3

MUSI 6381Music History and Literature - 18th Century (Classical)

3

MUSI 6382Music History and Literature - 19th Century (Romantic)

3

MUSI 6360 and MUSI 6370 may be repeated when topic varies. 

Non-thesis Option

Additional Music Electives

Any 6 hours of 6000-level MUSI, MUEN, MUAP course. 

Oral Comprehensive Exam

Written Comprehensive Exam

Thesis Option

Thesis - 6 Hours

MUSI 7300Thesis I

3

MUSI 7301Thesis II

3

Total Credit Hours: 36