Doctor of Philosophy

The Ph.D. curriculum, offered through the Graduate School - New Brunswick, encompasses specializations in musicology or composition, both areas incorporating extensive study of music theory. In applying for admission to the program, musicology students submit an essay that demonstrates their ability to engage in advanced scholarly research. Applicants in composition submit a work based on a traditional procedural model (i.e., motet, chorale prelude, invention, or fugue) in addition to a portfolio of recent, representative compositions.

For both composers and musicologists, the course of doctoral study involves 18 credits of required and elective course work beyond the master's degree, 24 credits of directed research, and the dissertation. In addition, composition students participate in the Composer Forum; for students in musicology, a graduate forum provides an analogous setting for the periodic discussion of pertinent academic and professional issues. Language requirements for candidates in musicology include a working knowledge of German and French and an additional language to be chosen with the approval of the graduate director. Students in composition are required to have a working knowledge of German and one Romance language. Before formal admission to candidacy, all students must pass written and oral comprehensive examinations.

The course of doctoral study culminates in the dissertation. For musicology students, this constitutes an original, methodologically rigorous contribution to the discipline. For candidates in composition, the dissertation requirement includes submission of a major work, normally for orchestra or for orchestra and voice, and an extended critical essay. Planning and executing the dissertation is accomplished under the direction of a principal adviser and a dissertation committee consisting of at least two additional departmental faculty members and one outside reader.