Houghton music graduate student playing her violin while looking the mirror.

Music, M.A.

An Opportunity for Creative Flexibility

The Master of Arts in Music is a flexible curriculum that allows students the opportunity to create personalized programs of study while deepening musical skills and understanding commensurate with their academic and career goals. Students plan a principal focus of study in consultation with an advisor, comprised of a set of courses with a coherent structure designed around a central emphasis. The final project may be chosen to reflect individual gifts and interests: a traditional thesis or a performance or a lecture-recital.

Candidates contemplating the Master of Arts in music should be competent, well-prepared musicians whose graduate interests are broader than would be served by a more narrowly focused master of music program of study.

Program Objectives

  • To admit talented, well-educated musicians ready for further growth as performers, teachers, composers, and advocates of high-quality musical endeavor in a variety of settings.
  • To assist students with increased technical and aesthetic mastery of their chosen musical discipline.
  • To guide students toward an articulate philosophical integration of biblical Christian faith with the act of music-making.
  • To encourage musical exploration outside the bounds of the studentโ€™s past experiences and preferences.
  • To encourage students to understand and articulate the thoughts behind stylistic preferences, philosophies, and musical choices.

Degree Requirements

Major Area

Other Studies in Music

Choose one or two from MHS and one or two from MTH for a total of six credits; no more than one may be 4XX.

Humanities

Electives

What Graduates Say:

Discover if a Graduate Assistantship is right for you.

Graduate assistantships are available each year to MA and MM students in the Greatbatch School of Music. Generally, these positions are awarded to students within their major field of study or for services in which they hold special expertise.

Learn more about graduate assistantships