Graduate Studies in Music

Welcome to the Department of Music at Stanford University. Our graduate programs—D.M.A. in composition, Ph.D. in computer-based music theory and acoustics, Ph.D. in musicology, and M.A. in Music, Science, and Technology (MST) — bring together a diverse body of students and professors, offering highly specialized courses of study while enabling a constant interaction of the various musical disciplines. In addition to internationally renowned scholars and creative musicians, you will find in the Braun Music Center and at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) first-rate facilities for music-making and research, a superb collection of musical instruments, a well-stocked Music Library, and a wide variety of the latest computer equipment. The Center for Computer-Assisted Research in the Humanities (CCARH), also housed in Braun, is open to students and faculty in all programs.

Download the current (2007-08) Graduate Studies Handbook.

Correspondence and Information

Concerns and inquires about the graduate programs in Music should be directed to the graduate associate:

Debbie Barney
Academic Administrative Associate &
Graduate Student Services Officer

Department of Music
Braun Music Center
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-3076


Fax: 650.725.2686

Programs of Study

Masters Degrees

The MA/MST program is our only “terminal” masters: one year in duration and consisting only of coursework.

Students are not admitted into the M.A. as a “terminal” degree for music history, composition, or computer-based music theory and acoustics: rather, they may pick up the degree, having been admitted to the doctoral program directly from the Bachelor's level, by passing the qualifying examinations in the second or third year of study, depending on the program.

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Doctoral Degrees

The D.M.A. is offered to a limited number of students who demonstrate substantial training in the field and high promise of attainment as composers. Students may work in traditional and/or electronic forms. Breadth is given through studies in other branches of music and in relevant fields outside music, as desirable. The final project for this degree is a large-scale composition.

The Ph.D. is offered in areas of the research of Stanford's graduate faculty: Musicology, including specialties in musical aesthetics, history of music theory, and performance practice; and Computer-Based Music Theory and Acoustics (CBMTA), specializing in research in musical acoustics at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA). The department seeks students who demonstrate substantial scholarship, high promise of attainment, and the ability to do independent investigation and present the results of such research in a dissertation.

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Academic Requirements

Unit Requirements

The M.A. Music, Science and Technology candidate is required to complete a minimum of 45 academic units. For descriptions of specific courses, please see the CCRMA site.

The D.M.A. requires a minimum of 135 academic units of graduate coursework and usually takes at least four years. The student may proceed directly to the D.M.A. from the Bachelor's entry level without completing the M.A. (The M.A. may be “picked up,” however, by passing the qualifying exams). The language requirement in composition is a demonstration of reading knowledge of one language other than English. Examinations for the D.M.A. consist of a qualifying exam at the start of the second year of study and a written exam in the candidate's special area in the first quarter of the fourth year. In addition to formal coursework and independent study, candidates are required to write a number of works in various forms, an extended final project, and to present a public lecture-demonstration based on their final project.

The Ph.D. requires a minimum of 135 academic units of graduate coursework and usually takes at least five years. The student may proceed directly to the Ph.D. from the Bachelor's entry level without completing the M.A. (The M.A. may be “picked up,” however, by passing the qualifying exams).

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Language Requirements

The language requirement for musicology is a reading knowledge of:

  1. German
  2. French, Latin, Italian, or any other language necessary to research in the candidate's field of specialization.

The language requirement in computer-based music theory and acoustics (CBMTA) is a demonstration of reading knowledge of one language other than English.

Qualifying Exams and University Orals (for Ph.D. Candidates)

Examinations for the Ph.D. consist of qualifying, prior to the start of the second year (for the CBMTA program), or prior to the start of the third year (for the Musicology program), and special-area exams (in the first quarter of the fourth year) as well as the University Oral (a dissertation defense, usually taken during the last quarter of registration). The Ph.D. candidate must submit a dissertation that is an original contribution to scholarship and that demonstrates his or her capacity for independent advanced research.

For descriptions of the course requirements for each degree, consult the “Music” Section in the online Stanford Bulletin.

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Research and Performance Facilities

Music Library

The Music Library supports music research, composition, and performance at Stanford with a collection of 110,000 books and scores, 34,000 sound and video recordings, 9,000 microforms, and several hundred active periodical subscriptions. Most of Stanford's rare music materials form the Memorial Library of Music, housed in the Green Library Department of Special Collections. Some music books and recordings are also located in the Green Library stacks and the Media/Microtext Center.

Music Library hours during the academic year are:

Monday–Thursday, 9am–10pm
Friday. 9am–5pm
Saturday, 1pm–5pm
Sunday, 1pm–10pm

Hours for intersessions and holidays are posted spearately on the Music Library's website, as is information on access, borrowing, course reserves and more.

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Archive of Recorded Sound

300,000 recordings in the Archive of Recorded Sound make it one of the five largest archives of its kind in the United States. From wax cylinders to compact discs, the collection reflects the entirety of recorded sound history. See the archive's website for information on hours, listening appointments, and research consultations.

Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA)

The Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) is one of the top-rated facilities for digital sound research in the world. CCRMA’s home at The Knoll is a state-of-the-art center for the study, research, recording, and editing of sound. The facility includes a spherical listening room for experimentation in psychoacoustics and listening perception, a concert space designed to enhance performances incorporating both live and electronic components, an extensive hardware environment, digital editing facilities, and a multitrack recording studio.

Center for Computer-Assisted Research in the Humanities (CCARH)

The Center for Computer-Assisted Research in the Humanities (CCARH) is a pioneer in the field of large-scale databases for music research. CCARH makes available electronic scores of standard musical repertory for printing, analysis, and electronic performance. It encourages the development of tools for research and the discussion of issues vital to the progress of computer-assisted research in music history, theory, and analysis. An associated computer lab is available for student use.

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Practice and Performance Facilities

Practice and performance facilities in Braun Music Center include a 710-seat auditorium, a 218-seat recital hall, orchestral and choral rehearsal halls, and a 40-seat chamber music hall, in addition to teaching studios and practice rooms. Along with pianos, organs, harps, and early keyboard instruments, students may use rare instruments from the H.R. Lange Historical Collection of fine old stringed instruments and bows, as well as early wind instruments.

Financial Coverage: Aid and Costs of Study

Fellowships & Assistanceships

A limited number of department and University fellowships are granted on the basis of academic record, financial need, and demonstrated musical ability. Financial aid is not available to terminal M.A. students: in order to be considered for financial aid, applicants must apply to and be accepted into a doctoral program.  Graduate students should not expect that Stanford will cover all of their expenses and should not look to Stanford for all of their support: they are expected to draw from other resources as well, often after the five-year support program has ended.

Fellowships (Year I) provide up to full tuition (12-18 academic units per quarter) plus a stipend of $19,725 (all monetary figures are for Academic Year 2007–08; they are subject to revision each year). Teaching Assistants (TAs) and predoctoral Research Associates (RAs) (Years II through V) receive 8-10 units of tuition ($22,710) and work half-time - as TAs in music theory, history, and general music courses (for a salary of $21,765 per year), and as RAs researching and writing their own dissertations (for a salary of $19,725 per year). Doctoral students also receive two summers of aid, taken just before the years of qualifying and special area examinations: 8-10 units of tuition and a stipend of $5,260 for the 8-week quarter. In addition, special scholarships (applied for when students have enrolled in classes) are available to offset the cost of applied-music fees.

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Health Insurance & Discretionary Funds

The full cost of individual health insurance is covered during enrolled quarters of all five years.

The Department of Music, with funding from the School of Humanities and Sciences, is able to provide small grants to graduate students for purposes of enabling, forwarding, and/or enhancing pursuit of their degrees. Examples of expenses that may qualify for these funds include (but are not restricted to): conference travel (either to participate or attend); unforeseen medical costs; final quarter registration; paying musicians hired to perform student compositions.

Cost of Study

Full-time tuition for Academic Year 2007–08 (12-18 academic units per quarter) is $34,800 for the nine-month academic year; 8-10 unit tuition is $22,710. TGR tuition is $8280 per year. There is an additional fee of $200 per quarter for applied-music instruction (but Music graduate students cover this expense with departmental scholarships, applied for each year in the fall).

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Application Procedures

Getting Information

Information on our programs is always available: e-mail the graduate associate and state program in which you are interested. The university's “Guide to Graduate Admissions” may be requested in printed format by clicking on the “Printed Materials Request Form” link at the Graduate Admissions website.

Entrance Requirements

To pursue graduate (and therefore advanced) study in Music, applicants are required to have earned a Bachelor's degree, and it is expected that applicants will have the equivalent of a Bachelor's in Music. If you have not actually earned a degree in Music, comparison with the Stanford Music Department's requirements for the Bachelor's degree will help you determine whether or not you will need to take courses in music theory, history, etc. on your own; these requirements are listed in the Music section of the Stanford Bulletin.

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Application Deadline and Fee

The Department of Music only admits new students in autumn quarter of each school year. INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS: Please plan ahead; submit your application and take your GRE and TOEFL exams early. Electronic applications are accessed via the Graduate Admissions website beginning in September of each year for admission in September the following year. Applications must be completed and filed by midnight of December 11. The application filing fee is $105.00.

OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT

A few notes on transcripts:

  • Even though the registrar's instructions direct applicants to send two originals, one will do just fine. If you are accepted, we copy it and send the original to Grad. Admissions; we'll happily keep the copy (this may save you money! and will probably save you some hassle).
  • Transcripts must be official ones, sent directly from the institution; or, if sent to you and included in your application, the school must seal the envelope and sign over the seal so that it is demonstrable that YOU HAVE NOT OPENED IT. IF we receive an unsealed transcript in your application, you will be asked to provde another sealed transcript.
  • If the transcript is not in English, an official translation must accompany it. See the Guide to Graduate Admissions for translation information. These must also be in sealed, signed envelopes showing that you have not opened them.
  • If transcripts are not generally available from your school (e.g., United Kingdom), the registrar will sometimes send us a course list if asked specially. If schools only give one original (e.g., Russia), we will accept a photocopy at the time of application; if you are accepted, Graduate Admissions requires that you present the original upon arrival.

REQUIRED EXAMS: GREs (and TOEFL)

Don't forget the GREs (and TOEFL)! The GRE is required of all applicants for graduate study at Stanford. We require the general test only. There is no “minimum acceptable score”—the GRE is only one component of your entire application. We need the GRE scores by December 11, 2007, so if you're applying please take the exam in time. Contact ETS for further information on scheduling these exams.

TOEFL is required for all applicants whose first language is not English. Individuals who have completed a bachelor's degree or a two-year master's program in the US or another English-speaking country are not required to submit TOEFL scores.

  • If required, scores must be submitted from a test taken within the last eighteen months
  • Applicants taking the paper-based TOEFL are required to have a minimum score of 600.
  • Applicants taking the computer-based TOEFL are required to have a total minimum score of 250.
  • Applicants taking the Internet-based TOEFL are required to have a total minimum score of 100.
  • Applicants are urged to take the TOEFL by October to be eligible for admission for the following Autumn quarter. Evidence of adequate English proficiency must be submitted before enrollment is approved by Graduate Admissions.

APPLICATION RESTRICTIONS

Please note: you may only apply to ONE program at a time! This does not mean that you cannot take courses in other fields of interest; just that you are getting your degree in one field (after you're here already, if you want to go for another degree you may apply for that in addition to the one you are currently pursuing).

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Graduate Advisors

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UPCOMING EVENTS