Skip to main content Skip to local navigation
2022-2023 FGS Academic Calendar | York University Faculty of Graduate Studies

Music

Posted on 17 August 2022

Music

Posted on 17 August 2022

All Programs

LocationEmail AddressProgram Website
Accolade East Building, Suite 371gradmusi@yorku.camusic.gradstudies.yorku.ca

The Graduate Program in Music offers MA and PhD degrees. The program’s faculty members include ethnomusicologists, music historians, music theorists, performers and composers, all of whom teach in their specialized areas of research and share a concern for the critical study of methodologies and procedures in music scholarship and composition.

The program offers courses and research opportunities in ethnomusicology, musicology and composition, giving particular but not exclusive emphasis to North American music, including jazz and urban popular music, religious music, concert and folk music in rural and urban localities. Recognition is given to the multiple cultures that coexist in contemporary society and to the many contexts and issues which shape musical expression and research. Members of the program are concerned with the scholarly study of composition and improvisation, with aural cognition, mediation and reception as well as with cultural studies and criticism.

MA fields of study: composition, ethnomusicology, jazz, musicology and popular music

PhD fields of study: ethnomusicology, jazz, musicology and popular music

The program also participates in a three-year program leading to a double degree (MA and MBA) in Music and Business Administration/Arts Administration. Please see the MBA/MFA/MA section of this Calendar for more information.

Admission Requirements

MA

PhD

To be considered for admission, an applicant must be a graduate of a recognized university, normally with at least a B (second class) standing, assessed over the last two years of academic study. Strength in musicianship, as well as knowledge of European music history, is expected of students entering the program.

In addition, applicants should have an undergraduate degree in music or a relevant major in the humanities or social sciences. If the undergraduate degree is in a subject other than music, applicants should have at least a minor concentration in music or the equivalent in training and experience (to be determined by the program’s graduate admissions committee). Applicants without the expected academic qualifications may be asked to make up deficiencies.

All applicants should submit:
1) a statement of intent (no less than 500 words);
2) two examples of scholarly writing; and,
3) an updated résumé (curriculum vitae).
In addition to the above documents, applicants for the composition field must submit a composition portfolio. All complete files are assessed by the Music graduate program admissions committee.

The program accepts only those qualified applicants who are able to benefit from the faculty and facilities available.

Applicants for admission should hold a master’s degree in music or a relevant discipline from a recognized university with a minimum B+ average.

Strength in musicianship should be minimally equivalent to that of an undergraduate major in music. Applicants with culture-specific expertise but without the expected academic qualifications may be given special consideration and/or may be asked to make up deficiencies.

All applicants should submit:
1) a statement of intent (no less than 500 words);
2) two examples of scholarly writing; and,
3) an updated résumé (curriculum vitae)

The program accepts only those qualified applicants who are able to benefit from the faculty and facilities available.

Degree Requirements

MA

PhD

MA

Candidates for the MA degree in Ethnomusicology/Musicology must satisfactorily complete the following:

Courses

Music 5010 3.0: Problems and Methods of Musical Research plus FIVE additional half courses which differ substantially in subject area and/or methodological approach. These electives may include a course in a cognate discipline related to the student’s principal research interests, or a directed reading course.

Major Research Paper

A research paper (generally 50 to 80 pages) on a topic approved by the program’s graduate executive committee, written under the direction of a member of the graduate faculty in music. The paper is graded by the faculty member directing the research and by a second reader, appointed by the Graduate Program Director.

Candidates for the MA degree in Composition must satisfactorily complete the following:

Courses

Music 5005A 3.0: Seminar in Composition I (half course over two terms—year 1) and Music 5005B 3.0: Seminar in Composition II
(half course over two terms—year 2), which combine private lessons and shared symposia; plus FOUR additional half courses offered by the program, including at least one of:
Music 5110 3.0: Early Twentieth-century Music: Form, Structure and Significance,
Music 6210 3.0: Documentary and Interpretive Studies in Contemporary Music,
Music 6250 3.0: Musical Analysis, or
Music 6310 3.0: Musical Acoustics, Psychoacoustics and Formal Perception.

Composition and Major Research Paper

A composition and a major research paper on a topic approved by the program’s Graduate Executive Committee. The usual form of the composition is an extended musical score (or acoustic equivalent) in combination with a major research paper. The major research paper (generally 50 to 80 pages) places the composition in the context of contemporary music with respect to its technical methods and style orientation. The principle guiding the composition major research paper must be distinct and extensive independent work which from the standpoints of its technical mastery, feasibility for performance, relation of means to aesthetic intention, and its composer’s awareness of sources and influences.

The MA program can be completed on a full- or part-time basis. Entry is fall term.

The expected degree completion time for full-time master’s students is 4 terms (full-time) or 8 terms (part-time). Students must register and pay fees for a minimum of the equivalent of 4 terms of full-time study. All requirements for a master’s degree must be fulfilled within 12 terms (4 years) of registration as a full-time or part-time master’s student in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ registration policies.

PhD

All students must satisfactorily complete the following:

Music 6010 6.0: Theoretical Perspectives in Ethnomusicology/Musicology plus FOUR additional half courses beyond the master’s program. Students may apply to take courses outside the program and may fulfill up to two requirements as directed reading courses.

An examination testing the student’s reading knowledge of two languages other than English as appropriate to the research program.

Two comprehensive examinations testing broad areas of specialization, including a critical grasp of theoretical issues. The first examination consists of a one-hour public oral presentation followed by an oral defence conducted by the student’s supervisory committee. The second is a written comprehensive examination testing the student’s area of expertise.

A dissertation on a topic approved by the program’s Graduate Executive Committee, presented and defended in accordance with the dissertation regulations of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

The PhD program can be completed on a full- or part-time basis. Entry is fall term.

Normal degree completion time for full-time PhD students is 18 terms (6 years). Doctor of Philosophy students must register and pay fees for a minimum of the equivalent of six terms of full-time registration. All requirements for a doctoral degree must be fulfilled within 18 terms (6 years) of registration as a full-time or part-time doctoral student in accordance with Faculty of Graduate Studies’ registration policies.