Music Department—Programs and Studios
Truman offers a Bachelor of Music with a Composition emphasis and a Master of Arts in Music with either a Composition or a Theory emphasis.
The Bachelor of Music includes:
Elective composition lessons are also available as a part of the Music Minor. This one-on-one instruction in composition is only available to students pursuing a Major or Minor in Music.
Advanced training in Composition forms the core of Master of Arts in Music, Composition emphasis, and leads to composition thesis. The Theory emphasis explores the history and development of the scientific and practical underpinning of the musical art and culminates in a thesis as well.
Students generally enter the program as a junior and will have:
The most common way to prepare a portfolio is by taking a semester or more of elective lower-division composition, usually during the sophomore year, while completing the other course requirements. The portfolio can also result from self-study, private study, or coursework such as work completed in MUSI 336 – Introduction to Musical Composition.
TRANSFER STUDENTS: Students interested in transferring from another institution and pursuing the B.M. should contact Dr. Charles Gran for application procedures.
Students interested in pursuing graduate composition at Truman should forward a selection of scores and recordings to Dr. Charles Gran. Students interested in graduate study in music theory should contact Dr. Victor Marquez-Barrios for application procedures.
The includes several required courses and electives from the Theory and Composition section. Students outside the music program can also take these courses as electives but should be mindful that all 300- and 400-level courses, and most 200-level courses in the Music program have prerequisites. Applied study in composition (private composition lessons) is only available to Music majors.
Your theory and composition courses provide a comprehensive curriculum designed to meet the needs of today’s musicians. They include analysis and aural skills (4 semesters), private study in composition (graduate and undergraduate), counterpoint, form and analysis, modern composition practices and literature, contemporary analytical techniques, and electronic music. We can also arrange independent studies in specialized areas of theory, music technology and/or composition.
Like many of our students, you may find yourself presenting scholarly research papers at regional and national research conferences. Supporting courses in instrumental and vocal arranging, orchestration, and conducting complement your theory/composition curriculum — giving you a well-rounded foundation for your career in music.
Nationally-recognized educators, scholars, and composers teach all your courses. Add to that a comprehensive system of peer tutors for all students enrolled in analysis and aural skills classes and you get the one-on-one instruction at Truman you can’t find at larger schools.
Our spacious Music Computing Lab and Electronic Music Studio are equipped with up-to-date, advanced music and sound recording equipment. Students can also participate in the Electronic Music Working Group and research contemporary methods of computer music.
Our students, faculty, and ensembles regularly perform student compositions. We also host the . Guest artists have included Paul Chihara, Amy X Neuburg, Bruno Louchouarn, Pincushioned, and Nathaniel Bartlett.
Our student composers have received national and regional composition awards, and their music has been performed at significant music events across the country. Several of our alumni have received prestigious commissions from organizations such as the Des Moines Symphony and the St. Louis Symphony Chorus, and others have administrative roles in the National Association of Composers USA, the Mid-America New Music Center, and the Iowa Composers Forum. Many of our students pursue graduate study in composition at leading universities and conservatories throughout the nation and internationally.
For more information about the theory/composition program, contact Dr. Charles Gran.