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Students in the M.Mus. program develop their own individual voices through private instruction with some of Canada’s most accomplished composers, all of whom have distinguished themselves through high-profile commissions, performances, recordings, and awards. The faculty members' diverse interests ensure that students will find a suitable mentor/supervisor. The resources of the Digital Composition Studios also offer students an opportunity to work with a wide range of cutting-edge approaches to music technology, including mixed works, interactive composition, gestural controllers, acousmatic works, multichannel audio, computer-assisted composition, and more. Students also benefit from international new music festivals and conferences co-sponsored by the Schulich School of Music, a visiting artist series, and high-quality performances, readings, and recordings of their works by some of the school’s most esteemed ensembles (e.g., Æ»¹ûÒùÔº Symphony Orchestra, Æ»¹ûÒùÔº Contemporary Music Ensemble, etc.) and advanced performers. Commissioning opportunities exist through an established composer-in-residence program and through student-initiated performer-composer and interdisciplinary collaborations.

Graduates have continued their studies at the doctoral level and then gone on to win prestigious awards (e.g., Jules Leger Prize); they also have successful careers in composition, film, literature, conducting, and teaching.

This program provides an opportunity for studio- and classroom-based teachers, and music educators working in other community settings, to explore current issues in music education and to implement their own research studies. Seminars develop facility in a breadth of research methodologies and examine pertinent research developments in different fields, while simultaneously providing opportunities to link with other departments such as the faculties of Education, Cognitive Psychology, and Physiology. Ties with The Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music, Media, and Technology (CIRMMT), and Teaching and Learning Services provide a strong supportive network for interdisciplinary and multilingual research. Experienced faculty publishes regularly in the field’s leading journals in areas such as musical development, music perception, world and community-based music education, philosophical issues in music education, performance anxiety, technological applications, and the physiological bases of musical performance.

Graduates of the program continue on to doctoral studies and pursue teaching careers around the world in various settings.

The M.A. in Music Technology is the only program of its kind in the world to apply cutting-edge scientific research to music and music making. Students are accepted from a wide range of musical backgrounds. Research goals are tied to the work of the area’s five faculty members and include the development of new and flexible strategies for sound analysis, real-time processing, synthesis and gestural control, instrument design, melodic pattern recognition, auditory display, music information retrieval, and symbolic manipulation of formal music representations, as well as the psychoacoustics of musical sounds and structures, among others. Students’ research is supported by the six laboratories forming the large multidisciplinary research infrastructure of The Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music, Media and Technology (CIRMMT), and almost unlimited technological resources (e.g., computing power, storage, measuring devices including several motion-capture systems). The Digital Composition Studio and state-of-the-art recording and acoustic environments provide opportunities to collaborate with accomplished performers and researchers in other music disciplines.

Graduates hold commercial positions related to media technologies (e.g., gaming and audio industries) and continue their studies at the doctoral level in preparation for academic careers.

This program is for students interested in developing research projects that bridge traditional methodologies with new critical approaches in musicology. The area’s humanistic orientation emphasizes the importance of political, social, and literary history, while also encouraging students to develop their skills in musical analysis, their sensitivity to different styles and performance practices, and their awareness of issues in aesthetics. Students receive guidance from leading scholars whose internationally acclaimed research ranges from medieval and renaissance music to the popular music of today. Collaborations with students from other areas and the doctoral program in seminars facilitate out-of-the-box thinking; opportunities to explore interdisciplinary research topics also exist through links with other departments, the Institute for the Public Life of Art and Ideas, and the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music, Media, and Technology. The area also provides valuable pedagogical training through teaching assistantships in undergraduate music history courses.

Graduates often continue their studies at the doctoral level at Æ»¹ûÒùÔº and other major North American universities; others pursue careers in teaching, arts management, music business, journalism, and archival curation, among others.

This program is open to students who qualify for the M.A. in Musicology (thesis option) who are interested in cross-disciplinary research that focuses on issues centrally related to gender, sexuality, feminist theory, and/or women’s studies. Musicology requirements are augmented by participation in a Graduate Feminism Symposium that engages with a diverse array of critical and empirical perspectives. The program draws on the resources of the Æ»¹ûÒùÔº Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies that includes faculty and graduate students from across the University. Supporting music faculty has interests in opera, film studies, aesthetics, theory of performance, and popular/jazz studies.

This internationally renowned program is a course-based, professional training program designed for musicians who wish to develop the skills required in the music recording and media industries. It is based on the German Tonmeister program and offers extensive, hands-on opportunities to record a broad spectrum of solo recitals, large opera, and symphonic repertoire with soloists and choirs, and complex Jazz Band and pop idioms. Æ»¹ûÒùԺ’s professional-quality facilities provide state-of-the-art equipment for research and the recording of any size of ensemble in high-resolution multichannel audio and high-definition video, and include a variety of audio recording studios equipped for surround recording, four concert hall recording spaces, a technical ear training lab, an orchestral film scoring stage, an opera studio, and post-production and editing suites. The Faculty includes prominent researchers as well as award-winning recording engineers and producers in the fields of music production, television, and film sound familiar with cutting-edge technologies and new developments. The program also has close ties with industry that facilitate opportunities for internships.

Graduates are leaders in the field working in highly respected studios around the world and winning both creative and scientific international competitions.

The M.A. in Theory is for students interested in exploring how specific pieces of music are put together and how this understanding may be generalized to relate to the way other pieces of music are composed. Music theory and elective seminars develop expertise in various analytical models and familiarity with the critical issues that define the discipline as a basis for developing individual research projects. Collaborations with students from other areas and the doctoral program in seminar discussions facilitate out-of-the-box thinking; opportunities to explore interdisciplinary research topics in perception and cognition exist through collaborations with music researchers from the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music, Media and Technology. The area also provides valuable pedagogical training through teaching assistantships in undergraduate theory courses. The Faculty has a breadth of experience in early music theory, formal functions, Schenkerian analysis, mathematical models, theories of rhythm and meter, serialism, and popular music analysis.

Graduates have been accepted into doctoral programs at Æ»¹ûÒùÔº, Yale, Eastman, Harvard, Columbia, Oxford, and Cambridge, among others.

This program is open to students who qualify for the M.A. in Theory (thesis option) who are interested in cross-disciplinary research that focuses on issues centrally related to gender, sexuality, feminist theory, and/or women’s studies. Theory requirements are augmented by participation in a Graduate Feminism Symposium that engages with a diverse array of critical and empirical perspectives. The program draws on the resources of the Æ»¹ûÒùÔº Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies that includes faculty and graduate students from across the University.

This course-based program has options in music education, musicology, and theory. Seminars provide breadth of disciplinary knowledge and understanding of research methodologies and critical issues. Expertise in two areas is developed through two written papers. Students receive guidance from leading scholars whose internationally acclaimed research covers a broad spectrum of topics central to each discipline. Collaborations with students from other areas and the doctoral program in seminars facilitate outside-the-box thinking.

The option in Music Education provides an opportunity for studio-, classroom-, and community-based music educators to read, understand, and apply research studies in different fields to their own practices.

The option in Musicology is for students interested in a humanistic orientation to topics in music history and musicology that bridges traditional methodologies with new critical approaches.

The option in Theory develops skill with different analytical models and the ways in which they may be used to explore how specific pieces of music are put together.

Some graduates continue to doctoral studies; others pursue careers in teaching, arts management, music business, journalism, and librarianship, among others.

The M.Mus. in Jazz Performance is flexibly designed to offer specialization in Jazz Composition, Jazz Performance, and Jazz Orchestra training. All students take courses in jazz pedagogy, composition, and arranging, and benefit from close interaction with a diverse, creative, and professionally active faculty. A recital and a CD recording of original music are the principal thesis requirements. Our outstanding ensembles include the Æ»¹ûÒùÔº Jazz Orchestra, the ten-piece Æ»¹ûÒùÔº Chamber Ensemble, two more jazz orchestras, a saxophone ensemble, and over twenty jazz combos. Teaching opportunities vary from year to year, but are generally available in Jazz Theory, Jazz Ear Training, Jazz Orchestra 3, Jazz Improvisation, and Jazz Combo. Montreal’s vibrant jazz scene also provides rich opportunities for performance and musical engagement.

Graduates have active touring careers, teach in university jazz programs, and have produced recordings that have earned Juno awards.

Established in 1975, this program is the longest-standing Early Music program in North America. It offers early music specialists interested in historical performance practices a rich variety of performing experiences, including 15–20 chamber ensembles (vocal, madrigal, viol, and recorder consorts, etc.), the Cappella Antica, and the Baroque Orchestra. Æ»¹ûÒùÔº is also the only North American music faculty to produce a fully staged performance of an early opera every year. Recent productions include: Handel’s Alcina, Agrippina, and Imeneo, Lully’s Thésée, and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Faculty are prominently involved in Montreal’s internationally acclaimed Early Music community. The Schulich School of Music also owns a large collection of early instruments that is available to students.

Graduates perform with Montreal-based early music ensembles, including, among others, Les Violons du Roy and the Arion Baroque Orchestra, as well as Aradia and Tafelmusik in Toronto, and various ensembles in Europe (e.g., Concerto Palatino, Centre de musique baroque de Versailles).

The premiere orchestral training program in Canada, this program is for talented instrumental musicians and guitarists wishing to hone their artistry and expressive, interpretative skills in a flexibly designed curriculum rich in performance opportunities. Ensembles emulate professional settings, and include five orchestras—two full orchestras (the renowned Æ»¹ûÒùÔº Symphony Orchestra and the Æ»¹ûÒùÔº Sinfonetta), one opera orchestra, one baroque orchestra, and one contemporary music ensemble—as well as one large wind symphony and one guitar ensemble. Opportunities for chamber music also abound. String players benefit from a rigorous string quartet training program and trail-blazing pedagogical approaches. Brass and wind musicians also perform a wide range of large ensemble repertoire for their instruments; percussionists perform, tour, and record with the esteemed Æ»¹ûÒùÔº Percussion Ensemble. Thesis recitals foster individual creativity and diversity by offering a range of options important for orchestral musicians—orchestral excerpt exams run like orchestral auditions, chamber music recitals, and concerto competitions—as well as solo recitals, sound recording, and interdisciplinary projects including collaborations with composers and the Digital Composition Studio, among others.

There is a focus on healthy performance and a broad range of seminars that ground performance practice in the broader humanistic and scientific contexts of music and artistic research-creation. Ensemble conductors are world-class; faculty include the concertmasters and principal players of major Canadian orchestras, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra; percussion instructors have international profiles and a breadth of experience in world and contemporary repertoires.

Graduates have secured positions in orchestras throughout North and South America, and in Europe, and with the Canadian Opera Company, Ensemble Moderne, and others.

Students in this program develop their artistry as collaborative musicians in vocal, instrumental, and opera repetiteur settings. The program is not a chamber music program in that it prepares pianists to assume coaching responsibilities as well as collaborate with other musicians. Candidates need to have excellent technique and interpretative skills, sight-reading abilities, and previous collaborative experience. The program is flexibly defined to allow students to specialize or gain experience in a variety of settings and with a broad cross-section of vocal, instrumental, orchestral, and theatrical repertoire. Concert recitals, choral ensembles, studio lessons with high-quality performers, and opera productions provide professional settings in which students master their craft. Faculty includes internationally renowned collaborative pianists, vocal coaches, conductors, and stage directors.

Graduates pursue careers as collaborative pianists, accompanists, opera repetiteurs, studio teachers, and coaches.

The M.Mus in Piano develops artistic expression and interpretative skills by immersing the advanced pianist in a vibrant musical environment that blends performance training with humanities-based scholarship. The flexibly designed program revolves around an integrated piano seminar involving all studios and includes collaborative opportunities in instrumental, vocal, and contemporary music performance at a high level, piano pedagogy, and performance practice through fortepiano/harpsichord study as options. Recital options include solo and chamber music performance, sound recording, and interdisciplinary projects, including collaborations with strong composition students and the Digital Composition Studio. Dynamic faculty performs internationally and has diverse teaching, coaching, and adjudicating experience in a broad range of solo, chamber, and concerto repertoires.

Graduates often continue their studies at the doctoral level, have been selected for national/international competitions, and pursue careers as collaborative pianists, opera coaches, and as independent studio teachers.

This program provides talented organists and church music scholars with an opportunity to hone their artistry and interpretive skills. The flexibly designed program combines performance with seminars in historically informed performance practice, music and liturgy, counterpoint, improvisation, continuo playing, and choral conducting, among other options. Thesis performance options allow for creativity and diversity by including options for solo and chamber music recitals, concerto performances, recording projects, church music projects, and opportunities for interdisciplinary research and collaborations with strong composers and other departments. Students benefit from excellent facilities that include practice organs built by Beckerath, Casavant, Tsuji, Wilhelm, and Wolff, as well as the famous French classical organ in Redpath Hall. A number of assistantships are available in downtown churches with some of Montreal’s most distinguished church musicians.

Graduates have won prizes in major national and international competitions and pursue church music careers around the world.

Students in this program specialize in orchestral, wind, or choral conducting. Enrolment is limited to outstanding candidates having highly developed musical skills in voice, instrumental, or piano performance. The program provides for concentrated podium time, interactions with world-class conductors, score study, and the development of rehearsal technique. A range of seminars provides for the in-depth study of performance practice and the development of analytical skills with leading scholars in musicology and theory. Thesis performance projects involve concert recitals with various Schulich School of Music ensembles.

Some graduates continue on to doctoral studies; others pursue conducting and teaching positions in schools, orchestras, and as opera assistants.

The M.Mus in Opera and Voice develops vocal growth and artistic expression by immersing students in a vibrant musical environment that blends performance training with humanities-based scholarship. The flexibly designed program provides the option for students to specialize in opera performance or to develop artistry in a variety of solo and operatic repertoires.

There are three opera productions every year, including one Early Music opera with period instruments. Other performance opportunities include solo recitals, studio concerts, Cappella Antica, oratorios, chamber music ensembles, master classes with leading artists in the field, recording projects, and interdisciplinary collaborations. Performance opportunities emulate professional contexts, including rehearsals in a first-class opera studio and individual repertoire coaching with internationally renowned coaching staff. Voice faculty, stage directors, and set designers are outstanding soloists and creative artists involved with major companies, opera programs, and festivals the world over. Æ»¹ûÒùÔº singers are selected to participate in various professional young artist programs and have won major national and international auditions including the MET auditions and NATSAA.

Recent graduates perform with orchestras and opera companies in Canada, as well as companies in the United States, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and Eastern Europe.

This one-year graduate performance diploma allows excellent musicians to refine their technique and master repertoire through intensive coaching, practice, and performance projects. Designed as a polishing diploma, the program prepares musicians for professional careers as soloists, opera singers, collaborative pianists, chamber, jazz and orchestral musicians, or for further graduate studies in performance. Program requirements are flexible, with a range of performance project options including solo, chamber, recording, orchestral auditions, and creative collaborations. Admission is by audition, with candidates having previously completed a B.Mus., a Licentiate, or an M.Mus.

The Graduate Artist Diploma is the uppermost diploma offered at the Schulich School of Music. It is tailored for artist performers wishing to achieve the highest level of artistry in their craft through intensive coaching, practicing, and performance projects. Candidates are preparing for stage careers as soloists and orchestral musicians, opera singers, collaborative pianists, and chamber ensembles. Program requirements are flexible, with a range of performance project options relevant to the diverse opportunities of the modern artist (chamber, recording, creative collaborations, etc.). The program is 1-year in length, and admission is by audition. Students who hold a master’s or doctoral degree can be admitted directly into the diploma. Others can be admitted following completion of the Graduate Diploma in Performance (GDP) program. Admissibility to the combined Graduate Diploma in Performance and Graduate Artist Diploma can be assessed in a single audition.

Previous graduates of the program, the Cecilia String Quartet, won the 2010 International Banff String Quartet Competition and were prizewinners at the Bordeaux 2010 International Chamber Music Competition.

Students create extended original works of art that push the boundaries of the discipline. Composers refine their musical language and artistic voice through private instruction with some of Canada’s most accomplished composers, all of whom have distinguished themselves through high-profile commissions, performances, recordings, and awards. The faculty members have diverse interests that ensure composers will find a suitable mentor.

The resources of the Digital Composition Studios also offer composers an opportunity to work with a wide range of cutting-edge approaches to music technology. Students benefit from international new music festivals and conferences co-sponsored by the Schulich School of Music, a visiting artist series, and high-quality performances, readings, and recordings of their works by some of the school’s most esteemed ensembles and advanced performers. Commissioning opportunities exist through an established composer-in-residence program and through student-initiated, performer-composer and interdisciplinary collaborations.

Graduates have won prestigious awards (e.g., Jules Leger Prize, SOCAN competition) and have successful careers in university teaching, (freelance) composition, film, literature, and conducting.

This program is for the inspired artist/scholar interested in expanding horizons. Students perform at a professional or near-professional level, are curious, and have research interests linked to their artistic practice. A broad range of seminars explore performance practice in the broader humanistic and scientific contexts of music, while encouraging the critical thinking and the fertile exchange of ideas that promote new ways of engaging with music. Two performance (recital/recording) projects extend repertoire interests. Comprehensive examinations develop credentials in three areas of expertise in preparation for teaching careers, while articulating the background and critical issues surrounding students' thesis work. The latter consists of a lecture/recital and a paper (including a recording of the recital). The artistic research may assume a variety of forms from the study of scores, works, and contextual influences through the analysis of performance itself and the creation of new works.

Students benefit from exceptional mentoring by internationally renowned coaches, the research expertise of faculty from the Department of Music Research, master classes, opportunities to collaborate with strong composition students, and the rich performance life of the Schulich School of Music and Montreal. Students win major fellowships (SSHRC, Fulbright, FRQSC, Canada Council).

Graduates have won major national and international competitions and pursue teaching and performing careers in a wide variety of contexts globally.

The thesis for the Ph.D. in composition involves the creation of an original large-scale work and research that increases our understanding of music and musical processes. Students in music education investigate a broad spectrum of critical issues through a variety of quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The Musicology area adopts a humanistic orientation that bridges traditional methodologies with new critical approaches. Research in Music Technology and Sound Recording can lead to patents, among other outcomes and benefits from unlimited technological resources. Theorists engage with all repertoires and analytical methods.

This program is open to doctoral students who are interested in cross-disciplinary research that focuses on issues centrally related to gender, sexuality, feminist theory, and/or women’s studies. Music requirements are augmented by participation in a Research Methods course and a Graduate Feminism Symposium that engages with a diverse array of critical and empirical perspectives. The program draws on the resources of the Æ»¹ûÒùÔº Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies that includes faculty and graduate students from across the University. Supporting music faculty has interests in Opera, film studies, aesthetics, theory of performance, and popular/jazz studies.