Music Performance

The Master of Music (concentration in Performance) provides all music students with the academic and performing skills requisite for professional or continued academic work.

Purpose

To develop professional and scholarly competence in performance. This program has provided the School of Music with a community of advanced students in the area of performance (both classical and jazz styles) who function as role models for the undergraduates. Interaction and exchange of ideas between the graduate students and faculty is highly encouraged. The School of Music also has flexibility in tailoring the graduate program to meet the needs and interests of the graduate students. Illustrating this flexibility is the performance concentration in both the classical and jazz styles with the wealth of available performance opportunities through ensemble participation, studio, and recital work.

Students are closely mentored by the Graduate Coordinator and by the chair of the Graduate Committee. The graduate committee remains the same for the final project, thesis, or recital. The graduate committee also serves for the final written/oral exams and gives a cohesiveness of study for each graduate student. In addition, Graduate Assistants are observed by faculty and written reports are submitted to the Graduate Coordinator in terms of their instructional duties along with suggestions for improvement. Because the program is relatively small, there is much individual attention and energy devoted by the faculty to each graduate student. There are small classes that serve as seminars, individual study courses (MUS 597), and informal discussion and mentoring. In the Performance concentration there is an option for both classical and jazz musicians.

Proficiencies

A bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution is required for admission to the program as well as evidence of GRE scores acceptable to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Graduate School. In addition, there is a performance audition to be done in person or by CD or videotape that is required for admission by the School of Music. Upon acceptance, but generally before scheduling classes, students are required to take departmentally administered diagnostic examinations in music history/literature and theory. Students who display weaknesses are channeled into remedial courses such as MUS 507: Graduate Theory Review or undergraduate specific courses in music history. Students must pass these deficiencies at the beginning of their course of study. The remedial courses do not receive graduate credit. Although MM students in performance in voice will be required to demonstrate an acceptable level of proficiency in foreign language deemed appropriate by the voice faculty, there is no specific foreign language examination or written proficiency requirement. In addition, there is a keyboard test administered for any Graduate Assistant who will be helping a full time instructor in the theory curriculum administered by Dr Lim and a mandatory aural skills test for those who intend to be a GA in theory.

Comprehensive Review

Students in every concentration are expected to pass comprehensive written and oral examinations prior to their completion of course work. These examinations are generally scheduled deadline prior to the published by the Graduate in the student’s last semester of attendance. Each student in consultation with the committee chair and graduate coordinator is responsible for scheduling these exams. Final Exams are administered to create more cohesiveness and organization. The Music History listening and style analysis test is now given separately to enable the candidates to concentrate during another intense period of testing on questions concerning theory and their field of concentration.

The student is responsible for asking each committee member for possible guidelines on material to study for the committee member's question. The advisor assembles the questions from the committee members and administers the written comprehensive exam using the Comprehensive Exam Question Form. After finishing the exam, the student prints out 4 copies of his or her answers, one for each committee member, and submits the answers to the committee members. A unanimous vote of the committee is required for the student to pass. The oral component of the Comprehensive exam must be scheduled at least 2 weeks after the committee members have received a copy of the written answers, but before the Graduate School's deadline.

For the final project, MM students with an emphasis in Performance choose the recital option.