Composition

This two-quarter course will provide a conceptual and practical introduction to the art, the craft, and the practice of orchestral conducting. The course is targeted primarily toward graduate students in Music Composition, but is open to advanced undergraduate or graduate students with orchestral or choral performance experience as well. Interested students should have had some experience playing or singing in a performance ensemble, as well as a basic familiarity with orchestral instruments and with the standard orchestral repertoire.

During the winter quarter, class sessions, readings, and repertoire assignments will provide the practical and philosophical basis for subsequent work in the course. Important technical exercises will be assigned every week, as well as several short papers and worksheets over the course of the quarter. The overall workload of the course is commensurate with a one-half course load per quarter. Because of the workshop nature of the course, class attendance and class participation are of prime importance. Students will receive one course credit upon successful completion of the two-quarter sequence (Winter and Spring 2026).

This course is a continuation of MUSI 261: Introduction to Composition, and an opportunity to go deeper into creative work. The focus will be on writing new pieces while also learning about various techniques and aesthetics, with special attention on music of the last hundred years. The new works will be performed and recorded by professional musicians, with demonstrations of instruments as well. Students are encouraged to bring their own existing interests into discussions and projects, while also incorporating newly acquired ideas and inspirations. There will also be focused attention on analysis of more recent repertoire for a variety of instrumentations and configurations, addressing new ways of thinking about harmony, melody, form, timbre, orchestration, rhythm, improvisation, notation, technology, theatricality, and concept. Students will also attend rehearsals and performances of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition and other events on campus.

The composition seminar is a weekly session designed for undergraduate students in composition lessons. It is an open forum for composers to listen to recent music, including their own, and to discuss issues connected with trends, esthetics, and compositional techniques. The entire composition faculty takes part in these sessions. The composition seminar often hosts well-known visiting composers whose works are performed in the city by various groups or ensembles, as well as performers specializing in new music and contemporary techniques. 

Students may enroll in this course more than once as an elective, but it may be counted only once towards requirements for the music major or minor. Students must also register for MUSI 24100, Seminar: Composition. 

This course focuses on the research and development of live performance methodologies that utilize sound. In this class, we will explore text scores, graphic scores, and improvisation techniques using both acoustic and electronic sources. The research and practice areas include but are not limited to electroacoustic and audiovisual performance, non-Western and/or non-notated music performance, and the creation of new music. We will incorporate transducers, sound exciters, audio processing, and control surfaces in our performative events. This course is for students who have previous experience in performing musical ideas with “tools” such as everyday objects, traditional acoustic instruments, and electronics. We will have critical listening sessions, discussion of the student compositions in progress, focusing particularly on the instrumental and electroacoustic components, and open strategies of notating electroacoustic work and performances.

This two-quarter course will provide a conceptual and practical introduction to the art, the craft, and the practice of orchestral conducting. The course is targeted primarily toward graduate students in Music Composition, but is open to advanced undergraduate or graduate students with orchestral or choral performance experience as well. Interested students should have had some experience playing or singing in a performance ensemble, as well as a basic familiarity with orchestral instruments and with the standard orchestral repertoire.

During the winter quarter, class sessions, readings, and repertoire assignments will provide the practical and philosophical basis for subsequent work in the course. Important technical exercises will be assigned every week, as well as several short papers and worksheets over the course of the quarter. The overall workload of the course is commensurate with a one-half course load per quarter. Because of the workshop nature of the course, class attendance and class participation are of prime importance. Students will receive one course credit upon successful completion of the two-quarter sequence (Winter and Spring 2026).

The class studies and practices advanced concepts of orchestration. It will analyze concepts and techniques that go beyond traditional “scoring” for the orchestra. Subjects include “shaping sound”, instrumental synthesis, techniques of temporal organization beyond a common meter, spatialization, and others. While the focus of the class will be on analysis and discussion of seminal works, small studies and exercises will be complement the theory. For their final project the students will write a short ensemble piece that will be rehearsed and performed.

The composition seminar is a weekly session designed for undergraduate students in composition lessons. It is an open forum for composers to listen to recent music, including their own, and to discuss issues connected with trends, esthetics, and compositional techniques. The entire composition faculty takes part in these sessions. The composition seminar often hosts well-known visiting composers whose works are performed in the city by various groups or ensembles, as well as performers specializing in new music and contemporary techniques.