Students who are pursuing a Bachelor of Music or Bachelor of Arts in Music degree at The Catholic University of America with a major in an area other than composition may request permission to complete simultaneously a minor in composition.

Admission Requirements

The student must submit a portfolio of representative scores accompanied by recordings (if available) to the composition faculty of the Departments of Music. The composition faculty must approve the submitted scores before admission to a composition minor can be approved.

Program of Study

In addition to completing requirements in the major area, the student must also complete the following requirements to earn a minor in composition.

• MUPI Private Instruction: Composition (Jury required each semester) 12 (min.)
• MUS 323 Orchestration, or a music elective if the student has already taken
• MUS 323 3
• MUS 404 Composition Seminar (1 credit each) 4
• MUS 434 Counterpoint 3
• MUS 473 Introduction to Electronic Composition 1
• MUS 499CMM Composition Minor Recital (15 minutes of music)
• Recital of original compositions. The candidate must participate in the recital as either a performer or conductor. At least one work on the graduation recital must have been substantially generated through electronic media. Completed scores (including realizations of electronic scores) for the graduation recital must be submitted no later than 30 days in advance of the recital date.) 0

Composition Minor total credits: 23

This four-semester program is designed to give the aspiring conductor the necessary preparation for the Master of Music program in conducting. To be considered for this selective program, a student must first audition and be accepted into one of the Bachelor of Music programs offered by the Department of Music Performance. This is typically the Bachelor of Music in Orchestral Instruments, however students in other Bachelor of Music programs interested in this emphasis can speak to the conducting faculty about the feasibility of completing the program in their degree program in four years. Preparation for auditions to graduate programs is considered in the curriculum.

Duration of the program: four semesters, not to begin before the junior year.

Prerequisites: Basic Conducting; Harmony IV.

Admission Requirements

Students are officially accepted into the Pre-Professional Conducting program during the second semester of the sophomore year, following an audition for the conducting faculty. Preparation for the audition typically begins during the first semester of the freshman year, though at the discretion of the faculty, students may be permitted to begin preparation at a later time.

Preparation Recommendations

Observe relevant classes in conducting (such as the graduate conducting seminar, score reading, etc.); and rehearsals for orchestra, repertory orchestra, and productions. Additionally, students interested in this emphasis should meet regularly with the conducting faculty in preparation for admission.

Course Requirements

• MUPI 330/330A Private Conducting (8 Credits) (12 recommended)
• MUPI 320A Private Piano (4 Credits)
• MUS 480A  or 480H Repertory Orchestra (0-4 Credits)
• MUS 476 Combined Lyric Diction I (2 Credits)
• MUS 622 Practicum in Score Reading (2 Credits)
• MUS 643 Graduate Conducting Seminar (2 Credits)

Conducting Emphasis total credits: 18-22

The Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art offers a minor in dance through the musical theatre area.

The Dance minor is available to all undergraduate students but specifically complements majors in theatre, music, visual arts, media arts, exercise science, education, and psychology. The Dance minor includes a strong emphasis on technique as well as creativity in dance through understanding the mechanics and physical understandings of the body.  The diversity of classes covering movement, composition, production, education, business, music, art, and drama provides students minoring in dance with the tools and experience they need to leverage their dance expertise for opportunities outside the classroom.

Program Advisor and contact: Shannon Quinn quinns@cua.edu  

All students seeking to minor in dance must take the theory entrance test through the department of Music Theory, History and Composition, contact Dr. Stephen Gorbos gorbos@cua.edu if you have questions.  Students not placed into the Harmony I level must complete the Fundamentals of Music course as their elective.

18 Total Credit Hours

Movement, Repertoire & Composition 7 credits total

• DNCE 101 The Fundamentals of Dance
• DNCE 490 Choreogrtaphy & Composition

• DNCE 115 Theatre Dance I
• DNCE 116 Dance Conditioning
• DNCE 215 Theatre Dance II

Dance Technique 5 credits total (all courses below are 1 credit, at least 2 of the 5 credits must be from the same technique)

• DNCE 211 Ballet II
• DNCE 311 Ballet III
• DNCE 411 Ballet IV
• DNCE 212 Tap II
• DNCE 312 Tap III
• DNCE 412 Tap IV
• DNCE 213 Jazz II
• DNCE 313 Jazz III
• DNCE 114 Modern I
• DNCE 214 Modern II

Electives 6 credits total

• Please note: students may not fulfill this elective with a major requirement.
• ART 112 Foundations of Art
• ART 211 History of Art: Prehistoric to Middle Ages
• ART 212 History of Art: Middle Ages to Renaissance
• ART 230 Smartphone Filmmaking
• ART 319 Renaissance Art
• ART 331 Modern Art
• ART 383 Video Production
• DR 104 Theatre II (Technical Theatre)
• DR 206 Fundamentals of Acting
• DR 207 Introduction to Design
• DR 306 Theatre Production 
• DR 312 Directing I
• DR 320 Improvisation Workshop
• DR 467 Playwriting I
• MUS 101 Fundamentals of Music
• MUS 178 Music in Western Civilization
• MUS 450 Musical Theatre Directing
• MUS 473 Introduction to Electronic Music
• MUS 575 Arts Administration
• NURS 257 Nutrition & Health
• PHIL 310 Philosophy of Art
• PHYS 121 Sound, Lights in Nature, Arts, & Technology

Undergraduate students that have met the prerequisite requirements may complete a minor in music theory.

Admission Requirements

The student can be admitted to the minor after completing MUS 224 Harmony IV (or, MUS 126 Accelerated Harmony, should the accelerated sequence be offered) and completing a successful audition interview with the chair of the department of Music Theory, History, and Composition. In addition, the student must have maintained a grade of B- or better for all courses in the Harmony sequence (MUS 123, 124, 223, 224). This minor is not open to BM composition majors.

Program of Study

Six courses (18 credits) in music theory are required. If pursuing a major in music, two MUS theory courses from the lists below can overlap with the courses that will count towards the minor; MUPI instruction cannot be substituted for MUS courses in the music theory minor. Courses that may count for the minor in music theory are:

• MUS 321 Form and Analysis
• MUS 323 Orchestration
• MUS 381 Advanced Orchestration
• MUS 434 Counterpoint
• MUS 435 Advanced Counterpoint
• MUS 436 Pedagogy of Theory
• MUS 473 Introduction to Electronic Composition

Any of the following graduate courses may also be used:

• MUS 633 Introduction to the Analysis of Music Since 1900
• MUS 711 Analytical Techniques 1
• MUS 712 Analytical Techniques 2
• MUS 713 Pedagogy of Theory
• MUS 714 Advanced Counterpoint
• MUS 720A Seminar in Music Theory Topics
• MUS 725 Set Theory
• MUS 752 History of Theory II
• MUS 753 Music Theory Genre Studies

Courses Offered

A full listing of undergraduate courses offered by the department can be found at https://arts-sciences.catholic.edu/academics/courses/course-schedules/index.html. Please check this web location for additional information about courses and to determine course offerings by semester.

Qualified students who are pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree at The Catholic University of America with a major in an area other than piano performance may request permission to complete simultaneously a minor in piano. Composition majors may pursue the Bachelor of Music in Composition with Minor in Piano. Admission and curriculum requirements for that program are available from the head of the Theory and Composition Division. Undergraduate students pursuing other majors within the departments of music may request permission to pursue the program described below. Admission Requirements Acceptance as a piano minor is granted following successful completion of a 10-minute audition of classical repertoire before a faculty committee of the departments of music. The audition should consist of three memorized pieces in contrasting tempos and styles.

Program of Study

In addition to completing requirements in the major area, the student must also complete the following requirements to earn a minor in piano.

• MUPI Private Instruction: Piano (Jury required each semester) 12
• MUS 153 (154) or MUS 155 (156) Piano Ensemble (1 credit each) or Piano Sight Reading (1 credit each) 2
• MUS Piano Literature Electives (Piano Pedagogy Electives may replace 3 credits of Piano Literature) 3
• MUS Piano Literature Electives 3
• MUS 499PIM Piano Minor Recital (45 minutes) 0
• Piano Level VIII 0

Piano Minor total credits: 20

UNDERGRADUATE MINOR IN MUSIC (with performance)

The subconcentration in music is open only to students who are not currently majors in music. Successful completion of a proficiency audition is required for the option "with performance." The audition should be ten minutes in length and include classical repertoire in three contrasting styles that best display the student's level of proficiency. Composers, in lieu of a proficiency audition, will submit original compositions for evaluation.

Program of Study

• Equivalent MUS 121, 122 Eartraining / Sightsinging I, II* 4 
• MUS 123, 124 Harmony I, II * 4 
• MUS 131 Music Literature 3 
• MUPI 3XX Applied Instruction ** 3 or 1,1,1
• MUS Two Music Electives *** 6 
• MUS Performing Organization 2 

Minor in Music with Performance total credits: 22 

* All students must take a Theory Evaluation Test before enrolling in these courses, contact Dr. Stephen Gorbos gorbos@cua.edu if you have questions; a student whose exam indicates deficiencies must successfully complete Fundamentals of Music Theory (MUS 101) before being permitted to take Harmony I and Eartraining/Sightsinging I.

** Three semesters of study at one credit per semester, all credits to be taken in the same instrument, voice, or composition category. A jury examination is required each semester.

*** To be approved by the Departments of Music. May include applied instruction taken at one credit or three credits per semester. Applied instruction taken at one credit per semester must add up to three or six credits in the same instrument, voice, or composition category. A jury examination is required for each semester of applied instruction.

UNDERGRADUATE MINOR IN MUSIC (without performance)

The subconcentration in music is open only to students who are not currently majors in music. No audition is required for the option "without performance."

Program of Study Semester

Equivalent MUS 121, 122 Eartraining / Sightsinging I, II* 4 

MUS 123, 124 Harmony I, II * 4 

MUS 131 Music Literature 3 

MUS 183, 184 Class Piano ** 2 

MUS Three Music Electives *** 9 

Minor in Music without Performance total credits: 22 

*All students must take a Theory Evaluation Test before enrolling in these courses, contact Dr. Stephen Gorbos gorbos@cua.edu if you have questions; a student whose exam indicates deficiencies must successfully complete Fundamentals of Music Theory (MUS 101) before being permitted to take Harmony I and Eartraining/Sightsinging I.

** May be replaced with two semesters of applied piano instruction (MUPI) at one credit each, pending a successful audition for the piano faculty.

*** To be approved by the Departments of Music. Suggested courses include (but are not limited to) History of Music I-III (MUS 325, 326, 327), History of Musical Theatre (MUS 385, 386), Harmony III-IV (MUS 223, 224), Eartraining/Sightsinging III-IV (MUS 221, 222). May include up to three credits of applied instruction (MUPI) taken at one credit or three credits per semester, pending a successful audition for the appropriate applied faculty. A jury examination is required for each semester of applied instruction. May also include up to three credits of performing organization (at one credit per semester), pending a successful audition for the organization.