CUA Opens New Paths to Composers

There are as many ways to make music as there are composers. There are also innumerable ways to build a career in composition.

No single path will serve for every composer, and the outcome of your educational journey cannot be predicted. What we can do, however, is to ensure that you have the best possible training, and develop a sense of openness, of being aware of the changing face of music, and to discover how you can contribute to and participate in that world.

We encourage our students to consider diverse musical paths by recognizing their own strengths, thinking about how to combine those strengths in productive ways and employing them in new contexts.

One way of encouraging innovation is through special group composition projects which employ music in novel ways. Over the years, this has lead to collaborative projects with the School of Architecture and Planning, the drama department, local dance companies, events for the Music School's 50th Anniversary in 2015, as well as many other projects with our colleagues in every performance area of the school. 

Our students also take advantage of our electronic music studios for individual and collaborative projects which involve digital media. We have had students explore film scoring, concert music with live processing, and collaborative interactive works with dancers. The department hosts an open lab space for all music students (Ward 211), as well as an advanced production space for composition students (Ward 32).