Applicants must have completed an undergraduate degree that is approximately equivalent in music requirements to degrees conferred by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with a major appropriate to the applicant’s prospective area of concentration on the master’s level.
Applicants who plan to pursue the concentration in performance or music education are required to audition for the appropriate area faculty. Applicants for admission to the program in composition must submit scores and recordings of representative works. Applicants for the concentration in jazz, if appropriate, must audition in jazz improvisation and jazz piano proficiency and interview with members of the faculty in this area. Other applicants are required to have an interview with members of the faculty of the prospective area of concentration.
All entering master’s degree students are required to take diagnostic examinations in music theory, ear-training, and musicology. These examinations are given by the School of Music at the beginning of each semester. See the School of Music website for details. www.music.utk.edu
A minimum of 33 hours of course work is required for the Master of Music degree. These hours are specifically distributed according to the area of concentration. All concentrations require course work in music bibliography, musicology and music theory and allow for elective courses. Specific curricula are available from the School. All concentrations require a written and oral final examination.
A thesis is required of students in composition, musicology, and music theory. A graduate recital or performance project is given in lieu of thesis by students with concentrations in performance, pedagogy, jazz, collaborative piano, choral conducting, and instrumental conducting.
The concentration in music education is designed for persons who hold a bachelor’s degree in music or music education and certification to teach music in the public schools. Both thesis and non-thesis options are available.