Master of Fine Arts - Music Scoring and Composition

The MFA in Music Scoring & Composition is designed to provide the highest level of training in music composition and scoring for film, television, games and other visual media. Balancing musicianship training with contemporary production skills to reflect a changing music industry, students will learn music theory, composition, harmony, orchestration, and arranging, focusing on creating emotion through music in synchronization with visual media. Students will use the latest computer based production workflows, digital audio workstations and virtual instrument libraries. The focus is on composition using virtual instruments, resulting in a thesis project and portfolio in the final year.

Graduate students will meet the following student performance criteria:

MFA Thesis Project

• Plan an original portfolio of work worthy of the MFA degree
• Complete an original MFA thesis which represents an advanced level of achievement in the field of music creation for visual media

Listening Skills and Critical Thinking

• Think critically and demonstrate flexibility in creating or editing music for client needs

Music Composition

• Orchestrate and arrange music at a professional level
• Write or edit music for different visual environments (such as film, television, animation, games, multimedia, and commercials) at a professional level
• Create music which supports or heightens the emotional impacts of visual images (or visual material)
• Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the language of music: harmony, melody, and rhythm

Production Skills and Technical Knowledge

• Demonstrate expert-level proficiency with software related to contemporary music production techniques

Professional Readiness

• Present a comprehensive demo reel / portfolio demonstrating professional-level achievement
• Collaborate effectively with a creative team on a given project, such as a film, television show, animation, game, multimedia project, or commercial

*Note App Fee Waiver in effect for ApplyBoard to reduce the application fee to $50*