MUSICOLOGY

Musicology embraces wide-ranging methods of studying music as a scholarly endeavor: as part of history, as part of society, and with respect to its artistic function, perception, and means of performance. The UA musicology area offers a range of undergraduate and graduate courses to support the School of Music’s degree programs. Through these courses students learn to evaluate musical works conceptually, to understand compositional processes, aesthetic properties of style, and the ways these interact with various artistic and cultural forces.

Members of the musicology faculty are internationally regarded scholars whose research interests span a range of fields, including English and Italian Renaissance music, historical performance practice, the interaction of French and Italian Baroque styles, twentieth-century Italian opera, and media studies.

The musicology area offers a master of music (MM) degree in musicology and secondary concentrations in both musicology and early music for students pursuing a doctor of musical arts (DMA) degree in performance, composition, or conducting. A bachelor of arts (BA) degree program with a concentration in music history is also currently under development. For a list of undergraduate courses in music, please see the UA Undergraduate Catalog. Information about graduate courses in musicology can be found in the UA Graduate Catalog and the School of Music Graduate Handbook.

Aside from formal curricular study, many other opportunities exist to engage with musicology outside the classroom. Students and faculty regularly perform with the Early Chamber Ensembles, a flexible group that presents concerts of diverse music each semester, often using instruments from the School of Music’s period instrument collection. A Music Research Colloquium, coordinated jointly with the music theory area, offers a friendly, informal space for students, faculty, and guests to present wide-ranging research projects, from formal conference papers to more diverse presentations and works in progress. The School of Music Endowed Chair in Musicology, filled every third year, brings world-class scholars and musicians to campus to conduct lectures, performances, and student workshops.