Professor Louis Karchin
Associate
Professor Elizabeth Hoffman
Students in the NYU GSAS Composition/Theory specialization explore and
refine
chosen compositional approaches, largely through one-on-one work with
faculty. The composers contribute in a fundamental way, as well, to the
critical debate, analysis, and presentation of new music in the
Department.
During their first two years, composers typically take one course in
musicology, and one in ethnomusicology; for many, this experience is a
rich source of new orientations. A more discrete discussion of issues
in contemporary composition occurs in the Composers Seminar, and in the
context of discussions with guests, regularly invited to teach or to
speak in the Department's colloquium series. The Composition Seminar
includes visits each semester by invited composers and theorists, and a
several-day residency in the spring of each year brings a composer of
international stature to participate in department activities under the
aegis of the Samuel and Beverly Sirota Endowment for Music. Recent and
future invitees include Helmut Lachenmann (2008), Maria de Alvear
(2009), and Chaya Czernowin (2010).
Areas
supported by faculty expertise include critical theory,
and music and the political; sound as embodiment; philosophy as a
language or
structure for addressing musicological questions; generative and
explanatory
models of music, including those non-parametrically oriented. Creative activity across a wide spectrum is
embraced. Composers may choose to
explore established chamber, orchestral or vocal genres, or experiment
with new
interstices between composer, performer, and audience.
Many students choose to focus on
computer
music as an expressive medium, or as a tool for applications to their
work in
acoustic composition.
Composition students receive department-sponsored performances of their
works
by professional ensembles. Students may also participate in First
Performance, a graduate student-run organization dedicated to the
presentation
of new music. Past ensembles presenting
concerts of student works at NYU have included the Arditti Quartet, the
International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Alarm Will
Sound,
the New York Virtuoso Singers,
and the American Brass Quintet, among others. Resident groups for
2008-09
include the Jack String Quartet and TimeTable Percussion.
The
Washington Square Computer Music Studio is a comprehensive
facility for graduate composition and research in electroacoustic music. The Washington Square Contemporary Music
Society, co-sponsored by the Department, presents a three-concert new
music
series at Merkin Hall each year, often featuring faculty and student
work.
Our
reasonably small program allows excellent advising, funding, and job
placement.
All of our graduate students receive tuition remission and MacCracken
Fellowships
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