Policies & Guidelines DMA Composition
DMA Composition Policies
There are five main requirements for the DMA in Composition:
- Fulfillment of the residence requirement
- Fulfillment of course requirements
- Successful completion of the DMA Recital of Works associated with MUS3888Y
- Successful completion of the DMA Research in Composition associated with MUS3999Y, and the field exam
- The writing and successful defense of a dissertation
DMA students are required to be in residence for two years except for Department authorized absences necessary for research. To fulfill this requirement a student must be in such geographical proximity as to be able to visit the campus regularly and participate fully in the university’s activities associated with the program.
Students registered in the DMA in Composition are required to take a minimum of four full-course equivalents (FCEs), divided among the years as follows:
Year 1 & 2 MUS3300Y DMA Advanced Composition (Year 1)
MUS3305Y DMA Advanced Composition (Year 2)
2.0 full-course equivalents of Electives
Year 3 MUS3999Y Research Project
MUS3888Y DMA Recital of Works**
Major Field Exam
Year 4 Thesis Writing
Thesis Defense
*Students entering from outside the University of Toronto’s graduate program will be given diagnostic tests in musical analysis, counterpoint, and harmony, the results of which may be additional course requirements.
** MUS3888Y This is a full program of original compositions composed while in the DMA program at the University of Toronto. The candidate must submit a list of works for approval by the Department. In some cases, professional quality recordings of performances that in total form the equivalent of a full recital may be substituted, with permission of the Department. Credit required, but not counted towards the five full-course equivalent requirement.
All coursework must be completed by the end of the second year. A Field Examination, as described below, must be prepared in consultation with the candidate's committee at the end of second year and executed at the beginning of third year. Candidates must complete all requirements for the degree exclusive of the thesis composition by the end of the third year of registration.
Upon completion of coursework, the candidate is required to prepare, organize and present a concert of original works. This concert should be carefully curated and engaging, and emphasize pieces composed during the doctoral degree. The program should be drawn up in consultation with the candidate's advisor, circulated to the composition faculty for approval, and filed with the Composition Division. Students should enroll in MUS3888Y (Recital of Works) at the beginning of Year Three. A written proposal for the recital program (incl. the title, duration, and orchestration of each piece) must be submitted to the Composition Division Coordinator by the end of October.
Upon approval of the proposal, the recital should be scheduled to take place before the end of Year Three. To book a recital, please adhere to the following D MA Composition Recital Guidelines:
Under exceptional circumstances, a Virtual Recital or Recorded Recital may replace the live recital. The candidate must discuss these circumstances with their DMA Advisory Committee, who, after reasonable consideration, may choose to approve or reject the Virtual Recital proposal. The guidelines for the Virtual Recital are outlined under 3b or 3c.
3b. VIRTUAL RECITAL (MUS3888Y)
For a virtual recital the candidate prepares and presents 60 minutes of audiovisual material in an engaging online format. This can include studio recordings, produced concert recordings, videos, documentation of interactive works, electroacoustic pieces, animation, and other media objects. Materials for a virtual recital must be produced and presented at a professional level. The composer is encouraged to provide context for their work in a manner appropriate to the online medium. i.e. slides, interviews, pre-concert talks, embedded text etc. The concert program is presented as a .pdf or as part of a website. The virtual recital maintains the advisor consultation, written proposal and scheduling components outlined in 1a. Additional Information can be found in the DMA Virtual Recital Guidelines Document.
3c. RECORDED RECITAL (MUS3888Y)
A Recorded Recital is a rare option when a candidate’s creative output can only be evaluated through recordings of commissioned works by large, professional ensembles. The Recorded maintains the advisor consultation, written proposal and scheduling components outlined in 1a. But the delivery component is an online folder with recordings and a .pdf of the concert program.
Philosophy:
The intention of MUS3999Y and the Field Examination is not only to assess weaknesses, but also to give students an opportunity to show strengths. Each component will have content that was agreed upon by both the student and the committee. The collaborative nature of this process is central to their concept and execution.
MUS3999Y Research in Composition replaces the previous Research Project and includes research preparation for a series of written examinations. Upon completion of all coursework, the student must register for MUS3999Y. MUS3999Y concludes with a set of Written Examinations which are the outcome of assigned and negotiated research topics. The purpose of the Written Examinations is to assess the student’s general knowledge of his or her chosen research field and to examine the theoretical premises and methodological approaches set out in the research. The content of research topics is determined no later than May 1 of Year Two. The Written Examinations are scheduled to take place just before and at the beginning of Year Three. Students need to enroll in the course at the beginning of Year Three.
MUS3999Y Components
There are three written components to MUS3999Y. The first component is a written three-hour examination which will take place in the week of Labour Day. The contents of this examination will be determined by the student in consultation with their supervisor and committee. The second component is a set of two take-home assignments which can take place during any two 72-hour periods during the month of September. The final component is a set of two written examples of academic writing of approximately 1500-3000 words each. The contents of the essay #1 will be developed by the student in consultation with their supervisor and committee, while essay #2 will be a critical examination of specific technical and/or conceptual aspect of the student's own music.
These papers will be presented to and discussed by the committee in late September, or by the middle of October at the latest. This discussion will include feedback and commentary on all parts of the Comprehensive Examinations.
The written components within the MUS 3999Y course framework, including the written examination, the two take-home assignments, and the two academic papers will be given a mark.
Field Examination
These MUS3999Y papers will be presented to and discussed by the committee in late September, or by the middle of October at the latest. The committee may choose to provide feedback to the student on any of the work submitted to this point. Following this, there will be a Field Examination. The DMA student will be expected to provide a 20-minute oral presentation on the topic of essay #1 agreed upon by the student and the committee, and then answers questions on all aspects of the research from MUS3999Y (Tests 1, 2 and 3). In addition, the student makes a 20-minute public oral presentation on the topic of essay #2, as part of the Composers’ Forum series. The oral Field Examination will be pass/fail.
The student must attain at least an A- in written components and a pass on the oral Field Examination in order to proceed with the DMA. In the event that these standards are not met, any portions of the Written Examinations or the oral Field Examination which were judged inadequate will be scheduled approximately three months later for a second attempt. A failure to achieve the standards set for the examination at the second attempt results in the student being required to withdraw from the program.
It is the responsibility of the Composition Division Coordinator to inform the student of the results of the Written Examinations and the oral Field Examination as soon as possible. It is the responsibility of the supervisor to submit the grade for MUS3999Y and the Examination Form to the Graduate Office, and make a recommendation to the Associate Dean, Graduate Education concerning the timing of the second examination if necessary.
The committee appointed to conduct the second examination should as far as possible include the same members who examined the student in the first place.
Outcomes
On successful completion of all courses, Written Examination (as part of MUS 3999Y) and the oral Field Examination, a doctoral student becomes a doctoral candidate and embarks fully on thesis research and writing and on the completion of the recital requirements.
The Thesis can be an externally commissioned and/or funded work, but needs to be approved by the composition faculty. The thesis proposal can be submitted only after completion of all course work, but it may be submitted before the completion of MUS3999Y and the Field Examination. The thesis proposal should not exceed one page, and must include the following information:
the working title of the thesis,
the instrumentation (and/or the media used),
the approximate duration
a general description of concepts and techniques to be used
the citation of at least four sources that will inform and contextualize the composition (two or more musical scores and two or more articles or books).
The thesis itself should be at least 10 minutes long, and should not exceed 20 minutes. As such, it must be self-contained, and defendable on its own merits, even if it constitutes a section or movement of a larger work (e.g. an opera). The thesis must be scored for large forces (e.g. symphony orchestra), or equivalent. Crucially, it must demonstrate a doctoral level of conceptual and technical sophistication, and critical thinking. It should also be professionally presented. Only the music score constitutes the DMA Thesis document.
A recording is optional and will not be filed with the graduate office. However, the candidate may choose to share it with the doctoral committee. The Thesis can be performed, but not published, prior to its defense. The Thesis should be accompanied by an abstract of maximum 350 words.
The candidate must submit five hard copies of the score to the Graduate Office eight weeks before the projected Final Oral Examination, and they should also email a PDF copy to the Graduate Administrator. Supplemental materials (electronics, video, documentation, code etc.) should be hosted at a stable link and the submission will be negotiated with the supervisor in consultation with SGS.
DMA Examination Policy
Candidature for a degree in the Graduate Department of Music in the School of Graduate Studies will be terminated following the second failure in any final examination given by the Department and required for the degree, with the exception of language examinations.