Music Composition Program

Music Composition Faculty
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Composition students at the University of Louisville School of Music present several concerts of their own new works each year, performed by faculty and outstanding students of the school. These concerts are professionally recorded by an independent contractor using the most sophisticated digital audio equipment. Every two years a CD is produced from these recital recordings. Each CD includes about an hour of outstanding new works. The most recent edition is Fresh Stuff 2005.

Listen online to Sampler CD's & Request Free CD's:

University of Louisville composition graduates secure positions in some of the nation’s finest graduate programs. Those who pursue advanced studies are accepted into programs of choice, and most receive significant financial aid in the form of teaching assistantships, fellowships, and scholarships. Recent graduates have excelled in such composition programs as the Eastman School of Music, the University of Kansas, the University of Maryland, the University of Michigan, SUNY-Buffalo, the University of Texas at Austin, and the London Royal Academy of Music, among others.

The resources, faculty, facilities, and events at the UofL School of Music offer exceptional opportunities for a thorough education in the fields of music composition and theory, as well as unique opportunities to hear and study a broad range of musical styles. Degrees in theory and composition are available at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. A core curriculum emphasizes recent compositional techniques as well as traditional tonal materials, with numerous classes in analysis, counterpoint, orchestration, and special seminar topics.

The School of Music is home to the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, one of the largest monetary prizes for music composition in the world. The Grawemeyer Collection, which is available for students' use, contains nearly three thousand entries from composers around the world. This is one of the best collections of new music in the world today. Each winner of the Grawemeyer Award for music composition visits campus for lectures and master classes, and in many cases establishes an ongoing relationship with the School of Music.

The annual New Music Festival, the Grawemeyer Award, and the New Music Concert Series are among the many events that bring distinguished guest composers to campus. Student composers have regular and frequent opportunities to work with these composers in master classes and individual lessons. Recent guest composers include John Adams, Thomas Adès, Simon Bainbridge, Leslie Bassett, Pierre Boulez, John Corigliano, Tan Dun, Donald Erb, John Harbison, Karel Husa, Aaron Jay Kernis, Libby Larsen, Shulamit Ran, Kaija Saariaho, Augusta Read Thomas, Joan Tower, Chinary Ung, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.