Music, MA

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Admission Requirements

Applicants for admission to the master’s degree program must have a bachelor’s degree with a major in music or a bachelor’s degree and evidence of musical background equivalent to a music major; three confidential letters of recommendation (not more than two years old) on forms provided by the music department; and, for non-native speakers of English, a TOEFL score of 500 (paper) 61 (iBT) minimum for performance or 540 (paper) 76 (iBT) for other concentrations and 600 (paper) 100 (iBT) with scores of 25 in listening and speaking for teaching assistants. Application forms are available at the music department and its website, or Graduate Division and its website. The completed forms should be submitted with two copies of all transcripts by January 15 for the fall semester, and by August 1 for the spring semester. (Those who decide to enroll must submit official copies of all post secondary transcripts.) In the following concentrations, students must meet additional admission requirements:

a. Composition—Three original scores representative of various forms and media.
b. Ethnomusicology—A personal statement of 800 words minimum (3 pages) including the purpose of study. Background in cultural anthropology is desirable and, depending on the thesis research, may be required.
c. Music Education—BEd (music education) or equivalent, minimum of one year of full-time music teaching experience in a public or private school, a 20-30 minute videotape/DVD demonstrating current teaching expertise, and a lesson or rehearsal plan.
d. Musicology—Sample of academic writing proficiency (a 10- page term paper in English from an upper division music history course is preferred).
e. Performance—An audition of works representative of various musical styles. An applicant not residing in Hawai’i must submit an unedited tape recording or CD comparable in scope and length to an in-person audition and, if admitted, will audition before the department admissions faculty before registering for the first semester of residency to ascertain appropriate placement in the curriculum sequence. A recent UH Mānoa graduate may be admitted without a hearing if the BMus senior recital is considered to be of high enough quality by the majority of the department admissions faculty.

An applicant must declare a specific concentration within the MA or MMus; admission, if granted, is for that concentration only. If a student later wishes to change to another concentration, he or she must petition the graduate faculty in music for approval.

More detailed information and links to relevant forms for all degree programs are posted on the department’s website: manoa.hawaii.edu/music/.

Some concentrations require language competence:

Ethnomusicology—A reading or speaking knowledge of a language other than English relevant to the thesis research (or equivalent competence in linguistics).
Musicology—A reading knowledge of French or German.

Degree Requirements

Students must earn a minimum grade of B- in music courses that count toward the master’s degrees. Plan A requires a minimum of 30 credit hours, 22 in course work and 8 of thesis. Candidates concentrating in ethnomusicology and musicology follow this plan. An ethnomusicology thesis is usually based on fieldwork.

Under Plan A, the student arranges the oral final examination in consultation with the thesis committee, usually during the semester in which all course work has been completed and after the student has completed the thesis document. Copies of the document must be presented to the committee at least two weeks prior to the examination. At the examination, the thesis committee examines the student’s knowledge and understanding of the field of concentration, with emphasis on the content of the thesis.

Plan B also requires a minimum of 30 credit hours but does not include a thesis. Candidates in performance, music education, and composition follow this plan. Plan B students in performance must fulfill the following requirements:

Give a public, hour-long recital.
Additionally, in the recital semester the student will meet with the recital committee for a one-hour oral examination to discuss historical and analytical aspects of the works performed in the graduate recital.

Plan B students in music education must fulfill the following requirements:

A comprehensive three-hour examination, exhibiting strength in written expression and a grasp of the essentials of the broad field of music education; and
A project or paper about some specific aspect of music education whose size and scope will be determined by the student and the faculty member directing the project.

Plan B students in composition must fulfill the following requirements:

Composition students must compose an original work in one of the larger forms, and write an essay on a topic related to their master’s studies.
Candidates concentrating in composition must give a public, 30-45 minute recital of original works composed during their master’s studies at UH Mānoa.

Plan B students in ethnomusicology must fulfill the following requirements:

An oral defense on the student’s research project; and
Submission of a formal document as part of the Plan B Project.

The master’s student must spend at least two semesters in program residency at UH Mānoa. (Full-time work or the equivalent in credit hours.)