Program Introduction

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The University of South Carolina offers three comprehensive degrees in music composition (B.M., M.M., and D.M.A.). Financial assistance is available all levels of study. We feel that that the training we offer our B.M. and M.M. composers can compete with some of the elite programs across the country. With excellent facilities, state-of-the-art resources in advanced music technology, and broad instruction in all areas—not to mention affordable tuition and cost of living—USC has much to offer aspiring young composers.

Our full-time composition faculty consists of Reginald Bain, Samuel Douglas, Tayloe Harding, and John Fitz Rogers. Students profit from frequent visits by noted guest composers. Recent guests have included Martin Bresnick, Nicholas Brooke, Libby Larsen, Scott Lindroth, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, Peter Sculthorpe, Joan Tower, and Evan Ziporyn, among many others. Students enjoy frequent opportunities to hear their music performed and to interact with world class musicians. Our Southern Exposure New Music Series, now in its six season under the direction of John Fitz Rogers, regularly performs a wide variety of new music. Alarm Will Sound, the Ciompi String Quartet, Cornell University’s Ensemble X, So Percussion, and acclaimed sitar virtuoso Kartik Seshadrihave have all participated in what has become one of the hallmarks of our program. The 2006-2007 season will feature performances by the New York Lyric Chamber Ensemble, New Century Saxophone Quartet, and the return of So Percussion to perform Steve Reich's Drumming. Composer Paul Lansky will be in residence February 1-2, 2007 when the Experimental Music Studio and Southern Exposure join forces to present Exposed Wiring III a concert featuring the music of Paul Lansky and Seattle-based guitarist Micheal Nicolella.

Composers at the University of South Carolina work in an environment dedicated to compositional and musical excellence, broad academic inquiry, and the building of strong professional skills. Undergraduate composition studies begin with a guided composition class that centers on the performance of specific writing projects and the development of individual work. Upper-level undergraduate and graduate studies focus on one-to-one private instruction, as well as the weekly Composition Seminar, which combines analysis and discussion of music by guest composers, talks by performers and conductors of new music, open rehearsals, readings in relevant criticism and theory, and visits by artists from other disciplines. Composers benefit from the rich musical resources at USC, in addition to close and frequent collaborations with talented instrumentalists, singers, and conductors. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the diverse resources throughout the University, and to collaborate with artists in fields such as dance, media arts, theater, etc.

At the Masters level, we encourage the application of talented performers whose background and interest in contemporary music might lead them to pursue additional, focused composition study in our 1.5-year M.M. Composition degree plan.

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Updated 5/6/2006 by Reginald Bain