Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting
Major code: D707
Dr. Richard Zielinski
- Director of Choral Activities
- Associate Director of Choral Activities
| Concentration and Code (click for Coursework Requirements) |
|---|
| Church Music (R114) |
This degree requires the following proficiencies. View the PDFs linked below for more details.
Application Deadline
To receive full consideration for admission and graduate assistantships, the application deadline is December 1. The School of Music cannot guarantee an audition, interview, admission, or graduate assistantship if application is received after the deadline.
Residency Requirement
Per Graduate College policy 8.2.1.1, "The student must be in residence at OU for at least two consecutive 16-week semesters during the pursuit of the doctoral degree while enrolled and engaged in coursework or research activities as prescribed by the major academic unit."
Assistantships
There is no separate application for assistantship. Unless the applicant indicates otherwise, we assume that all applicants are interested in being considered for assistantships. Please note that assistantships are usually awarded for the Fall and Spring semesters together. We very seldom have assistantships available for anyone entering in a Spring semester. We do not award assistantships for Summer sessions.
Procedure and Requirements
- Submit the online application (see Graduate Admissions page). Be sure to include all materials described below. Within a day or two of completing the online application, the School of Music will acknowledge receipt of the application by email. That email will also contain further information and instructions to continue the application process for your degree.
- The Choral Conducting faculty will review each application as it is submitted. After reviewing the application, the Choral Conducting faculty will decide whether or not to invite the applicant to campus for a live audition.
- Repertoire for the live audition will be sent to the applicant two weeks in advance. In addition to the live conducting audition, the applicant will present a short (two songs) vocal recital and be interviewed by the Choral Conducting faculty.
Application materials required for this degree
These items must be submitted to the online graduate application system.
- A video of your conducting (rehearsals, performances, variety of repertoire)
- Submitted to the online application. Video files or links to online video recordings may be submitted under Digital Portfolio > Upload Media.
Application materials required for all graduate degrees
These items must be submitted to the online graduate application system.
- Resume
- Submitted to the online application under the Resume tab.
- Submitted to the online application under the Resume tab.
- Statement of Purpose
- Submitted to the online application under the Statement of Purpose tab
- Please compose a brief personal statement (approximately 2–3 pages of double-spaced, 12-point font text with 1-inch margins) regarding your desire to pursue a graduate degree in music. Include responses to the following prompts:
- How would you describe your professional path to this point?
- Why do you want to pursue this degree at OU?
- How do you want to grow musically, artistically, pedagogically, and/or intellectually during your graduate studies?
- What skills, expertise, and experiences do you bring to graduate study at OU?
- Describe your post-degree plans (i.e., How will you apply your newly acquired academic knowledge and expertise?).
- Three letters of reference
- Submitted to the online application under Recommendations tab
- Your three reference letters should include:
- At least one letter from: your studio professor, ensemble conductor, chamber coach, etc., or a person who has considerable knowledge about your abilities as a performer or composer.
- At least one letter from: a person who can speak to your abilities as a scholar of music.
Scholarly writing requirement
This degree requires you to submit a sample of your scholarly writing.
- Submitted to the online application under the Supporting Documents tab
- The guidelines for this writing sample are as follows:
- Should represent your best writing and researching skills.
- Preferably not more than 3 years old; should be recently revised. If you do not have a recent scholarly writing sample on hand, we ask that you compose something original.
- Adhere to a consistent method of formatting and citations (e.g., Chicago, MLA, Turabian, APA) and include a bibliography/reference list.
- A minimum of 5 pages of double-spaced, 12-point font text (not counting bibliography) with typical 1-inch margins.
- Ensure your writing sample is representative of the field. Consider presenting a complete argument supporting a clear thesis, perhaps methodological in nature for empirical research, or other format reflective of various academic areas in music.
- Please contact the Graduate Music Office (gradmusic@ou.edu) or the area chair for your program with any questions about meeting these requirements.
