Department of Music
Music Composition Certificate
A Certificate in Composition is proposed for students beginning in fall, 2005. Please consult with your academic advisor before planning your courses. Proposed Course Requirements for Certificate in Composition [PDF]
Most of the students who pursue this certificate will go on to graduate school and to more advanced study in music composition. Students completing this certificate develop the fluency in the use of tools needed by composers. This includes keyboard skills, spoken and written language, conducting and rehearsal skills, and analytical techniques. In addition to the 51 credit hours of music core required for the BA/BS degree, students will complete the following 51 credits of music courses. Students seeking a music composition certificate will have a total of 102 credits of music courses. For admission to the composition certificate program students are required to submit two compositions of contrasting style for evaluation.
While it is rare for undergraduate institutions to offer even one composition class, SOU has a composition faculty of four composers and an integrated curriculum to teach composition beginning as early as the freshman year. Oregon Shakespeare Festival Composer-in-Residence Todd Barton heads the SOU Composition Department. Barton’s genome music has been performed and discussed all over the world, and was recently the subject of an extensive article in elem wa alam magazine (Science and World), the only science magazine in the Arab world. The Bender-Tutunov duo plan to perform Barton’s music in China this spring. Closer to home, Barton’s "Cymbeline Suite II' will be peformed by the Rogue Valley Symphony Orchestra this November. SOU composer Dr. Stephen Truelove is currently being studied and performed as part of the composition and performance programs at Singapore University; the Conservatorio Superior de Música "Rafael Orozco" in Cordoba, Spain; and at the University of Karishue in Germany. Dr. Truelove has for many years been very active with the Stockhausen Courses in Kurten, Germany and was one of three judges selected personally by Stockhausen to adjudicate the 2003 international Stockhausen Contest.
