Through the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Music at Columbia University offers one of the top doctoral programs in academic musicology (PhD in Ethnomusicology, Historical Musicology and Music Theory) and Composition (DMA) in the United States. In the past decade, in spite of an often challenging academic job market in the humanities fields, a significant majority of our graduates go on to professional careers. We are committed to the professional development of our students, and expect them to be committed to their own professional goals as scholars, teachers and composers.
The Musicology program incorporates three areas: Ethnomusicology, Historical Musicology and Music Theory. Within these areas, research and teaching focus on a wide range of topics, including music history in the West, non-Western musics and cultures, popular and urban musics, jazz, analytical methods, music cognition, music aesthetics, and the philosophy of music. An application is made to one of these areas, each with its own degree requirements. The Musicology program is supported by a first-class library, the Gabe Wiener Music & Arts Library, located in Dodge Hall, as well as the extensive sound archives of the Center for Ethnomusicology. The department is home to the oldest and most prestigious academic music journal edited by graduate students, Current Musicology.
The Musicology Area provides students with a framework for culturally grounding diverse musical repertoires and implementing various research methodologies, allowing...
Learn MoreThe Master of Arts (MA) in Musicology is a 12-month degree program unique in Canada that serves students with a...
Learn MoreThe Society for Music Theory's 49th Annual Meeting is coming to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this November 5-8, 2026....
Learn MoreThe Department of Music in the College of Liberal Arts offers the M.M. in Music. It is an advanced, professional...
Learn MoreStudents graduating from this program will: Students will be able to express original and substantive ideas about music in writing....
Learn MoreThe Department offers the Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Music (concentration in Musicology), with emphases possible...
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