42 PhD programmes in Music Composition in United States

The Composition Department at University of Rochester is devoted to teaching students who wish to pursue a professional and/or academic career in concert and computer music composition. 

The Graduate Composition and Theory Program at the University of California, Davis, provides an invigorating and liberating approach to the art of music composition. 

At the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, we offer our graduate students a DMA degree in Music Composition. 

The Composition Department at University of Rochester is devoted to teaching students who wish to pursue a professional and/or academic career in concert and computer music composition.  

The Ph.D. degree in Music Theory - Composition from Kent State University prepares composers, research scholars and college/university teachers in the areas of music theory and composition. 

Designed for students seeking the highest degree in the field, the Composition program offered by University of Memphis is a rigorous three-year course of study culminating in a doctoral dissertation. 

The Musical Arts - Composition degree from The University of Arizona has emphases in composition, conducting, and performance. In the performance emphasis concentrations are available in bassoon, cello, clarinet, double bass, euphonium, flute, guitar, horn, harp, harpsichord, oboe, organ, percussion, piano, saxophone, trombone, trumpet, tuba, viola, violin, and voice. 

The Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) in Music Performance and Composition at the University of Maryland is designed for graduate students who desire advanced professional study in composition, conducting or performance within the context of a major research university.

Prepare to help Music Composition students at University of South Carolina explore their original ideas in a rigorous and creative environment committed to musical excellence. Advance your professional composition skills through one-to-one instruction.

At the Brown University, we offer our graduate students a phd degree in Music and Multimedia Composition.

In the Composition course at Rutgers University individualized qualifying exams prepare students for the dissertation, which consists of a major composition as well as a substantial essay on a subject related to the field of contemporary music. 

The Music - Musicology program at Louisiana State University is intended to develop in students the knowledge, concepts, and techniques for research in music and to prepare students for teaching music history at the college/university level. 

The Musical Arts program at Louisiana State University is designed to prepare students to be artist-performers and conductors, in either university settings or the professional arena.

The Music - Music Education program at Louisiana State University is offered to students who show promise as outstanding researchers and master teachers of music.

The Music - Composition program at Louisiana State University is offered to students who show promise as outstanding composers and creative innovators. 

The Music - Experimental Music and Digital Media program at Louisiana State University is designed to prepare students to be composers, performers or music researchers whose work explores music technology, digital media and experimentation in either professional or academic settings.

The Department of Music has for decades enjoyed a reputation as one of a handful of departments in North America dedicated to contemporary musical creation at the highest level.  The Music Composition program is offered at the University at Buffalo .

The Ph.D. program in Composition at the University of Pennsylvania stresses training in the craft of composition, contemporary repertory, and theory and analysis.

In the Music Theory and Composition program from Texas Christian University, you’ll learn from five full-time faculty composers and theorists, as well as several other accomplished composers, in a highly selective program based on individual instruction and mentoring.

The mission of the School of Music at the University of Oklahoma is to advance learning, teaching, scholarly and creative activity, and service. The school offers this degree in Composition.