Richard Wolf
Director of Undergraduate Studies
rwolf@fas.harvard.edu
617-384-7678
| Office: Sanders 031
Michael Uy
Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies
michaeluy@fas.harvard.edu
5-2263 | Office: Resident Dean, Dunster House
The placement test for music theory courses will be offered remotely via a dedicated Canvas site. The results of this test will help us recommend whether you should take 51A (music theory I), the preparatory Music 2 (offered in Spring), or jump to 51B (Theory 2, spring; this option is rare). The exam also assists with sectioning students by experience and interests. Please contact the instructor to request to be “enrolled” in the Canvas site [joseph_jakubowski@fas.harvard.edu]. You must complete the placement exam before the beginning of the semester.
Note: If a rising freshman or sophomore has taken the AP Theory test (and scored a 5), they can automatically register for 51A without sitting for the placement exam in August/September. AP scores and Placement Test scores hold for two years; if you are a junior or senior, or would like to try and place out of 51A and/or 51B, you must take the test.
Students who place out of both introductory theory courses—Music 51a and Music 51b—though the Harvard Placement Examination in Music (given in the fall and open to all students; see details above) will earn one full credit toward Advanced Standing. Concentration credit is not granted for passing out of Music 51, but substitute courses may be selected with consultation of an adviser. The AP exam in Music cannot be applied toward either Advanced Standing credit or Music Concentration credit at Harvard.
Graduates in Music go on to a variety of careers. Graduates have become lawyers, congressional aides, software developers, sound technicians, arts administrators, and speech pathologists, as well conductors, performers, and professors. The AB degree from Harvard with a concentration in Music is a liberal arts degree, and our students pursue careers in professions similar to anyone with liberal arts training. They also pursue careers as professional musicians, and many continue their studies and go on to become music scholars. Read about recent graduates who concentrated in Music.
8 courses (32 credits)
Several courses in Music are (or may be) graded pass/fail or sat/unsat. You must take at least 3 letter-graded courses each semester during your first year at Harvard. If this means exceeding the usual number of total courses per semester, you may be able to petition to enroll in an additional course (HRO or 189r for instance). Please consult the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Undergraduate Coordinator in Music, or your Freshman advisor for further guidance if necessary.
All students are required to confer with the Director of Undergraduate Studies or the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies at the outset of their concentration or joint concentration, in order to develop an overall plan for fulfillment of requirements. All concentrators will continue to be advised by one of these two faculty members at the start of each term.
The Department of Music offers one secondary field designed to be flexible enough to accommodate a broad range of interests. Students are free to explore the field by selecting a variety of courses, or they may focus on a specific aspect of the larger field.
REQUIREMENTS: 5 courses (20 credits)
Any five courses selected from among the courses offered in Music (including Gen Ed courses and Freshman Seminars taught by Music Department faculty), with the exceptions noted below:
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No more than two courses may be selected from Gen Ed Courses, Freshman Seminars, Music 1 through 9, and 20 through 49.
- A repeatable course may count only once under a given number (repeatable courses are labeled ‘r’ after their course number, so you can take 190r and 191r but not 190r twice).
-No more than one course may be selected from Music 10 through 18 (which may be graded SAT/UNSAT).
-Courses counting for secondary field credit may not be taken Pass/Fail, other than one Freshman Seminar (graded SAT/UNS) and one ensemble (Music 10 through 18).
OTHER INFORMATION
Courses taken abroad or in the summer school can be counted in the secondary field only with the permission of the department, normally granted only after the course has been completed.
ADVISING RESOURCES AND EXPECTATIONS
Students pursuing a secondary field are urged to seek out members of the Music department faculty for advice on their specific course choices.
For more information on the secondary field and for advising, please speak to the Director of Undergraduate Studies (Professor Richard K. Wolf, rwolf@fas.harvard.edu), or the current Undergraduate Coordinator in the Music Building (617-384-9507).
The Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library offers an outstanding collection of books and scores, as well as listening equipment for its extensive recording collection. The Sound Lab provides access to cutting- edge tools for audio capture and recording, digital media and video editing, as well as audio mixing, mastering, and restoration. Musicians have access to the practice rooms, all of which have pianos, and to a limited number of instrument lockers. The many musical organizations on campus include the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, the Bach Society Orchestra, the Mozart Society Orchestra, the Harvard Glee Club, the Collegium Musicum, the Radcliffe Choral Society, the University Choir, the Group for New Music at Harvard, and the Organ Society. Students interested in composition may submit works for performance at concerts offered by the department and for the Harvard University Prizes. The Office for the Arts offers a special lesson subsidy program to concentrator and non-concentrators, as well as information on private teachers in the area.
Any concentrator who is a fall degree candidate should email the Undergraduate Coordinator as soon as possible to obtain the relevant due dates.
All Honors candidates, including all joint concentrators, are required to complete a thesis during their senior year. This may take the form of a written thesis, a performance thesis, or an original composition. This will require consultation with a Harvard University Department of Music faculty member, who will serve as the thesis adviser. The plan or subject of the thesis is to be approved by the department at the end of the junior year. Please read the document below thoroughly for details and deadlines. It contains information on:
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the written thesis (Historical Musicology, Ethnomusicology, Music Theory)
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pre-screening and details for the non-written thesis (original composition, performance-based and creative Honors projects)
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deadlines for 20-21 and 21-22
- submission requirements
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thesis formatting guidelines
and requirements
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Undergraduate Honors Thesis Proposal Form
Thesis Guidelines and Deadlines classes of 2021 and 22.pdf (9 pages)
Each spring, the Music Department awards John Knowles Paine Fellowships for travel and study. The Fellowships were established in 1912 by Mrs. Paine in memory of her husband and are available to music concentrators in their senior year for study during the summer following graduation. If you are interested in applying, please submit THIS FORM and a letter to the Department Chair detailing your plans of travel or study and proposed budget. If you have any questions, please see the Director of Undergraduate Studies or the Department Administrator. The proposal is usually due in March.
The Davison Fellowship for Travel in Music, a gift from Alice D. Humez in memory of her husband Archibald "Doc" Davison, provides financial support for students engaged in short projects relating to music that require travel away from Harvard University. Undergraduate students in good standing are eligible to apply. While the terms of the fellowship are broadly defined, preference will be given to proposals that have an academic component. Projects may take place during the summer or the school year. Economical and resourceful proposals will be favored. Undergraduates engaged in research are particularly encouraged to apply. Applications consist of THIS FORM, a short project description (1-2 pp.), a budget, and a confidential letter of recommendation sent directly from an academic advisor. These materials should be submitted to the Department of Music in March and can be emailed to Eva Kim (evakim@fas.harvard.edu)
The fellowship selection will be made by a committee in the Department of Music and will be announced in the first week of April.
Undergraduates seeking funding for projects and travel may find these sources helpful as well:
• Harvard College funding sources database
• Harvard College Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships
• Office of Career Services David Rockefeller International Experience Grants
• Common Application for Research and Travel (CARAT)
• Artist Development Fellowships
Undergraduate composers are eligible to apply for several prizes, awarded annually. Write to the Assistant to the Chair (evakim@fas.harvard.edu) if you have questions about dates or details.
The deadline for submitting to the department for the university composition prizes and Blodgett Composition Competition is in March (email Eva Kim for exact deadline).
Please submit your piece(s) in hard copy form to Eva Kim. If your piece is selected, the composition faculty will determine which prize is most appropriate. There is general information about these prizes below.
THE BLODGETT COMPOSITION COMPETITION
This is a string quartet competition for a piece to be performed by the Parker String Quartet in 2018-19.
THE BOHEMIANS (NEW YORK MUSICIANS CLUB)
"The Bohemians" (New York Musicians Club) has been established in the Department of Music a prize in original musical composition. The competition is open to undergraduates or the members of any graduate school of the University. The interest of the bequest will be awarded for an original composition for one or two instruments.
FRANCIS BOOTT PRIZE
From the income of the bequest of Francis Boott, of the Class of 1831, a prize has been established for the writer of the best composition in concerted vocal music. The competition is open to undergraduates or to members of any graduate school of the University. The prize is offered for the best composition for chorus of not less than three nor more than eight parts, either a capella or with accompaniment for piano, organ, or small instrumental ensemble, requiring not more than ten minutes for performance. The choice of text, which may be either sacred or secular, Latin or English, original or selected, is left to the contestant.
GEORGE ARTHUR KNIGHT PRIZE
In 1909 the University received from William H. Knight, of the Class of 1903, a fund for the establishment of a prize in memory of his brother, George Arthur Knight, late of the Class of 1907. On this foundation the George Arthur Knight Prize is offered for the best composition in instrumental music, "preference to be given to compositions for string quartets or trios, though works with piano accompaniment may compete." The competition is open to undergraduates and degree candidates in any graduate school in the University.
HUGH F. MACCOLL BEQUEST
Bequest of Hugh F. MacColl, 1907, this prize was established in 1954. The income from the fund is "to be applied from time to time . . . to the awarding of prizes" in a competition for students in Harvard College "for original musical compositions.
For students who wish to pursue a program with more emphasis on performance, the department offers the Five-Year Program. Students approved by the department take four or five courses per term in their freshman year, but then work at the three-course-per-term rate for four following years. This permits more intensive work in performance, and these students are expected to give a senior recital.
This program is designed for music concentrators; thus admission to the five-year program is only granted to students willing to commit to this concentration choice as freshmen. This also means that a student doing the five-year program will pay for four years (of tuition, but an extra year of fees, room and board.
Students may combine this option with advanced standing to finish degree requirements in four years and remain at Harvard for a fifth year at the reduced rate.