Graduate Program

UC San Diego's Department of Music is internationally recognized as the West Coast's premiere center for education and innovation in new music.

The Department of Music at UC San Diego provides a unique environment in which composers, performers, improvisers, computer music researchers and music scholars engage with the most vital ideas and newest technologies in order to push the boundaries of contemporary music. The community's overlapping concerns reveal a terrain rich in tradition but constantly expanding, an atmosphere of exciting collaboration and respectful contention.

The Department’s world-renowned faculty provides the impetus that focuses and energizes the unique UC San Diego musical community. Faculty and students frequently perform together in concerts, on recordings, and at national and international venues. Festivals, colloquia and distinguished visitors create a stimulating and kinetic environment for collaboration and for the investigation of new musical frontiers and of music in the context of our time.

Founded in 1966 by composers Robert Erickson and Will Ogdon, The Department currently offers Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) degrees. Areas of emphasis include Composition, Computer Music, Integrative Studies, and Performance.

UC San Diego music graduates can be found both happily within and decidedly outside academic communities throughout the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Nordic and Oceanic countries, forming an extensive, international alumni group.

Graduate Coordinator:

Office Hours

Resources for Graduates

• Triton Link
• Intranet - Provides Department of Music policies and downloadable department forms (i.e. Concert Recording & Dubbing, Departmental Resources, Concert Guidelines)
• Online Key Request
• Office for Students with Disabilities
• Important Contacts