Faculty

Ithaca College offers the degrees of B.M. and M.M. in composition. As a composition student at Ithaca College, you will gain the foundational skills that will allow you to fully develop your creative talents and artistry. In the pursuit of your own compositional voice under the guidance of our award-winning faculty, you will have the opportunity to explore the many facets of 21st century composition. Required courses for composition majors include orchestration, counterpoint, arranging and electroacoustic music. You will hear your music performed by highly skilled musicians at the Composition Premieres concerts and at reading sessions with professional guest ensembles. In recent years, renowned groups such as the Talea Ensemble, Distractfold Ensemble, Formosa Quartet and MIVOS Quartet have held residencies at our school. Through the Karel Husa Visiting Professor of Composition series, composers such as Gerorge Lewis, Chaya Czernowin, John Corigliano, Christopher Rouse, George Crumb, Steven Stucky, and William Bolcom have presented master classes, critiqued student works, and given lectures on their own work.

The Ithaca College Center for Music is a vibrant place where new music is ubiquitous. The Ithaca College Contemporary Ensemble presents two concerts a year and focuses mainly on the music of living composers. Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, wind and choral ensembles frequently feature music of our century and are available for readings of student works. The Ithaca College International Heckscher Composition Prize receives hundreds of entries from around the world for what has become one of the most coveted awards for chamber music composition.  In addition, a number of cash awards are available annually to current Ithaca College composition students.

Along with our broad-based approach to composing, you can take advantage of the College’s other reputable programs. The School of Communications film students are constantly seeking student composers to score their films; performers in the musical theater program are available to perform student composers’ works in that medium; and the recording technology program provides access to students and facilities, resulting in excellent recordings of your music. To facilitate all this, there is a large technology laboratory, a technology workroom designed just for composers, two electronic music studios and several sound studios.

Our alumni have continued their studies in reputable graduate programs in institutions such as Harvard, the Manhattan School of Music, Indiana University Bloomington, New England Conservatory and Peabody Conservatory. Others have become film and video game composers working in Los Angeles and composers for the stage in Chicago and New York City.