MusB • MM • Minor
Composition (Classical)
Composition (Classical)

Create your own musical universe in a vibrant community where traditional skills and modern technology meet.
Learn the rules, then break them. Express yourself.
The conservatory’s contemporary composition major enables you to develop your original voice as it prepares you to create music for the concert hall, film studio, opera house, or for the music theater or dance stage, as well as with mixed media, improvisation, and other unconventional forms.
Rich Curriculum and the Power of Performing
At the core of the curriculum are individual lessons in composition and a composition seminar that brings together the entire community of composers. Central to the program is Purchase New Music, where each semester provides an opportunity to create a piece for public performance and recording, played by fellow students and guest artists from some of New York’s leading ensembles. Class studies in theory, solfège, keyboard studies, counterpoint, orchestration, analysis, and electro-acoustic music provide a wide-ranging and in-depth educational experience, preparing you for a professional life in music.