Areas of Study
Composition
The department emphasizes thorough training in composition and theory within the context of a liberal arts university. Students meet with members of the department’s composition faculty on a weekly basis and in seminars with a special focus on contemporary music studies. Recent seminar topics have included Computer Music, The Art of Counterpoint in Recent Music, and Blue Prints: Post 19th-Century Scoring of Black Music Style.
Musicology
Duke University is strongly committed to an interdisciplinary approach to both research and education. This approach is reflected in its musicology program, in which music is studied not in isolation, but as part of the historical and cultural fabric of society. Students frequently take courses outside the Music Department and can pursue research in other disciplines related to their interests.
Performance Practice
The Department of Music at Duke University has a longstanding interest in performance practice. This focus on historical performance studies is reflected in the activities of its faculty and students; its library and the G. Norman and Ruth G. Eddy Collection of Musical Instruments; and an extensive offering of concerts, lectures, and workshops. The degree program in Performance Practice emphasizes a scholarly approach to the performance of music of both the remote and more recent past.