Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance in La Jolla United States | University of California, San Diego

The Performance Program in the Department of Music is dedicated to cultivating innovative, thoughtful, and enthusiastic interpretations of modern compositions. As Robert Erickson, one of our founding faculty members, famously remarked, UC San Diego serves as a collective of dedicated musicians.

Artists engage and connect within this shared space through partnerships with both faculty and student composers, while investigating novel performance techniques, digital music tools, spontaneous composition, and various other disciplines. Interpreting contemporary works is seen as an artistic endeavor that harmonizes technical mastery with inventive discovery.

Advanced performance students can pursue either a Master of Arts or Doctor of Musical Arts degree specializing in modern music interpretation. Both curricula involve mandatory graduate-level seminars and in-depth guidance from faculty advisors. Participants are urged to approach their independent studies with curiosity and ambition. Graduation requirements feature two public performances and the demonstration of original performance research.