About the Program
The composition program at the University of North Texas is one of the largest and most diverse in the nation, with approximately 70 composition students and seven faculty members representing a variety of compositional aesthetics and approaches. Regular guest composer residencies, visiting new music specialists, and dozens of events each year provide students with a rich educational and artistic experience.
An interdisciplinary center within UNT’s Division of Composition Studies, the Center for Experimental Music & Intermedia (CEMI) provides a unique environment for the exploration of time-based arts and is internationally renowned for its long history of innovation, particularly in the realm of electroacoustic music. Students, faculty, guests, and collaborators from a variety of disciplines engage in research, creation, and performance in CEMI’s six production studios and the Merrill Ellis Intermedia Theater.
Music Now is the weekly composition departmental meeting, an open forum for the exchange of ideas and information about the creation, performance, and understanding of recent music. These forums, which are typically scheduled Mondays at 11:00-11:50 am, feature presentations by UNT faculty and students as well as visiting composers, scholars, and interpreters of new music.
Nova is the new music ensemble of the University of North Texas. In keeping with its mission to present a diversity of musical, aesthetic, and cultural experiences, Nova’s repertoire ranges from 20th century classics to works that incorporate the latest musical innovations. Students in the ensemble have opportunities to work with faculty and guest composers and are occasionally joined by faculty and guest performers. Performances and workshops have included music by composition students as well.
The Spectrum concert series features new solo and chamber works for instruments and voices by student composers; Centerpieces concerts feature works created at the Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia utilizing new technologies and intermedia.
The Composers' Forum is a student organization devoted to coordinating performances and bringing new works to public attention. The organization was formed to foster the spirit of collaboration between composers, performers, and artists of all kinds throughout the UNT community.
For additional information about the composition program, including all policies and procedures, please refer to the Composition Student Handbook.
2009-10 Guest Artists
Boknam Lee, composer
14 - 18 Sep 2009
Christian Clozier, composer
26 - 30 Oct 2009
Pauline Oliveros, composer
02 - 04 Mar 2010
Upcoming Events
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Aug31Music Now
- Introductory meeting (with reception and CEMI open house)
- The Merrill Ellis Intermedia Theater
- 11:00am
-
Aug31CEMI Event
- Music from National Chiao Tung University (Hsinchu, Taiwan)
- The Merrill Ellis Intermedia Theater
- 8:00pm
Recent Division News
Two works by graduate composer Eli Fieldsteel, Statements for Wind Symphony and Fantasy for Wind Symphony, were performed 2 December 2008 by the Wesleyan Wind Ensemble, conducted by Peter Hadley.
...of Strength and Compassion, a work for band by Kendall Prinz (MM 1999), was named as a finalist in the first ATSSB Composition Competition in February of 2009.
Undergraduate composer Mark Scott’s Spring Lightning for trombone quartet received its premiere performance at the International Trombone Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah on 28 May 2008. It was performed by the Bell Street Four trombone quartet, a UNT ensemble in which the composer also plays.
Doctoral composition student Hsiao-Lan Wang's work Tale of an Unborn Child for flute and piano has been selected for performance at the 10th Feminist Theory and Music Symposium at University of North Carolina, Greensboro, in May 2009.
On 5 April 2008 Three Pieces on the Shapes of a Pair by doctoral composer Sarah Page Summar premiered at the Campus Theatre in downtown Denton as part of the 2008 Collage Dance Festival. The work was a collaboration with TWU choreographer Lily Sloan and was performed by Ms. Sloan and Emily Lockard with musicians Jon Jackson, Gary Knudson, Tim Mabrey, Laura Nieman, Sarah Summar, and Rachel Yoder.
"Perfect Red," a film directed by David Covarrubias with original score by Neil Argo (BM 1976), was awarded Best Original Score at the 2008 International Digital Video and High Definition Festival. The film was also awarded Best Use of Music in a Short Film and Bronze Medal for Excellence at the 2008 Park City Film Music Festival.
Pontis (2007) for marimba solo by doctoral composer Da Jeong Choi has received several performances during the spring 2008 semester by UNT faculty percussionist Mark Ford: East Carolina State University (22 February 2008), Messiah College in Grantham, PA (24 March 2008), Indiana University of Pennsylvania (26 March 2008), and Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma (4 April 2008).
"Reconstructing Presence: Human Geography of Brent Phelps' On the Trail of Lewis and Clark" by graduate composer and art history student Christina Rusnak was published in the January 2009 issue of Wandering Scholars, an on-line arts and literary journal in the United Kingdom (http://www.wanderingscholars.org.uk).
The interactive composition LÜ (for erhu and msp) by doctoral composer Jing Wang was selected for inclusion in the International Women's Electroacoustic Listening Room Project at California State University, Fullerton, on 1 March 2008.
Cantus Curatio for electronics by doctoral composer Da Jeong Choi received performances at the Electronic Music Midwest Festival at Lewis University (Romeoville, IL) on 16-18 October 2008, at the 2nd Kentucky New Music Festival on 9-14 November 2008, and at 60x60 2008 Midwest Electronic Music Concert at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, on 13 November 2008.