Sonic Arts at the NZSM

Requirements for the major

100-level papers

• CMPO 101 Introduction to Composition and Sonic Arts
• CMPO 110 Introduction to Computer Music Programming
• MUSC 105 Music Now
• MUSC 166 Classical Theory 1
• and either
  • MUSC 164 Jazz Theory 1; or
  • MUSC 167 Classical Theory 2; or
  • MUSC 264 Jazz Theory 2

200-level papers

• CMPO 210* Sonic Arts 2: Form, Process, Material
• CMPO 211 Music Programming and Instrument Design for Live Electronics
• MUSC 265** Electronic Music: Theory and Analysis

300-level core papers

• CMPO 310** Advanced Projects in Fixed Media Sonic Arts
• CMPO 311 Advanced Projects in Live Electronics

**MUSC 265 and CMPO 310 will not be offered in 2010. For CMPO 310, students are requested to substitute CMPO 301 (Combined Seminar in Composition & Sonic Arts)
MUSC 265 will be offered again in 2011. In the meantime, students are advised to take one paper from MUSC 230–259 to ensure they have the prerequisites for 300-level papers.

20th-century music history

• At least one course/paper from MUSC 245–249 or 345–349, which includes:
  • MUSC 245 Music in the Twentieth Century
  • MUSC 246 Electronic Music
  • MUSC 247 Introduction to 20th-Century Sound Cinema
  • MUSC 249 Music in New Zealand Society
  • MUSC 345 Studies in 20th/21st-century music
  • MUSC 346 Critical Approaches to Music in Film
  • MUSC 348 Composer Special Topic

Advanced music theory

• At least one course/paper from MUSC 250, 261–264, 266–269, or 361–369, which includes:
  • MUSC 250 Ethnomusicology Techniques
  • MUSC 264 Jazz Theory 2
  • MUSC 266 Classical Theory 3
  • MUSC 267 Analysis
  • MUSC 365 Materials of 20th/21st-Century Music
  • MUSC 368 Counterpoint
  • MUSC 369 Special Topic in Analysis

Additional creative papers

• At least one course/paper from CMPO 230–249 or 330–349, which includes:
  • CMPO 230 Instrumentation
  • CMPO 231 Small Ensemble Orchestration
  • CMPO 235 Jazz Arranging and Composition 1
  • CMPO 330 Large Ensemble Orchestration
  • CMPO 335 Jazz Arranging and Composition 2
  • CMPO 340 Musical Multimedia
  • CMPO 341 Sound, Time, Space
  • CMPO 345 Special Topic in Composition

Performance

• At least course/paper from MUSC 151, 210, or any PERF paper.
• The following papers are non-auditioned papers
  • MUSC 151 Maori Music
  • MUSC 210 Introduction to Conducting
  • PERF 150 Gamelan - Orchestras of Southeast Asia
  • PERF 345 Electronic Performance
• The following paper does not require such a high level of performance as most PERF papers:
  • PERF 126 Improvisation for non-jazz major

Plus any other papers to make a total of 360 points, of which 180 must be at 200-level or above, and 75 must be at 300-level.

*Selection criteria for CMPO 210

Please note that as CMPO 210 is capped at 15 students, entry will be determined by:

1. the student having received at least a B- grade in CMPO 110; and
2. selection by composition staff based on potential demonstrated in a submitted portfolio of compositions.

Portfolios should be submitted to the Programme Leader, Composition. Deadline for receipt of portfolios is 10 December. The composition faculty will meet shortly thereafter to make the final selection. (NB: Late submissions may be considered, depending on available capacity.)

The portfolio may include or comprise major assignments from previous composition papers. Works may be in either electronic format, as tracks on an audio CD, or as data files on a CD/DVD. If you wish to submit your pieces electronically, then please email them as MP3/MP4 or AAC files to michael.norris@nzsm.ac.nz. If you want to send CDs/DVDs, then please post them to Michael Norris, New Zealand School of Music, PO Box 2332, Wellington, or leave them at the NZSM Office on the Kelburn Campus (attn Michael Norris).