Master of Arts - Music History - Performance Practice

The University of Hartford's Hartt music history program enables students to explore Western music in its historical and cultural contexts. From broad survey courses to in-depth special seminars, majors, minors, students gain a comprehensive understanding of all periods of Western music.

As an important feature of this curriculum is flexible elective courses that are suited to students' interests and needs, the electives are often designed with current students in mind. To that end, courses offered within the last two years have included opera history, string quartet literature, C.P.E. Bach, pre-tonal theory and analysis, medievalism in modern media, cognitive psychology, and critical editing; students may also take courses on jazz and African-American musical traditions in the Jackie McLean Jazz Studies Division.

In addition to rigorous coursework, students will participate in a number of performance organizations, including the Baroque ensemble, the Collegium Musicum. Hartt’s wide collection of early instruments, including recorders, Renaissance lutes and flutes, harpsichords, clavichord, baroque bows, shawms, and sackbuts, are available for use and provide you with an active and creative learning environment.

The performance practice emphasis combines students' interest in performing with the study of treatises, earlier performance techniques, ornamentation, and related issues.

Students should be advised that this is the Direct Admission option for this program and as such does not offer conditional admission.