Degree Requirements
DMA • Opera Performance
Overview
The three-year Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A.) degree in Music Performance trains students as informed artist-performers. In addition to demonstrating technical mastery of their instrument or voice, students are expected to exhibit a thorough understanding of the theoretical, pedagogical, and historical aspects of the major, as well as a knowledge of the literature of their performance area.
Contacts
Administrative Contacts
Graduate Advisor | Director of Graduate Studies
Scholarships & Assistantships
Graduate Admissions Coordinator
HR Coordinator
Graduate Coordinator
Operations & Scheduling
Division Contacts
Division Head, Voice & Opera
Area Counselor, Voice
Area Counselor, Opera
Faculty
-
Donnie Ray Albert
Senior Lecturer in Voice -
Steven Brennfleck
Lecturer in Voice -
Garnett Bruce
Resident Stage Director, Butler Opera Center -
J.D. Burnett
Director of Choral Activities
Director, Concert Chorale
Division Head, Voice & Opera -
Carlos Capra
Lecturer in Opera -
Leah Crocetto
Lecturer in Vocal Arts -
Liliana Verónica Guerrero
Assistant Professor of Voice -
Douglas Kinney Frost
Principal Conductor, Butler Opera Center -
William Lewis
Professor of Voice -
James Maverick
Lecturer in Collaborative Piano -
Cynthia Morrow
Assistant Professor of Practice in Voice -
Suzanne Pence
Director, Treble Chamber Choir
Associate Professor of Music and Human Learning, Choral Conducting -
Rick Rowley
Associate Professor of Practice
Vocal Coaching & Collaborative Piano -
Tamar Sanikidze
Director, Butler Opera Center
Professor of Opera
Principal Opera Coach -
Mikhail Smigelski
Lecturer in Voice
Degree Requirements
The D.M.A. in Opera Performance requires 53-58 hours of registered coursework, two comprehensive examinations, and advanced work in four Butler Opera Center productions. A treatise option is available.
Major Coursework
Hours | Course Number | Course Title/Description |
---|---|---|
8 | OPR 290 | Graduate Opera Performance (4 semesters) |
6 | MUS 387L | Opera Literature (2 semesters) |
2 | MUS 280D | Topics in Diction & Translation |
3 | MUS 388T | Analytical Techniques |
6 | MUS x99N | Non-Treatise Lecture Recital Document (after entering candidacy) |
Supporting Coursework
Hours | Course Number | Course Title/Description |
---|---|---|
6 | MUS 380 | Advanced Studies in History and Culture of Music (2 semesters) |
3 | MUS 381 | Reference and Research Materials in Music |
9-12 | Additional music courses selected from the areas of advanced theory, composition, ethnomusicology, musicology, and applied music (applied music not to exceed 4 hours). | |
4-6 | Appropriate courses in drama | |
6 | Related upper-division or graduate level courses outside the School of Music (e.g., history, art, English, education, philosophy, foreign languages, drama, etc.) for which the student has the necessary prerequisites |
Treatise Option
Doctoral students in music performance who wish to pursue the treatise option must obtain permission from the Graduate Studies Committee in music before applying for candidacy. Differences from the non-treatise are:
- The Chamber Recital is not required.
- Students in candidacy register for MUS x99 Treatise instead of MUS x99N Non-Treatise Lecture-Recital Document.
- The lecture-recital document is expected to be a substantial research paper of a scholarly nature.
Four Recitals
Opera roles may be counted for three of the four required doctoral recitals. Students using an opera role toward a recital should contact scheduling@mail.music.utexas.edu before the performance takes place so that the recital credit can be properly logged.
The final lecture-recital is performed after entering candidacy, typically in the final semester of study. This recital includes a written lecture-recital document and defense.
Juries
Doctoral students in Vocal Performance/Pedagogy and Opera Performance must perform a 10-minute jury for the first two semesters of study. Repertoire should consist of advanced art songs and arias, chosen in collaboration with the student’s instructor. All jury repertoire must be memorized.
Students should provide a “jury sheet” for all of the faculty with the repertoire they have prepared. Students are required to give minute synopsis for each selection from the stage.
Postponements are allowed for extenuating circumstances (injury, death in the family, etc.). No-shows are considered a failure. If a jury is postponed, the student must perform the jury within the first twelve class days of the following semester.
Jury comments from faculty will be shared with students.
Find more information about this semester's juries, including FDFJ forms and deadlines.
Comprehensive Examinations
Common Comprehensive
The common comprehensive examination consists of two portfolios - the Academic Portfolio and the Repertory/Tradition Portfolio. Competency in music theory is tested as part of the final examination process of each section of the MUS 388T Analytical Techniques course. They are offered once per semester and in the summer.
A student who fails any portion of the common comprehensive exam on the first try must re-take the failed portion of the exam. If a student fails a portion of the exam twice, that student must choose one of the following options:
- Take one or more graduate courses as determined by the musicology or theory faculty. The student must achieve a grade of B or higher in the specified course(s) to complete the requirement and officially pass.
- Take the relevant portion(s) of the exam a third time, with the understanding that a third failure will result in termination of the student’s degree program.
Specialized Comprehensive
The content and procedures for the specialized comprehensive exams vary across divisions. Consult with the head of your division for additional information about the specialized comprehensive exams.
Advising & Registration
For information about course registration, deadlines, adding and dropping courses and other policies, visit the Graduate School Academic & Registration Policies webpage.
Students who wish to take an independent study course need to fill out a Consent Form. Once the faculty member and Graduate Coordinator have approved your request, the bar to register for the course will be lifted.
To be eligible for fellowships, scholarships and assistantships, graduate students are required to be enrolled full-time (at least 9 hours).
All international students are also required to be enrolled full-time during each long semester, regardless of whether they receive funding from the Butler School of Music.
View a List of Upcoming Courses offered by Musicology & Ethnomusicology
Transferring Coursework
A new doctoral student may petition to substitute up to twelve credits of graduate level coursework completed at another institution for degree requirements at the University of Texas, subject to approval by the Butler School Graduate Studies Committee. This process must be completed during the first semester of enrollment, before the close of the fall advising period.
Courses approved for substitution typically fall into the areas of music history, theory, literature, and pedagogy, as well as chamber music.
Under normal circumstances, transferred coursework should have been completed within the four academic years prior to the start of the doctoral work at UT. The GSC will consider on a case-by-case basis whether coursework completed more than four years prior to the start of doctoral study at the Butler School can count toward the program of study.
Coursework completed for a master's degree at the University of Texas at Austin may be included in the course work for the doctoral degree without a petition form, but is subject to approval by the Graduate Studies Committee chair in Music, the candidate's supervising committee, and the Dean of Graduate Studies.
Graduation Timeline
Semester-by-Semester Overview
Prior to 1st semester
- All students must take the diagnostic examinations in music history and music theory. Additional diagnostic exams are administered for students in composition, voice, jazz and music theory.
Semester 1
- For students who completed an M.M. degree before coming to UT Austin, course transfer requests must be submitted in the first semester. If they have not been submitted by the advising period for spring classes (i.e. late October), the student’s registration will be barred.
Semester 2
- All first year D.M.A. students should meet with the Graduate Coordinator for an audit of their coursework during the advising period for summer and fall classes in April. Registration will be barred until this meeting takes place.
Semesters 3–4
- Students typically perform their Solo Recital I and Chamber Recitals in their second full year. Please note, both recitals may not be performed in the same semester without approval from the Director of Graduate Studies.
Semester 4
- Students must submit a completed D.M.A. course outline to verify completion of coursework.
- Unless there are mitigating circumstances (for example: insufficient number of Master’s level credits that can be transferred or an unusual number of deficiency courses a student must complete) documented and approved by the Graduate Coordinator, all D.M.A. students must attempt the common comprehensive exams.
- All D.M.A. students must complete their specialized comps before applying for candidacy.
Semester 5–6 (Candidacy)
- All D.M.A. students who pass the common and specialized comprehensive exams must form their committees and apply for candidacy. See the Candidacy Timeline below for a step-by-step process at this stage of the degree.
- Students who have to re-take all or a portion of the common comprehensive exam in their 5th semester must form their committee and apply to candidacy prior to the 12th class day.
D.M.A. Candidacy Timeline
- Schedule Solo Recital II
- Scheduling procedures
- Graded by performance members of committee; performance co-supervisor required to attend.
- Set Doctoral Committee
Committee consists of six members:- Performance co-supervisor (primary instructor).
- Academic co-supervisor (member of the Musicology, Theory or Music & Human Learning faculty).
- Three other Butler School faculty members (two performance, one academic).
- One member from outside of the Butler School of Music.
- At least three of the five Butler School committee members must be part of the Graduate Studies Committee.
- Officially Apply for Candidacy
- Application is available on the Graduate School website.
- Students must be registered for classes in the semester they plan to become a doctoral candidate. MUS 394/694 Directed Reading courses are recommended.
- Non-Treatise – Do not add an abstract, indicate “D.M.A. option 2” in the abstract field.
- Treatise – Supply the Graduate School with a short abstract.
- Change Registration
- The Graduate Office will help you change registration to MUS X99(N/W) once your application is approved.
- Check the Graduate School website for deadlines.
- Schedule Lecture Recital
- Contact scheduling@mail.music.utexas.edu to schedule your lecture recital (you do not have to be in candidacy to start the scheduling process)
- At a minimum, your two committee co-supervisors and two other committee members must attend (virtual attendance is acceptable)
- Must take place before the last two weeks of the semester
- Defense should not be scheduled for the same day
- Schedule Final Defense
- The Request for Final Oral Exam must be officially filed with the graduate school
- Must be scheduled at least two weeks prior to the defense date
- Apply for Graduation
- Final Defense
- Must be completed prior to last week of class of class
- Should not be the same day as Lecture Recital
- Five of your six committee members must attend (virtual attendance is acceptable)
- Final Certification & Report of Dissertation
- The Graduate School will email your Final Certification document
- Gather all committee signatures after your document is approved
- File with the Graduate School by 3pm on the last Friday of classes
- Final Document, Thesis & Dissertation
- Non-Treatise students forward completed and approved documents to the graduate coordinator
- Treatise & Dissertation students must upload their documents to the graduate school database and submit all required pages to the Graduate School
Important Links & Forms
BSOM Graduate Handbook 2022-23
Academic
Office of Graduate Studies
Including fellowship, employment, and TA and AI information
Texas Global, International Student Scholars
Registrar
Registration, course schedules, registration bars, etc
Consent Form for independent study or other restricted individual instruction courses
My UT
One-stop shop for tuition bill, your course schedule, etc….
Financial
Merit-Based Music Scholarships
Graduate Student Travel Award Application
School of Music Travel Award Application
TA and AI Assistance – Tuition Reduction Benefit
Living in TX as a new student
Establishing Residence in Texas
On-Campus Procedural Info
Butler School Internal Operations Website
Parking & Transportation
UT parking permits, maps, shuttle routes, etc.
Information Technology Services
UT EID help
Health & Wellness
Career Assistance
Forms
For Master's students
For DMA/PhD students
- Course Substitution Petition Form
- DMA/PhD Course Outline
- How to fill out your Course Outline
- Request for Final Oral Examination ("Pink" sheet)
For Artist Diploma students
General forms
- Graduate School Travel Award Application
- School of Music Travel Award Application
- Consent Form - for ind. study or other completely restricted individual instruction courses