Master of Music

Audition/interview and application deadline is February 22, 2025.

Audition Dates for 2024–2025

• Friday, January 17, 2025: Virtual Audition Day (reservation deadline January 3, 2025)
  
• Saturday, January 25, 2025: In-Person Audition Day (reservation deadline January 3, 2025)
  
• Saturday, February 15, 2025: In-Person Audition Day (reservation deadline January 31, 2025)
• Saturday, February 22, 2025: In-Person Audition Day *deadline for assistantship consideration (reservation deadline January 31, 2025)
• Saturday,  April 12, 2025: In-Person Audition Day (reservation deadline March 31, 2025)

Applications must be submitted by the reservation deadline listed above to guarantee your audition/interview date. 

Conducting applicants: Audition dates will be emailed to you after you submit the Graduate College Application.

You can find contact information for local hotels and information about parking on campus here

*Please check your spam/junk email folders for correspondence from BGSU. You will get several emails from the College of Musical Arts as well as the Graduate College in regards to auditions and your application and often our emails go directly into spam/junk folders. 

To be considered for admission to the master’s program, submit:

• BGSU Graduate College Application
• Scanned copies of official or unofficial transcripts from all institutions attended. Upon admission, final official or notarized copies of transcripts from all institutions where a degree was earned (showing dates when the degrees were conferred) and diplomas from international institutions must be submitted.
  
• $45 domestic application fee and $75 international application fee
• Scores from the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) are not required for any graduate programs in the College of Musical Arts.
  

Within the BGSU Graduate College Application, you will see the College of Musical Arts Secondary Application section, where you will provide names and contact information for principal teachers, and indicate your preferences for assistantship consideration. In the secondary application you may either select and audition day (in-person or virtual) or elect to upload a recorded audition into the application (in the portfolio section). However, domestic students applying for music performance assistantships must present an in-person or virtual audition. If  you have already selected a virtual audition date, you will be sent information about setting up the virtual audition. 

You do not need all of your application materials (see below) uploaded to submit your application. As long as the application is completely filled out you can submit the application and then go back to upload your application materials. Please submit your application as soon as possible.

Music Performance applicants may either select an in-person or virtual audition or elect to upload a recorded audition into the application (in the portfolio section). However domestic students applying for music performance assistantships must present an in-person or virtual audition. 

Music Education applicants will present an online interview and will submit the following online through the Graduate College application:

• A 10-minute, video-taped performance on an instrument or voice.
• A continuous 15-minute, video-taped teaching or rehearsal segment.
• A writing sample - essay of no more than 1,000 words, reflecting on a successful or unsuccessful teaching moment experienced in a recent teaching setting. Include descriptions of the setting, your student(s), the learning goal(s), student performance, and the measure of success. Based on the outcome, outline an appropriate plan for the next lesson.
  

Music Composition applicants must submit scores and sound files of representative original works online through the Graduate College application. To be considered for the Toledo Symphony Composition Scholarship, composition applicants must include a previously written work for orchestra and/or a large instrumental ensemble in their application portfolio.

Ethnomusicology and Music History applicants must submit two or three in-depth undergraduate papers. All papers are submitted online through the Graduate College application.

To be considered for an assistantship in the master’s program:

• Submit a résumé through your Graduate College application.
  
• Attend a in-person or virtual audition/interview, unless the candidate is not currently residing in the United States.

All applicants for music education assistantships must submit the following online through the Graduate College application:

• 10-minute videotaped performance on an instrument or voice.
• Continuous 15-minute videotaped teaching or rehearsal segment.

International Students:

• Must earn at least the minimum composite score cited below on an approved test of English:       
  
  • 80 TOEFL IBT
  • 6.5 IELTS
  • 110 Duolingo Test of English (DET)
• Applicants can report their own score to expedite the application process, but official scores must be sent directly from the testing company to Graduate Admissions before enrolling. We cannot admit students with scores below these minimum requirements. See International Student Services for other requirements

Approximately 40 graduate assistantships become available for master’s candidates each year. The assistantships available can be found by clicking on the links below. Assistantship needs may change during the course of the year and, in some cases, more than one vacancy may exist for one of the listings. Students may interview for assistantships outside of their major area.

Please note: to be eligible for any graduate assistantship, you must complete a live interview for the position at an audition day (in person or virtual). No assistantship can be awarded without an interview. The only exception are studio assistantships, which may be awarded based on a recorded audition.

Musicology/Composition/Theory

Aural Skills, Composition, Music History, Music Technology, Music Theory, Instrumental and Choral Arranging, World Music, MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music and Non-major Offerings.

Availability and descriptions for Musicology/Composition/Theory assistantships.

Music Education

Class Piano, Choral Techniques, Cooperative School Band Assistant, Curriculum Lab, Field Experience, Classroom Techniques, Brass Techniques, Woodwind Techniques, String Methods and University Band Activities.

Availability and descriptions for Music Education assistantships.

Music Performance

Oboe, Bassoon, Clarinet, Saxophone, Trumpet, Tuba/Euphonium, French Horn, Choral Assistant, Jazz, Guitar, Studio Piano/Piano Accompanying, Flute, Trombone, Percussion, Orchestra Conducting Assistant, Violin (Graduate String Quartet), Viola (Graduate String Quartet), Cello (Graduate String Quartet), Trinity United Methodist Church and Voice.

Availability and descriptions for Music Performance assistantships.

Music Office

Music Admissions Coordinator Assistant and Public Events Office

Availability and descriptions for Music Office assistantships.

Assistantship Information

Stipend

Current first-year, nine-month contracts provide stipends from $6,000 to $10,800. In addition, with tuition scholarship the total value in 2024-25 would range from $20,410 (18 credits + lowest stipend amount) to $30,013 (24 credits + highest stipend) per year. 

Fall 2025 Appointment: August 25, 2025

Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in music, 3.0 GPA and unconditional admission to the Graduate College. In most cases, candidates must present a campus interview to be considered for an assistantship.

Deadline

To be assured of consideration, candidates should complete the application and campus interview/audition by February 22, 2025. (The Orchestral Conducting application deadline is January 1, 2025 and the Choral Conducting application deadline is January 31, 2025.)

You can indicate your assistantship preferences on the BGSU Graduate College Application.

Additional information on assistantships can be found on the Graduate Assistantships page through the Graduate College website.

Scholarship Information

All students are considered for partial to full tuition scholarships, which may be awarded in lieu of assistantship awards. No application is required for scholarship consideration.  Applicants to the Master of Music in Composition degree program will be considered for the Toledo Symphony Composition Scholarship, a prestigious $10,000 award distributed equally between the student’s first and second years of master’s study as well as the opportunity to have an orchestral work written at BGSU performed by the Toledo Symphony during the annual Toledo Symphony Reading Session. To be considered for this award, composition applicants must include a previously written work for orchestra and/or a large instrumental ensemble in their application portfolio. 

For more information please call (419) 372-2182 or email Music Graduate Studies to request information about application procedures or available assistantships and scholarships.

Assistantships Outside The College of Musical Arts

Although most graduate assistantship positions are awarded through the academic departments, on occasion the Graduate College will receive notification of GA openings in other University offices/departments. These positions will be listed on the available graduate assistantships page. Contact the individual listed or review the accompanying job description for additional information.