Christopher Dobrian

The Department of Music at the University of California, Irvine invites applications to a new PhD program in Integrated Composition, Improvisation, and Technology (ICIT).

ICIT is an innovative PhD focusing on contemporary modes of creative music making and the critical discourses surrounding them.

The program challenges traditional binaries such as jazz/classical, composer/performer, electronic/acoustic, and Western/non-Western, exploring a wide range of contemporary musical practices. This calls for a new generation of thinkers and artists.

ICIT embraces all types of original music makers—composers, improvisers, technologists, critical thinkers, and experimenters—drawing on classical, jazz, experimental, and world music traditions. We seek students with a strong foundation who wish to develop new creative work integrating a variety of contemporary music and ideas.

Students receive close personal attention from faculty, and are encouraged to work on interdisciplinary projects. Courses are taught by a core faculty whose own work spans diverse forms of music, merging conventional distinctions between classical composition, computer music, improvisation, and jazz, and non-Western traditions.

In addition to the five core ICIT faculty, the Music Department includes many other performers, musicologists, theorists and historians, making for a rich environment in which to develop critical skills that are essential for the 21st-century musician. The Claire Trevor School of the Arts is home to excellent graduate programs in Music, Dance, Drama, and Studio Art. UC Irvine is a quickly growing campus within one of the nation’s leading research university systems. Located near the coast in Orange County, Irvine is an hour south of Los Angeles, a major art world center with vibrant contemporary music scenes.

Most students receive tuition waivers and stipends in return for working as teaching assistants. Applicants should possess an undergraduate degree in music or an equivalent level of training, and should demonstrate potential for creative and innovative work.

Students with a bachelor’s degree will enter at the master’s level and will generally complete the master’s degree (MA) in two years and will complete the PhD after an additional two years. Those already holding a master’s degree in a related field may apply to enter at the PhD level and will generally complete the PhD in three years.

If you have questions or are interested in applying, please visit the ICIT website at 

, and then contact one of our core faculty with any further questions, including details about the upcoming visiting day on Tuesday, November 22, 2016. We welcome your inquiries and proposals.

If you have questions or are interested in applying, please visit the ICIT website at http://music.arts.uci.edu/icit, and then contact one of our core faculty with any further questions, including details about the upcoming visiting day on Tuesday, November 22, 2016. We welcome your inquiries and proposals.


[OT] ICIT PhD applications due Dec. 1