8 Music Degree Programs in Japan

The Music and Arts Graduate School of the Okinawa Prefectural University of Arts aims to accomplish the objectives of developing students’ outstanding professional competence in various areas of the musical arts. Based on the above, and following the founding principles of the school, outstanding practical education shall be provided to students, with particular attention paid to the technical characteristics of Okinawa’s traditional performing arts, which have been inspired by the particular history, culture, and natural environment of this archipelago.

The Graduate School of Music reorganized its master's degree programs in 2007. The former classification of specialties, that is three programs consisting of six different areas of study: Composition (Composition, Musicology), Voice, and Instrumental Music (Piano, Strings, Winds, and Percussion), were incorporated into one unified Music program. This single program aims to establish a flexible system for interdisciplinary study and education beyond the boundaries of specialization while it offers opportunities for solid specialized researches. As a result, students can pursue their interests with more flexibility. Specifically, the master's degree program at the Graduate School of Music covers seven areas of study: Composition, Musicology, Voice, Keyboard Instruments, Strings, Winds, and Percussion. Each of the areas is establishing classes in cooperation with other areas, even with the liberal arts classes and the Graduate School of Fine Arts. Such classes planned and established by more than two different areas of study are called "Project". Projects currently in operation are Composite Arts Project (Opera Project and Art Management Project, implemented in cooperation with the School of Art) and Music Project (Chamber Music Project, Orchestra Project, and Wind Orchestra Project). There are considerable latent social needs for music. In other words, they are ample opportunities to make a contribution to communities through music. The master's degree program at the Graduate School of Music intends to develop individuals who can discover and at the same time, create social needs for music through their musicianship while refining their abilities as genuine professionals. The program provides the necessary support for this purpose. As it has established the Art Management course recently, its flexible education effectively cultivates the talents and interests of individual students.

The Graduate School of Art was established in 1951 as a master’s program in Literary Arts, but has since expanded to a full-scale comprehensive graduate school of the arts that currently offers master’s programs in Literary Arts, Image Arts, Fine Art and Design, Musical Arts, and Performing Arts. While the emphasis is on education in the various departments, the School is also engaged in high-level research. The doctoral program consolidates all the arts into a single field, making possible even deeper research into the arts than at the master’s level. Apart from research and creation within each specialized field, we also encourage collaboration with adjacent fields and aim for an understanding of the arts from a broad perspective. In particular, the doctoral program lends equal weight to the theory and history of each of the arts and to studies of artistic expression, and we instruct our students to conduct balanced research between theory and expression in order to obtain a doctoral degree.

The College of Music provides a learning environment in which students and the teaching staff value the idea of partnership under the common theme of “music,” peers help each other to improve in a supportive atmosphere, and each and every student can make the most of her talents and abilities.

From a broad perspective, the graduate school of this university will acquire in-depth academics and skills related to music, cultivate the abilities required for research abilities and highly specialized professions in the field of music majors, and will deepen its depth. The purpose is to contribute to the development of culture.

Classes consist of Specialized Theories and Specialized Training, which concern the area of each student's supervisor. They are either small seminars or one-to-one lessons using practical skills, considering each student's ability, treating his/her motivation as an essential element. The curriculum is organized in such a way as to allow students to both further their understanding of their specialized subjects and acquire a broad knowledge of music in general. For their specialized area, they start their research under the supervisor from the beginning of the course. For their graduation theses, students are to participate in an orientation in November of the first year, followed by their Graduation Thesis Progress Report Presentation, for which supervision from all of our teaching staff is available. Furthermore, as the most important event of the course, we have the Shuonkai Music Festival, which is organized and run in cooperation with the undergraduates, postgraduates, and alumni union. It has been held over thirty times and is a highly unique event even on a national scale. Every year, it is held in mid-February and early March. In February, a variety of presentations are delivered by the undergraduates, postgraduates, and alumni in the Music Building and Auditorium of MUE, concerning achievements of classes and individual research themes, while in the following month, presentations and musical performances on their graduation theses (both under/postgraduates) are delivered in an auditorium in Sendai. The Shuonkai Music Festival is an enormously important event for the course, constituting the culmination of the years' work in the Department of Music Education.

Students in the School of Education graduate with a rich cultural education and the practical skills necessary to become a good teacher. Furthermore, specialists in English language and music education equip you with the English conversation (an absolute necessity for elementary school) and piano and singing skills they need as teachers. We also have an excellent skills training program designed to ensure success on the teacher employment examination.

Students are expected to acquire either advanced composition or advanced conducting techniques by composing works or by conducting, and studying theory. In order to achieve this, students have to do practical and theoretical research in both areas, because these areas are closely related to each other.