interdisciplinary degree - music composition/performance + visual art?

[FOWJS]

Hi everyone,

I feel like I've gone around in circles in researching grad programs and not getting very far, so I thought I would try this forum.  I have a music background (my undergrad degree is a Bachelor of Music in oboe performance), but after graduating, to the surprise of my professors, I rejected classical music and began playing in rock bands and experimental groups. From those experiences with touring and recording, I began to write my own music, which could loosely be called "avant-garde pop music" (in heavy quotation marks). I score all the music, the instrumentation is non-traditional, and I have a second album coming out in November that is closer in vein to contemporary 'new music' than other things I've done. In addition to this unusual composing, I'm also self-taught in the visual arts, and have done some large-scale community-based art projects. For example, I've had two solo art exhibits in galleries, did a time capsule project where people brought items to include in a time capsule to be unearthed in 2059, and on and on. In other words, a real hodge-podge of what I consider 'interdisciplinary' projects in the truest sense of the word: whatever the subject matter calls for, that is the medium I choose, be it music or visual art. I'm also older, and have received some grants and done some residencies for music, so I'm not straight out of school.

 

Now I feel I've exhausted how far I can push myself, and want to expand my aesthetic and technical skills through a graduate program. Finding a program where I can both pursue projects that incorporate both music and visual art, is proving very difficult. So far I've found:

 

Simon Fraser University (in BC, Canada) - MFA in interdisciplinary arts (music concentration)

Bard - low-res MFA in music/sound (super-expensive)

University of Kent (in Kent, UK) - MA in sound and image

U. of Northern Illinois - MM in individualized specialization

U Michigan - MFA in Art/Design+ (the + means you take courses outside your area, as far as I can tell).

 

I was initially thinking to find a music program that would let me pursue interdisciplinarity through the visual arts, but maybe I'd be better off the other way around: finding an MFA art program that would let me write music. ??

 

So, with all that said, does anyone know of any programs that would fit my criteria? It can be a music master's degree or an art MFA. Whenever I search with the term 'interdisciplinary,' up pops up a lot of video-based, electro-acoustic performance stuff that isn't really what I do. Any help or advice would be much appreciated, even if it's negative "don't go to grad school" type advice.

 

Thank you!

p.s. I posted this in the music forum too, but I wanted to pick artists' brains as well!

[DrF8]

CalArts has an InterSchool degree: http://calarts.edu/academics/programs-degrees. It's available to a small number of students "whose skills, previous training and artistic interests warrant pursuing a degree in more than one School at CalArts."

 

So you could pursue an MFA in Art at the School of Art and an MFA in Music at the Herb Alpert School of Music at the same time.

 

Good luck in your pursuit.

Edited July 26, 2013 by DrF8

[DrF8]

I just want to amend what I said in my previous post. I don't think you get a dual MFA at CalArts. Rather, it would be a single MFA in Art and Music.

Edited July 26, 2013 by DrF8