Application Deadline: The program will not be accepting applications for this application cycle. Please contact the program directly for any questions.

The graduate program in The History and Theory of Music at UC Irvine is unique within the state of California, and rare within the United States as a whole, in combining both historical musicology and music theory and analysis to offer a Ph.D. program with a particular emphasis on music theory and analysis, critical theory, and the aesthetics and philosophy of music. The program rests on two central pillars: a sustained engagement with musical works that is underpinned by a thorough grounding in musical skills and literacy, and a strong focus on critical theory, which students learn to apply to musicological sub-disciplines such as music analysis and historical musicology.