Concentrators and Joint Concentrators Planning to Write Honors Theses
If you are a candidate for honors next year, please note the following regarding deadlines and requirements for your senior thesis.
There are four deadlines, valid for all types of theses. All deadlines are effective at 4:00 p.m. that day.
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Material for deadlines nos. 1, 2, and 3 should be submitted to:
a) the advisor, in electronic or paper format;
b) the Assistant to the Head Tutor, Mary Gerbi. The material should be in electronic format (sent to gerbi@fas.harvard.edu), although those submitting compositions have the option of doing so in hard copy. The material will be stored and will be made available to both the student and music department faculty other than the Advisor, for consultation.
Deadlines: (08-09)
1. Prospectus. For composition theses it should lay out the scope of the proposed project, including performance forces, approximate duration, and text to be set (if any). For ethnomusicology, theory, and music history theses, it should consist of an outline and a bibliography (approximately 4-5 pages total): October 2008
2. Completion of a minimum of 50% of the work. For ethno, theory, and history theses this corresponds, for example, to two out of four chapters--the draft should include footnotes as well: January 2009
3. First complete draft of work: February 2009
4. The final copies (total of 2 or 3: Advisor, additional Reader(s)) should be given to the Assistant to the Chair, in Room 104S, Music Building: March 2009, FINAL DEADLINE (no exceptions)
A bound copy of the final thesis is required for submission to the Music Library. If you are awarded summa cum laude or magna cum laude, you will also be responsible for submitting an additional unbound copy for the University Archives. This is a requirement for receiving the final award on the thesis. The Library and/or archive copies must be submitted to the Assistant to the Chair by May 2009.
NOTE: After the due date, no revisions are accepted, except those mandated by the Thesis Advisor (copy editing will be allowed for library and archival copies).
An explanation of the required format for your thesis is on the following page.
Please see your Advisor, Head Tutor or Assistant Head Tutor if you have any questions.
Joint concentrators: Deadlines for other departments may be different. However, even if the Department of Music deadline happens to be earlier, you must submit your complete, final thesis by our deadline. Likewise it is required that you follow our preliminary deadlines. This rule applies whether you are a primary or secondary concentrator in Music.
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Senior Thesis Deadlines (08-09)
October 2008 |
Deadline for prospectus to Advisor |
January 2009 |
50% of work due. |
February 2009 |
First complete draft of work due |
March 2009 |
Deadline for Department of Music |
May 2009 |
Deadline for submission of bound copy for Library (and archives) |
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Undergraduate Thesis Format Requirements (08-09)
- Deadline for the final version of thesis to the readers and the Department is March 2009 .The final copies of the thesis (usually a total of two for joint concentrators and three for honors concentrators) should be bound, single-sided and be fully formatted (i.e., footnotes, appendices, bibliography, etc.).The Assistant to the Chair should be provided one bound copy on acid-free paper, for cataloging in the Music Library, by May. The Music Library prefers undergraduate theses bound with ACCO press binders or glued binders like the Sourcebook. The binding must stand upright on the shelf (for example, spiral plastic binding, which tends to slump and fall apart in a short time, is not acceptable).All copies should be submitted to the Assistant to the Chair by the stated deadlines.Students receiving summa or magna honors (notification mid-May) should also submit one unbound copy on acid-free paper directly to the Assistant to the Chair by May. This copy will be cataloged in the University Archives.Format of the body of the document: 1" margins top and bottom, and 1.5" on left and right; single-sided pages. (If you submit for Hoopes Prize, you will have to adjust to double-sided, but the margins are the same.)For theses submitted by joint concentrators, the second department usually defers to the first department with regard to format requirements. The student should confer with the second department to confirm this.
- For compositions, it is not recommended that you submit a thesis in pencil. If a software program is not feasible, then a high-quality photocopy of a penciled work should be submitted. Compositions may be double-sided; please confer with your advisor to determine the best format.
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Independent Study: Private Music Lessons
Independent Study is designed to provide credit for private music lessons given by instructors not on the Harvard faculty and is governed by the guidelines published in the Handbook for Students issued each year by Harvard College. The catalogue number for Independent Study is "9999." Only students concurrently engaged in at least one of the following activities are eligible for Private Music Lessons as Independent Study in Music:
1) Music Concentrators/Joint Concentrators
2) Members of:
Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra
Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicum
Radcliffe Choral Society
Harvard Glee Club
Harvard University Choir
Harvard University Jazz Band
Harvard Wind Ensemble
Harvard Jazz Band
3) Students enrolled in a Music Department course (not including Core)
The following procedures must be followed:
1. Obtain Application for Independent Study forms (two copies) from your House Senior Tutor. Have them out and signed.
2. Include in the petition for Independent Study a statement as to why course credit for lessons is desired and what you hope to achieve in the lessons.
3. Fill out the Independent Study Form (from Assistant to the Chair in the Music Department) and obtain signature from Private Instructor.
4. Both forms (Application for Independent Study and Departmental Independent Study Form) must be completed and signed and in the Department Office for the Music Department Advisor's signature four working days before your Senior Tutor's due date. You are responsible for picking up the signed forms from the Department and returning them to your Senior Tutor. Please be aware that individual Senior Tutors may have different deadlines.
5. At the end of the term both you and your Private Instructor must submit a brief report to the Music Department Advisor. Each of these reports should outline what pieces have been worked on and should include an evaluation of your progress. The deadline for the reports is the first day of Reading Period. The reports will be accepted by the Assistant to the Chair and passed on to the appropriate Advisor. Both reports must be received or no credit will be given. You are responsible for making sure that the Private Instructor submits the report by the deadline.
Music Department Advisors
Keyboard: Robert Levin
Vocal: Jameson Marvin
Instrumental: James Yannatos
Special Note: Lessons must be paid for by the student; the Music Department does not fund private study on any instrument.
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Composition Prizes
"The Bohemians"
(New York Musicians Club) Prize |
By the gift of two thousand dollars from "The Bohemians" (New York Musicians Club) there has been established in the Department of Music a prize in original musical composition. The competition is open to undergraduates or the members of any graduate school of the University. The interest of the bequest will be awarded for an original composition for one or two instruments.
Manuscripts with pseudonym should be presented to the Music Department staff assistant Eva Kim) on or before Friday April 17, 2009. |
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Francis Boott Prize |
From the income of the bequest of Francis Boott, of the Class of 1831, a prize of exactly two hundred and fifty dollars has been established for the writer of the best composition in concerted vocal music. The competition is open to undergraduates or to members of any graduate school of the University.
The prize is offerred for the best composition for chorus of not less than three nor more than eight parts, either a capella or with accompaniment for piano, organ, or small instrumental ensemble, requiring not more than ten minutes for performance. The choice of text, which may be either sacred or secular, Latin or English, original or selected, is left to the contestant.
Every effort will be made to arrange a performance of the winning composition before the end of the academic year, provided the composition falls within the scope of the available performing forces.
Compositions with pseudonym should be presented to the the Music Department staff assistant Eva Kim) on or before Friday April 17, 2009. |
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George Arthur Knight Prize |
In 1909 the University received from William H. Knight, of the Class of 1903, a fund for the establishment of a prize in memory of his brother, George Arthur Knight, late of the Class of 1907. On this foundation the George Arthur Knight Prize is offered for the best composition in instrumental music, "preference to be given to compositions for string quartets or trios, though works with piano accompaniment may compete." The competition is open to all members of the University.
Manuscripts with pseudonym must be left with the the Music Department staff assistant Eva Kim) on or before Friday April 17, 2009. |
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Hugh F. MacColl Prize |
From the bequest of Hugh F. MacColl of the Class of 1907, this prize was established in 1954, The income from the fund is "to be applied from time to time . . to the awarding of prizes" in an undergraduate competition "for original musical compositions." Compositions must be submitted to the the Music Department staff assistant Eva Kim) on or before Friday April 17, 2009. |
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John Green Fellowship |
This award was established by friends and family of the late John Green '28 in support of excellence in musical composition. It is made annually to an undergraduate or graduate student composer. |
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Department Grant Information
John Knowles Paine Traveling Fellowships
Each spring, the Music Department awards John Knowles Paine Fellowships for travel and study during the following academic year. The Fellowships were established in 1912 by Mrs. Paine in memory of her husband and are available to music concentrators in their senior year (for study during the summer following graduation) and graduate students in the Department of Music.
If you are interested in applying, please submit a letter to the Department Chair, detailing your plans of travel or study and proposed budget. If you have any questions, please see the Head Tutor or the Department Administrator. The deadline is Friday April 17, 2009.
Deadlines (08-09)
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