Composition at Melbourne Conservatorium of Music builds on craft and tradition whilst fostering the next generation of voices in new music.
Study Composition at Melbourne Conservatorium
The Composition major focuses on developing the art and craft of writing music for live performance. Instruction is grounded in the Western notated art music tradition, whilst engaging in dialogue with other contemporary musical practices. We encourage composition in a variety of styles.
Through an immersive and practical curriculum, the Composition major is built around projects that span an array of compositional contexts and forms. Guidance and tutelage is offered through weekly seminar and regular group and individual lessons. Workshops and masterclasses offer further enrichment. Students also take core music theory and history subjects, music electives and complementary breadth subjects.
Throughout your degree, you’ll develop skills in instrumental and vocal writing, instrumentation and orchestration, electro-acoustic music, professional score presentation, rehearsal protocol and concert management, helping you to consolidate the necessary skillset for compositional career paths.
Alternatively, if you are interested in creative music and sound for a range of contemporary media contexts, visit Melbourne Conservatorium’s Interactive Composition page. Interactive Composition focuses on commercially driven cross-art modes of composition which may include writing music for events, film, television, animation, theatre, music theatre, dance, pop song, advertising, video gaming, online, installation art and sound design.
Composition study options
Prospective students can apply for first year intake. An alternative pathway is via second year entry from another major within the BMus.
Undergraduate students from other areas of the University can learn about composition through related subjects such as Composition Studies, Instrumentation and Arranging, Music Language 1, 2, and 3. Many of these subjects are available as electives for students in other music majors, and as Breadth for students in other University of Melbourne faculties.
Graduate student study options in Composition include Graduate Diploma (by coursework) and research degrees (Master of Music (Research) or PhD).
Composition courses
Our people
We cultivate a dynamic creative environment which starts with Melbourne Conservatorium’s own musicians and ensembles, radiates out to the local community, and on to national programs and performance opportunities through international workshops, residencies and concerts.
The Composition program has strong links with the wider musical community, notably the Australian National Academy Music (ANAM), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Melbourne Recital Centre. Longstanding opportunities for our current students include:
- Annual composer readings with the University of Melbourne Orchestra and the University of Melbourne Wind Symphony.
- Opportunities to collaborate with Melbourne Conservatorium of Music ensembles, such as Big Band, Percussion Ensemble, Guitar Ensemble, Saxophone Ensemble.
- In-house workshops with professional artists and ensembles such as Ensemble Liaison, Syzygy Ensemble, and with Conservatorium performance staff.
- Recurrent opportunities with the wider community, such as Choral@Melbourne, Melbourne Recital Centre’s Marshall McGuire Emerging Composer Commissions, and Artology-Melbourne Youth Orchestra Commission.
- MCM Guitar Perspectives Commissions builds new repertoire for guitar, composed and performed by our graduate students through a special commission.
Watch the full MCM Guitar Perspectives Comissions playlist
Inside the Program: Composition Seminar
Composition Seminar is held weekly, and features visiting national and international guest composers alongside workshops and masterclasses. Past guests have included Liza Lim, John Psathas, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Joshua Hyde, Peggy Polias, Biddy Connor, Annie Hsieh, Steve Mackey, Lachlan Skipworth, Cathy Likhuta, Anne Cawrse, Mark Applebaum, Martin Bresnick, Brett Dean, Andrew Ford, Ensemble Contrechamps, Peggy Polias, Barbara Hannigan, Gordon Kerry, Stephen Lias, Steve Reich, Andrew Schultz, Carl Vine, Anne Boyd, Joshua Hyde, Leilehua Lanzilotti.
Merit-based funding, scholarships, awards and other opportunities available to Conservatorium composition students.
- Dorian Le Gallienne Prize for Composition (biennial). see past winners
- Stephen Giugni Award for Original Composition
The Faculty of Fine Arts and Music and the Conservatorium offer funding to graduate students (MMus (Research) and PhD). Funding is dedicated to activities related to the research project, or for the purposes of recording works for the composition folio.
For established composers, the Conservatorium administers the Albert H Maggs Composition Award, Australia’s second largest national prize for composition. See past winners here.
Studios
Three digital music studios, equipped with industry-informed software and hardware, as well as a grand Disklavier, enable realisation of music and sound projects throughout your studies.
The Conservatorium’s IgniteLAB is a music career and entrepreneurship program which, through specialist training and resources equips musicians with industry skills to navigate their emerging career.
Our graduating students have a record of sustained success in securing opportunities within the wider music industry. Our composers are selected to write orchestral works for both the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Cybec 21st Century Australian Composers Program, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (TSO) Composer School, and Melbourne Youth Orchestra (with Artology); and chamber works for a variety of ensembles, including for Rubiks Collective, Forest Collective, and the ANAM Set. Our composers consistently feature in national development programs, including those offered by Omega Ensemble Co-Lab program, Flinders Quartet Ascend and Emerge programs, Ensemble Offspring’s Hatched Academy.
Want to know more?
Get information on the courses you’re interested in, or ask our team a question.
Showcase
Conservatorium Events
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A Velvet Ant, a Flower and a Bird: a Journey through Sonic Ecologies
Wednesday 10 June 2026 7:00pm - 8:30pmA collaboration between EcoAcoustic Music and the Potter Museum of Art Responding to visual works from the recent Potter Museum of Art’s exhibition A velvet ant, a flower and a bird, student composers from Melbourne Conservatorium of Music present new sonic art works with a strong ecological ... -
Melbourne Chamber Music Academy Concert 2026
Sunday 14 June 2026 3:00pm - 4:30pmPlease join us for a concert featuring the young students that took part in the Melbourne Young Chamber Music Academy in 2026. The Melbourne Conservatorium of Music is offering an Chamber Music program for Piano and String students. This is a supplementary extra-curricular course for students age... -
Jazz and Improvisation Winter Camp 2026
29 June 2026 - 3 July 2026We are inviting high school aged instrumentalists and vocalists in years 9-12 to spend a week on campus and explore the world of Jazz and Improvisation. Meet like-minded musicians and develop your playing, skill set and creativity when approaching Jazz music and exploring Improvisation. The w...