Graduate Assistantships in Music

The Graduate Music Program has 8 or more assistantship positions in a given year. Assistantships are extremely generous, as they include a full tuition waiver, plus an $8000 stipend for 1/4-time work (10 hours weekly). Unlike some other graduate programs, Truman GTRA-ships are guaranteed for two years to students who remain in good standing. There is no need to reapply (and thus "re-compete") for the second year of the assistantship. While the Music Department retains the right to reassign the student to a new area of responsibility for the second year, the student assistant is guaranteed an assistantship.

Areas of Assistantships:
Graduate Assistantships are awarded to qualified graduate students on the basis of each student's area of expertise and the needs of the program. These assistantships can involve any of the following:

• Applied Music Assistantship (involving any of the following):
         Teaching Applied Brass
         Teaching Applied Piano, Piano Class
         Teaching Applied Percussion
         Teaching Applied Strings
         Teaching Applied Woodwinds
         Teaching Applied Voice, Voice Class

• Conducting Assistantship in Band

• Conducting Assistantship in Choir

• Conducting Assistantship in Orchestra

• Keyboard Accompanying Assistantship (either for applied lessons or for a choral ensemble)

• "Music Perspectives" Assistantship (involving teaching a section of this course)

• Music Theory/Composition Assistantship (involving any or all of the following):
       Teaching Aural Skills
       Coordinating the Music Computing Lab and/or the  
          Electronic Music (MIDI) Studio
       Teaching Applied Composition

Assistantships may also be available in other areas not listed above, depending on the expertise of the graduate students and the needs of the Music Department.

Applying for an Assistantship: The applicant should submit to the Graduate Office the completed Graduate School Application Form, letters of recommendation, official transcripts, GRE scores and any other materials requested by the Office. The applicant should submit to the Music Department any materials requested. These could include audition recordings, papers, compositions or other materials. Contact the Music Department directly for further information. The applicant will generally be asked to appear for a live audition and/or interview. Applicants will be notified of acceptance as soon as possible. GTRA positions are generally awarded shortly thereafter. Every effort is made to notify students of their awards as soon as possible.

For information regarding the Master of Arts program and graduate assistantships, contact Dr. Warren Gooch (wgooch@truman.edu) or visit Master of Arts in Music.