Performance

College of Music

"The power of music"

Performance

Degree
Bachelor of Arts in Composition for Contemporary Media
Duration
8 semesters
Teaching Mode
Face to Face Learning
Coordinator

Description

The Contemporary Media Composition Program teaches, from the artistic to the commercial, with a contemporary perspective.


 

 

Advantages

The College of Music (CoM) of the University of San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), is the most important music department in Ecuador. 20 years ago, the school took on the responsibility of preparing, strengthening, supporting, and growing with the country's musicians. A member of the prestigious Berklee Global Partner (BGP), the CoM has become an important point of reference for teaching contemporary music and music production worldwide.

Articulation program with Berklee

The program consists of the direct transfer of courses from the CoM-USFQ to Berklee (Boston), thus allowing for the possibility of CoM students to complete their education at the Berklee College of Music in two years.

Additionally, Berklee offers the best students of the CoM scholarships annually, as well as: exchange programs for a semester or a year on the Valencia campus and the opportunity to participate in one of its master's programs in both Boston and Valencia. The Berklee College of Music has been the world's leading contemporary music school for more than half a century. Its students, alumni, and teachers have won more than 250 Grammys and Latin Grammys, among other important awards.

Guest artists
Every semester the CoM offers clinics and seminars with top-level international artists, both in the music and production fields, some of whom are artists-in-residence who teach classes on campus for a specified period of time. The CoM has received artists such as: John Abercrombie, Alex Alvear, Jeff Berlin, Dennis Chambers, Taylor Eigsti, Mark Ferber, Scott Henderson, Jonathan Kreisberg, Sebastian Krys, Orlando Fleming, Omar Martínez, Ron McClure, Maria Elena Mexia, Mike Moreno, Adam Nussbaum, Ted Poor, Antonio Sánchez, Will Vinson, Screaming Headless Torsos, etc.

Berklee Clinics
The CoM has received outstanding Berklee professors such as: John Baboian, Greg Badolato, Leonardo Blanco, Jason Camelio, Consuelo Candelaria-Barry, Rebecca Cline, Ernesto Diaz, Rick DiMuzio, Jon Finn, David Fiuczynski, Vanessa Garde, Skip Hadden, Jon Hazilla, Gael Hedding, Rob Jaczko, Bertram Lehmann, John Lockwood, Winston Maccow, Ron Mahdi, Alain Mallet, Tiger Okoshi, Jim Odgren, Anne Peckham, Rick Peckham, Bruno Raberg, Susan Rogers, Daniela Schachter, Oscar Stagnaro, Bob Stoloff, Robert Schlink, Bob Tamagni, Mark Walker, Stephen Webber, Mark White, Scott deOgburn, Roberta Radley, Norman Zocher, and Steve Bailey, among others.

AES
We are the first University in Ecuador to create a student chapter of the AES (Audio Society), the “USFQ AES Student Chapter”, allowing students to be part of the most important association of sound engineers in the world.

We have:
The best infrastructure in the country.
The best music technology equipment.
The largest number of graduate-level music professors.
Scholarship possibilities within USFQ.
Exchanges between Berklee Boston and USFQ College of Music.
A large percentage of students obtain scholarships for Beklee Boston.
The possibility of pursuing a Masters in Berklee Valencia.

Professional field

The student who graduates from the Contemporary Media Composition program in Musical Arts is trained to practice his profession in the new applications of music and technology, linked to the use of computers and digital recordings to create, edit, and collect music for movies, advertising, cell phone sounds and ringtones, soundtracks, documentaries, video games, web pages, etc.

Testimonials from our graduates

"International arbitration proceedings in English and Spanish. I have fond memories of my years of study at USFQ and I thank them for my professional training."

- Daniela Páez -

 "My experience as an active member of the USFQ CoM has been very pleasant. Within the University, and with the academic program I follow having selected the Composition Pathway for Contemporary Media, I have developed and polished my skills, both in the performance area during my early years and currently in composition. The University has group rehearsal rooms that are equipped with instruments and amplifiers, individual rehearsal booths with pianos or empty rooms for wind instruments, and computer labs that are available for student use. This has been a great advantage: during my free hours I spend time in these spaces to study, compose, and rehearse with my band or alone. Also, because the University is open even on weekends, I have been able to attend the laboratories on non-working days and make use of them, since they include the musical programs that they teach in classes, and I am able to do my homework. The CoM also allows you to choose between various ensembles that they offer, so I have learned new genres, which has enriched my musical language, my affinity for certain genres, and has broadened my perspective regarding the Music Industry and my profession in general. I also enjoy my colleagues who share their skills when it comes to producing, playing, or rehearsing; I have the support of professors both professionally and personally, since they are highly trained people in their areas and are always willing to lend a hand when necessary. Being part of this community and choosing the CoM for my studies has been a great step in my musical career."

- Kony Escúntar -

 "Studying at the CoM has allowed me to learn extracurricular things from my colleagues and teachers: that is, I have gotten to know them as people. Music needs constant personal evolution to discover the art you can achieve, and being able to meet all of these individuals has made me realize that many of us are on this path and on this quest, which has opened my mind to learn from other people's experiences and develop my own. Along the way, I have been able to see strengths and weaknesses in different areas, but everything has led me to the same conclusion: it all depends on oneself. Here one finds countless tools and therefore the field of study is very wide, the study goes beyond academic content. I invite you to mix academic knowledge with what you learn on your own, as everything complements something else. My studies have meant the self-discovery of my art and I love that."

- Bruna Carbo -

"My decision to return to study at the university was basically based on the opening of the Contemporary Media Composition program at the University of San Francisco of Quito, specifically at the College of Music (CoM). After two years of studying with the Berklee teaching model, I can say that I am totally happy to have made this decision, since I have found in this musical family much more than I expected: besides achieving improvement in all fields of musical knowledge, I have found people with excellent professional and human virtues, such as my professors, many of whom I now consider personal friends. Likewise, I view my colleagues with great optimism; they have proven to be a very good generation of musicians with a great projection to become part of the great Ecuadorian, Latin American, and world music family. Additionally, the learning facilities are enhanced by cutting-edge tools used in composition which is the area I belong to. I am very happy here and as time passes I am increasingly certain that coming to the CoM has been one of the best decisions I have made in my life."

- Milton Santiago Mora Moreno -

"Portraying my creativity in music reflects a longstanding longing from my childhood. The CoM was one of the opportunities that facilitated my professional development, and even more importantly, the staff. Thanks to the quality of people I have had the good fortune of knowing, I have had great and fruitful experiences my music has been nourished from. One of the most important factors of my work, in addition to the theoretical aspect, is what one transmits, and I consider that much of what I have learned here is to let that intrinsic creativity be developed freely, in essence, to improve aspects one already has within themselves."

- Martín Echeverría -

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