The Mills Music Department has enjoyed an international reputation in the field of contemporary music for well over half a century, occupying a unique place in Bay Area culture. Our two-year graduate degree programs continue this tradition of excellence. Mills offers three graduate degrees:

Master of Arts in Composition
Master of Fine Arts in Electronic Music and Recording Media
Master of Fine Arts in Music Performance and Literature (with specializations in solo and chamber music or in improvisation)

These programs successfully blend appreciation for past accomplishment and skills with commitment to artistic innovation and technological advancement. The graduate faculty of leading composers, performers, and scholars prides itself on its creative openness and accessibility to students.

The programs in composition and electronic music keep Mills at the forefront of new music. Directed by a core of distinguished composers, including John Bischoff, Chris Brown, Fred Frith, Roscoe Mitchell, Pauline Oliveros, Maggi Payne, and Les Stuck, these programs welcome stellar guests to their teaching rosters, most recently Joëlle Léandre in 2006, and Hilda Paredes and Zeena Parkins in 2007.

The Music Department also has at least one visiting composer in residence each year. Lou Harrison was the first Jean Macduff Vaux Composer-in-Residence in 1998–99, followed by Gordon Mumma, José Maceda, Bun-Ching Lam, Cecil Taylor, Meredith Monk, Terry Riley, James Tenney, Maggie Nichols, Helmut Lachenmann, and, most recently, Muhal Richard Abrams. The Music Department has also recently established an endowed residency in honor of the electronic music composer/performer David Tudor; Paul DeMarinis initiated this residency in 2000–01, followed by Maryanne Amacher, Steina Vasulka, Trimpin, Ron Kuivila, Jon Rose, and Keith Rowe.

The College's Center for Contemporary Music (CCM), with its roots in the historic San Francisco Tape Music Center, is world renowned for its innovative work in electroacoustic and computer music, performance art, recording media, and sound synthesis. Its popular public events include Songlines, a series of symposia on sound, nature, and new music technologies that brings together in an informal setting guest composers, performing artists, and researchers. Recent guests have included Luc Ferrari, Miya Masaoka, Janice Giteck, "Blue" Gene Tyranny, Tetsu Saitoh, Robert Ashley, Annea Lockwood, Kitundu, Christina Kubisch, Carla Kihlstedt, Amelia Cuni, Neil Rolnick, Nicolas Collins, and Louis Goldstein.

Our commitment to creating interdisciplinary works with other fine arts departments is enhanced by Mills' Intermedia Arts Program, which generates many fresh ways of making and thinking about music and sound art.