Music Research

Musicological research at Brazilian universities is a recent phenomenon. The first Masters programme was introduced only in 1980, at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), and was followed by specializations at the Masters level at the following institutions: Brazilian Music Conservatory (1982), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (1987), Federal University of Bahia - UFBA (1990), UniRio and the University of São Paulo - USP (both in 1993). The first doctorate programme dates from 1995 at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. Later post-graduate programmes in music were created at the federal universities of Goiás, Minas Gerais, Brasília and Paraíba, besides the state universities of São Paulo – Unicamp and Unesp. At the University of São Paulo (USP), the most important institution of its kind in the country, the doctorate in music was only instituted in 2005.

In the last few years there has been quite a growth in the number of graduate music courses, many of them created in private colleges. At present there are more than 60, preferentially dedicated to the areas of singing, instruments, composition and conducting. The number of educational programmes which differ from the traditional is still very restricted, but in the interior of the State of São Paulo we have located a Higher Level Course in Recording and Producing Recordings (Unoeste – in Presidente Prudente) and a Course in Music Therapy (Unaerp in Ribeirão Preto). Post-graduate courses in this field did not however suffer the same development as that of the graduate courses. At present there are only 12 schools in Brazil that offer a masters programme in music; the Northern region being the only one with none. And only six Brazilian universities offer a doctorate in music. Of these one is in Salvador, another in Porto Alegre, a third in Rio de Janeiro and the others in São Paulo.

It is important to note a Brazilian exception with regard to music courses; contrary to what happens in the USA and especially Europe, it is the graduation courses that are responsible for the training of instrumentalists and singers. This possibly explains the delay in instituting post-graduate studies in this field, since these, contrary to the graduation courses, are tied more to the education of researchers than performers – even though there are masters courses for performers in some places.

brazilian universities, music research, ethnomusicology, private colleges, post graduates