REVEALING My Music Composition Portfolio (that got me into Juilliard, Rice, & NEC for my master's)

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I share my music composition portfolio that got me accepted to Juilliard, Rice, and NEC for my master’s degree in music composition. I ended up attending Juilliard for my master’s degree from 2014 to 2016, studying with John Corigliano. Before this, I went to USC for my undergraduate degree in music composition. After my master’s, I attended Columbia University as a doctorate student in music composition, where I’m currently in my 6th year. Be mindful that this portfolio is from 2014, 8 years ago from the posting of this video. So a lot of music has been written since then! At this stage, your portfolio should showcase the best of what you can do and show promise in the field of music composition (and not just “potential,” as I stated in a previous video).
Timestamps:
00:00 Where I was accepted (and rejected!) for my master’s degree in composition
01:14 COMPOSITION 1
07:32 What I think about Composition 1 (in the context of my portfolio)
08:12 COMPOSITION 2
13:17 What I think about Composition 2 (in the context of my portfolio)
14:30 COMPOSITION 3
22:45 What I think about Composition 3 (in the context of my portfolio)

[@saadhaddadmusic]

🧠 Free 5+ Hour Composition Masterclass: skool.com/composersbrainlite

[@RyanLeach]

Ooh that minor maj7 on "Speak" was satisfying

[@saadhaddadmusic]

Wow I’m honored to see you here! Thanks for kind word on that 🙏🏽

[@jerichowood]

great video, great to hear your earlier work!

[@saadhaddadmusic]

Thanks! I hope you got something out of it.

[@asch251]

I remember commenting and asking for this! Thank you so much for finally making this video. If you could continue on the academic track and explain your personal thought and experiences regarding education after your masters I know personally I would be very interested. Thank you! :)

[@saadhaddadmusic]

You’re welcome! More coming soon 🔜 sit tight 🙏🏽

[@oleksandrkostov1974]

Wow, thank you. It's a great reference for what a powerful presentation should be. As an idea for further videos, could you tell us about your interviews when you applied for masters/postgrad, maybe give some advice? I hope that wouldn't be a too narrow topic:)

[@saadhaddadmusic]

That’s a great idea! (Especially re: how to prepare for interviews)

[@ErickAleixoMusic]

HOW DID YALE NOT ACCEPT THIS?! Amazing Pieces Haddad!

[@saadhaddadmusic]

Thank you (but I still would have gone to Juilliard :P)

[@sentimentalescalade6451]

It'd be really nice knowing your thought process during all these compositions right from when you began developing the idea till when you were finally done with the work. That's probably gonna be almost impossible as these were composed quite a while ago😅 I do appreciate the premium content tho!.. thanks so much for dropping these gems Much love from 🇬🇭 ❤

[@saadhaddadmusic]

For new pieces yes! These are in the pipeline

[@KinkyLettuce]

thank you for your generosity! I was waitlisted for Juilliard(master) and never got in. It must be the lack of live recordings

[@saadhaddadmusic]

If you waitlisted at Juilliard, chances are you did well with the others? I hope that’s the case! Juilliard is not the end all be all.

[@KinkyLettuce]

@@saadhaddadmusic no! I didnt even apply to others. I was honestly only testing the water(i never had a composition degree) and not even expecting anything to begin with, let alone the waitlist😅 Anyway, precious video you have put up, appreciate it

[@saadhaddadmusic]

@@KinkyLettuce that’s impressive!

[@saadhaddadmusic]

What would you like to see next?

[@user-xe8en3be8u]

I failed to enter Harvard Ph.D composition course. I obtained MA degree in the UK. Actually, your music is much better than mine. Your string work is like Pendereski and orchestral work is like John Williams. I'm very impressed 👍👍👍You don't need Ph.D course.

[@saadhaddadmusic]

Harvard is not the only place to go :) and thank you 🙏🏽

[@malcolmjenkins571]

May I ask what software you use to write these pieces out in the format we see in this video that makes them look published

[@saadhaddadmusic]

Sibelius

[@elisewinkler4131]

Hi Saad, you mentioned taking a gap year between masters and DMA/PhD… I’m considering doing that, but have no idea what on earth I would do with that year. Do you have any suggestions?

[@saadhaddadmusic]

I can’t recommend “residency hopping” enough. I’ve mentioned this in a video some time ago!

[@sreepurammike]

Beautiful Saad! which vst you are using for choir in sibelius

[@saadhaddadmusic]

Thx! Recording here is live but i just use noteperformer for everything playback related.

[@sreepurammike]

@@saadhaddadmusic Thank you for your reply. Note performer doesn't have real choir sound yet right?

[@saadhaddadmusic]

@@sreepurammike honestly no idea 🤣 what ever sound comes out I’m happy with. I don’t really pay too much attention when it comes to VST’s when I’m composing

[@tomerrozen7239]

What program do you use for notation? The scores look great! Thank you for the tips, very helpful!

[@saadhaddadmusic]

You're welcome! I use the latest version of Sibelius; though I'm a dinosaur. Lots of people have already switched over to Dorico.

[@tomerrozen7239]

@@saadhaddadmusic I also use Sibelius, yet I find it hard to organize the staves in large pieces. I always end up with two or three bars per page. If I reduce the size, I end up with half empty pages. Any tip on that? Thanks for the reply!

[@saadhaddadmusic]

@@tomerrozen7239 if you're on Mac, comand-shift-M the number of staves you want to be 1 page and that should do the trick; and you would do that for every page

[@tomerrozen7239]

@@saadhaddadmusic I use windows, guess it should work with control... Thank you so much!

[@0live0wire0]

@@tomerrozen7239 you can set auto fill page when a certain percentage is reached setting from page setup.

[@sentimentalescalade6451]

Hey Saad, approximately how long did it take you to finish all these compositions 😅 I think I'm running out of time in submitting my composition portfolio since I keep contemplating whether what I've got is good enough Cheers mate!❤

[@saadhaddadmusic]

I’m very slow! It takes me 50-200 hours a piece 🤣 - best of luck if you decide to submit this go-around!

[@sentimentalescalade6451]

@@saadhaddadmusic Sheesh, that's a lotta time!!😹😹😹 Thanks btw😊

[@saadhaddadmusic]

@@sentimentalescalade6451 yeppppppp 🤣

[@luizfernandohauck4000]

hello saad, have you asked your teachers to write a recommendation letter? Do you think it is important?

[@saadhaddadmusic]

If app asks for it, then yes

[@luizfernandohauck4000]

another question, please: how to write a proposal letter? Is it different for each institution and country?

[@LuiDeca]

did you get a scholarship for these? (I'd be surprised if you didn't - especially the choir and orchestra one)

[@saadhaddadmusic]

Only place I got a scholarship was Rice.

[@patrickomalleymusic]

If you had started the guitar etudes at dynamic “f” instead of “mf” I bet you would have gotten into Yale

[@saadhaddadmusic]

Still sour about that one!

[@Khrxist]

Do these colleges care about classical compositions? For a bachelor's.

[@saadhaddadmusic]

I’m not sure what you mean by “classical”? - to me, all these pieces are a continuation of the traditional continuum of Western art music.

[@Khrxist]

@@saadhaddadmusic Partically, compositions in the style of say the classical period.

[@saadhaddadmusic]

@@Khrxist for undergrad I don’t see why not, especially if it was well done and shows potential of growth into a personal style

[@theangryginger7582]

I got into undergrad at NEC with a portfolio that included 2 very "traditional" pieces

[@saadhaddadmusic]

@@theangryginger7582 that makes sense, especially for the more traditional conservatory programs: Juilliard, NEC, Curtis, Cleveland Institute of Music, etc.

[@AjStillabower]

We submitted very different things 😂

[@saadhaddadmusic]

I would have thought so 🤗