The Media Scoring concentration within the BA in Music is designed for students who want to create music for film, television, video games, animation, and digital media using modern production tools and real-world workflows.

Unlike traditional composition tracks that focus primarily on notation and concert music, Media Scoring is project-driven, DAW-based, and industry-aligned. Students learn how to write, produce, and deliver music the way professional media composers do — from the first creative idea to the final synchronized soundtrack.

Students in Media Scoring develop skills in:

  • Film and game scoring
  • MIDI orchestration and mockups
  • Digital music production
  • Sound design
  • Storytelling through music
  • Collaboration with filmmakers, animators, and game designers
  • Portfolio and demo-reel development

The concentration is built for musicians coming from performance, jazz, guitar, bass, songwriting, or production backgrounds who want to add professional-level scoring and production skills to their musical identity.

Degree Information

Media Scoring is offered as a concentration within the Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Music.

Students complete the core music curriculum (theory, musicianship, ensembles, applied lessons) while focusing their electives and upper-level coursework on scoring and production.

This structure allows students to:

  • Maintain their primary instrument and ensemble focus
  • Build a professional scoring portfolio

Courses

The Media Scoring concentration is built around a sequence of hands-on, lab-based courses that mirror how music is created in today’s film, television, and game industries. While the BA in Music provides a strong foundation in music theory, musicianship, and instrumental study, the Media Scoring courses focus on how those skills are applied in modern, professional production environments.

All Media Scoring classes take place in a digital production setting, where students work directly with professional DAWs, virtual instruments, and scoring tools to create music for visual and interactive media.

These courses emphasize:

  • Composing for narrative and emotion
  • MIDI orchestration and mockups
  • Music production and mixing
  • Synchronization to picture
  • Collaboration and professional workflow
  • Portfolio and demo-reel development

Students write, produce, and deliver music for real media projects throughout the sequence, gradually building a professional body of work alongside their core music studies.

  • Jazz Theory and Aural Skills
  • Jazz Arranging I
  • Digital Music Production
  • Orchestration
  • MIDI Orchestration
  • Dramatic Scoring
  • Film and Media Scoring
  • Directed Study in Media Scoring

Media Scoring Audition Requirements

Media Scoring majors must audition on an instrument and submit a portfolio of music production. Audition requirements for the instrumental/vocal auditions can be found using the button below. For the portfolio, students will submit one or two original compositions or arrangements, each 1 to 2 minutes long, in audio or video format, that demonstrate their experience and skills in digital music production or scoring for media projects. Any style or genre is accepted, though instrumental music (not songs) is preferred. You may provide links to YouTube, Vimeo, SoundCloud, or Google Drive for these submissions.
Audition Requirements

Media Scoring Faculty

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Collaboration Opportunities

Media Scoring is deeply collaborative by design. Students regularly work with creators across VCU to score real projects, simulating the professional world of media production.

Students in the program have collaborated with peers from:

  • Cinema
  • Photo + Film
  • Kinetic Imaging
  • Communication Arts
  • Computer Science (Game and Interactive Media)

These collaborations result in original scores for:

  • Narrative films
  • Animated shorts
  • Documentaries
  • Interactive and game projects

By working with directors, animators, and developers, students learn how to:

  • Spot scenes
  • Interpret creative briefs
  • Revise to feedback
  • Deliver music on deadlines
  • Integrate sound into larger production pipelines

This gives students not just technical ability, but real collaborative experience — a critical skill for anyone entering the media scoring industry.

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