Technology and Applied Composition

TAC students at SFCM cultivate creativity at the intersection of music and technology. Our students immerse themselves in the latest music technology, from spatial audio and Ambisonics to AAA video game and film scoring, but do so from a place of grounded, classical compositional study.

The TAC program is a fast track to becoming a one-stop production studio, with courses in audio engineering and mixing, sound design, and emerging media like augmented reality. Three academic focuses—Film Scoring, Game Scoring, and Composer-Performer—allow students to dial in their path at SFCM, and the Conservatory's world-class Studio G is our TAC playground, where students can bring whatever they hear into being.

Department faculty are active composers, working on shows like Netflix's One Piece and video games Death Stranding 2. SFCM's ties to Bay Area leaders like Sony, Dolby, SFFILM, and Skywalker Sound provide endless opportunities for students to learn from their future collaborators and employers, whether that's scoring SFFILM entrants or writing and recording a spec score for a fictional video game—with real-time, onsite feedback from members of Sony's audio team—as part of our twice-yearly Sony Project.

SFCM's ties to the San Francisco Symphony benefit TAC students as well: In 2025, iconic composer Danny Elfman stopped in for a Q&A with the department and took students backstage at his two-night run at the Symphony. Three-time GRAMMY winner Ricky Kej, Michael Abels (Jordan Peele's go-to composer), and Musical America's 2025 Composer of the Year Gabriela Lena Frank are just a few of TAC's visiting faculty as well.