Founded in 1997, this unique program prepares people to do research, publishing and teaching; they rely on the renowned Institute of Jazz Studies (IJS), the largest public access jazz library in the world. While there are many bachelor’s and master’s degrees elsewhere in jazz performance, and a few in composition and pedagogy, this is the only degree at any level anywhere to focus on the history and research of jazz. As such, many of the courses are also not offered anywhere else.
(Please note: The degree is offered by the Department of Arts, Media and Culture, not at the Institute. The institute is a library archive where students conduct research; the degree is administered by the university.)
The required 12 courses cover such topics as historiography, the literature about jazz, music theory and analysis, archival research, interviewing techniques, as well as in-depth studies on individual musicians, and topics such as “jazz and race,” and “jazz and world music.” Many students choose to take private lessons and to play in the jazz ensemble in addition to the 12 courses (these usually do not count towards the M.A. degree, but performance classes taken at nearby colleges can count). Also, private theory study, one-day writing workshops and/or a semester-long writing seminar my be required, at our discretion, in addition to the required 12 courses. At the end of the coursework each student takes a final comprehensive exam, usually in their fourth semester while putting finishing touches on the thesis.
The GRE is not required at present. Applicants should have a Bachelors’ in any field and competence in music reading and performing. Non-musicians who wish to go for the degree are now also welcome! You will be required to audit a basic course in music reading/writing, or to study on your own with a recommended book and pass the exam for that course. You will also learn how to follow sheet music, and how to represent music on graph paper. You will be exempted from the advanced graduate theory course. In every other way your program will be identical with that of the musicians. As always our other graduate students range from well-known performers to amateur musicians.
There are currently 25 students in the program (including first year, second year, and part-time students), with about 7 to 9 graduating each year. Students range in age from 22 to 61, and have backgrounds in jazz performance, free lance writing, jazz radio, history, etc. While in the program, about half of the students have published chapters in books, liner notes for CDs, and articles for websites. Opportunities like these become available to students while enrolled in the program. They are also teaching at colleges and universities, and of course some often continue to perform and to teach privately. Some graduates are now part-time faculty at other institutions or are attending Ph.D. programs.
In the 21st century, performing artists need to be both masters of their chosen craft and experts in the professional and business skills that today’s rapidly evolving global arts economy demands.
The Master of Arts in Arts Management and Entrepreneurship at The New School’s College of Performing Arts is one of the first graduate programs designed specifically to help performers gain the critical skill set they need to become recognized artistic leaders—onstage and beyond.
This innovative new program is designed for students who have just completed undergraduate performing arts programs as well as performing artists out in the world. The program enables musicians, composers, actors, directors, and playwrights to further develop their skills as performers while acquiring the competencies they need to excel as independent artists, reinvent existing cultural organizations, and launch their own arts-related enterprises.
In the MA in Arts Management and Entrepreneurship program, students have the unique opportunity to:
You can request more information here: http://www.newschool.edu/m/arts-management?utm_source=find_a_masters&utm_medium=hyperlink_listing&utm_campaign=pm_copa&utm_term=arts_management
The schools within the College of Performing Arts— Mannes, Jazz, and Drama—have a long and rich history of artistic excellence, playing an integral role in performance culture in New York City and around the world. The three schools’ collaborative, interdisciplinary curricula perfectly position students as ground-breaking players in the varied landscape of the performing arts in the 21st century.
Performing Arts students also have direct access to the other colleges within The New School, particularly the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy. Through integrated, holistic training, students find their place at the critical nexus between artistic excellence, commerce, and The New School’s century-long tradition of community engagement.
The city that never sleeps serves as our inspiration, laboratory, and classroom. New York is an epicenter for great performances. Students enjoy the benefit of having some of the best live music clubs and theaters in the world within walking distance of their school in Greenwich Village, a historic hub of artistic excellence.
Almost every day, at least one of our students is performing or auditioning at one of the city’s theaters and clubs. New York is also home to many arts organizations, cultural institutions, world-class venues, and festivals. Students can secure invaluable real-world industry experience and establish lasting professional relationships.
You can request more information here: http://www.newschool.edu/m/arts-management?utm_source=find_a_masters&utm_medium=hyperlink_listing&utm_campaign=pm_copa&utm_term=arts_management
The Rutgers University-Newark MFA Program is a nationally ranked, 36 credit hour, studio/research program, which means that our writers study literature as they endeavor to write it. The program focuses strongly on 12 credit hours of Writing Workshop in a declared genre (one workshop, with permission of the department, may be cross-genre), and requires 6 thesis hours in which students work one-on-one with their mentor professors. We also require 18 credit hours of graduate courses in literature. Students may take up to two undergraduate courses for graduate credit with additional requirements assigned by professor and with permission by the department. Applicants who have completed graduate level English Literature courses may transfer up to 12 credit hours (grades of B or above) with permission of the department. While some MFA grads go on to law or business school or into publishing, many seek teaching jobs. The MFA is the terminal degree in creative writing, which allows graduates to teach at the university level, and the Rutgers-Newark MFA offers our students the essential advantage of substantial coursework in literature.
At Rutgers University-Newark, students may choose six courses (18 credit hours) from a long and exciting list of graduate literature courses taught by important scholars. Study Shakespeare with Professor Ameer Sohrawardy. Read Samuel Johnson with Professor Jack Lynch, nationally renowned Johnson scholar. Study the proletarian novel with Marxist theorist Professor Barbara Foley, or “Women in Literature” with feminist scholar Professor Fran Bartkowski. Explore the still unresolved Vietnam era with Professor H. Bruce Franklin. Discover Victorian literature with Professor Janet Larson, discuss Latino literature and culture with Professor Laura Lomas.
Deepen and specify still more: MFA students will fulfill 6 of the required 18 elective hours by choosing one of three unique Electives Concentrations. Virtually no other program in the country gives students the opportunity to work in such a wide range of genres for elective credits. Those who choose Literature/Book Arts will work with photographer Nick Kline to design and publish a chapbook of their own work. Performance/Media Studies allows students to study writing for television or the stage with playwright Michele Rittenhouse, urban and narrative journalism with Professor Rob Snyder, or jazz influences with Lewis Porter Cultural/Political/Ethnic Studies allows students to choose courses in History, Liberal Studies, American Studies, Urban Education, Political Science, Global Affairs, African-American Studies, or Women’s and Gender Studies. RU-N’s Electives Concentration is designed to support our MFA students in their completion of courses that specifically contribute to the fiction, poetry or nonfiction works they will turn in as Theses.
Rutgers University-Newark MFA students may also make use of resources provided by theInstitute for Jazz Studies, the Institute for Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience, the Paul Robeson Gallery, Dana Library and its Book Arts program, and the Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies. The RU-N MFA Program also enjoys affiliations with The Newark Museum, the New Jersey Historical Society, the Newark Public Library, and Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art, all a short walk from campus.
Rutgers University-Newark is developing a respected and exciting MFA Program that will attract national and international applicants, yet we feel strongly about maintaining and deepening the University’s commitment to the diversity and flavor of the Rutgers University-Newark community. Our MFA Program is influenced and inspired by Newark, a community of long and remarkable history now enjoying a political and cultural Renaissance. We describe our program as Rutgers University-Newark Real Lives, Real Stories cause we’re interested in the real world experience of our applicants as well as in their creative work and intellectual rigor.
The Rutgers University-Newark MFA can be completed in a two or three year time frame. Most of our classes, workshops and readings will begin at 5:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday, allowing students to commit to rigorous daily writing schedules, work day jobs, or raise families. Though we live in the real world more affordably than in Manhattan, Rutgers-Newark MFA faculty and students also comprise an arts community. Workshops are encouraged to adjourn at 8:30 for drinks and refreshments at chic local eatery 27 Mix, Art Kitchen, or at one of many inexpensive Portuguese restaurants in the Ironbound. Newark is changing and thriving, and Rutgers University-Newark is changing with it. The residence dorm at University Square is just one of the University’s commitments to a burgeoning campus whose expansion will eventually reach the shores of the Passaic River.
Students entering the Master of Fine Arts Program at Rutgers University-Newark will complete a 36 credit hour program in four to six semesters, as follows: 18 hours of writing credits, including 12 hours of Workshop in a specific genre (one workshop per semester for 4 semesters); 6 thesis hours in a specific genre (including 3 hours of mentored "Thesis in Conference"); 18 hours of Elective courses (6 courses, 3 credit hours each). Two of the Elective courses, or 6 hours, comprise an Electives Concentration: Literature/Book Arts, Cultural, Political, Ethnic Studies, or Performance/Media Studies. Electives may include graduate lit courses, graduate courses in other disciplines, or MFA elective courses such as Craft of Fiction, Craft of Poetry, Editing and Publishing, a Nonfiction workshop offered each Spring, or Writers At Newark: Contemporary American Lit. The [email protected] Reading Series comprises part of our core curriculum; MFA students study the works of writers visiting each semester as textbooks on craft.
Our MMus programme is distinctive in its range of musicological, compositional and performance-based elements.
You will benefit from the diversity of our research strengths, numerous ensemble performance opportunities and expertise in a range of musical fields, including contemporary music for the concert hall, popular music, film music, opera, acoustic, electronic and computer-generated music.
The Composition pathway of the MMus Music programme is designed to develop your individual compositional style and technique through tutorial guidance and opportunities for performances, workshops and recordings.
Various stylistic and generic strands can be pursued individually or in combination, including jazz, music for screen and multimedia, contemporary music for the concert hall and computer sound design.
You will take two compulsory research training modules followed by a combination of composition-related options. Having completed the Postgraduate Diploma stage of the programme, you will progress to Masters stage and submit a composition folio.
The programme provides ideal preparation for future research work at PhD level.
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year and part-time students must study at least two taught technical modules per academic year.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
The School welcomes applications from students who wish to undertake one module of study from the Masters programme.
Potential applicants may make an appointment for an informal interview with the Programme Director if practicable. All applicants will be asked either to submit a sample of written work, a DVD of their performance, or samples of their compositional work, or to sit an audition depending on their chosen specialism.
Our work achieves wide international circulation, both through established scholarly channels and, distinctively, through broadcast media (such as BBC TV, Channel 4, BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4, and National Public Radio in the USA).
School staff are much in demand for pre-concert talks at venues such as London’s South Bank and Barbican centres. The research environment at Surrey is sustained by open discussion and debate, and through the regular airing of work-in-progress.
Our work is strengthened by the ready input of our peers and research students at various stages allowing collective engagement to foster innovation.
The MMus (Composition) programme aims to provide students with a high quality education in the creative, re-creative, technical, critical, vocational and academic areas of the subject. It aims to provide students with the necessary skills, techniques and methodologies to work at an advanced level with a critical awareness of the discipline.
The programme aims to reflect current developments within the theory and practice of music composition and, in so doing, to educate students so that they may work confidently and constructively within the musical culture of the present.
The programme aims to offer the necessary preparation for students wishing to undertake doctoral level study in practice-based areas.
The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, skills, qualities and other attributes in the following areas:
Knowledge and understanding
Intellectual / cognitive skills
Professional practical skills
Key / transferable skills
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
The MMus in Creative Musicianship at Ulster University is a series of linked postgraduate awards offered both full-time (1 year) and part-time (2 years). With a particular emphasis on a practice-based study the programme has been designed to appeal to musicians from a variety of backgrounds and genres, interesting in pursuing one of three named pathways:
Taught by a dedicated course team of leading professional musical practitioners and researchers and with further guidance from industry experts, the programme will enable you to refine your skills as a musician, while giving you the confidence to apply critical and practical approaches to the creation and performance of music across a range of creative environments.
The MMus in Creative Musicianship is a flexible postgraduate programme which aims to produce informed, skilled and insightful musical practitioners across a wide range of musical genres working in three practice-based fields: Performance, Composition & Creative Audio or Music and Communities. Whether opting to spend a short, focused period of study honing your musicianship skills as part of a PGCert or expanding your studies into a PGDip or Masters, this is the ideal programme for those who wish to develop, refine or refresh their professional expertise for work in the creative industries while also providing the perfect springboard for further postgraduate and/or PhD study.
Over the first two semesters, two complementary Specialism modules (20 credits each) familiarise students with the most important recent developments in their specialist pathway, training them in essential technical, research and communication skills while providing them with opportunities to put their expertise to practical use. The Practice module is devoted entirely to developing the individual's creative practice in their chosen field affording opportunities for one on one tuition. Meanwhile, the Seminar module provides a platform for contextual, aesthetic and theoretical study in their chosen discipline via group tutorial work and practice-based workshops.
In addition, the 20 credit Research Project allows students to pursue a self-directed topic of their choice, usually related to their chosen specialist, under the supervision of a single member of staff and/or undertake work outside of the University as part of an established work placement.
For those continuing their study to MMus level, the third semester Final Project (60 credits) allows the student to undertake a sustained period of self-directed, practice-based work related to their chosen specialism.
Work placements are available as an option within Research Project
This course is for performers interested in live or recorded performance within classical or jazz styles. Throughout you’ll receive one-to-one instrumental or vocal tuition from our team of experienced tutors as part of a series of performance modules. The course culminates with a final project, where you’ll prepare a performance, normally a high-profile public recital. Alongside your solo work you’ll develop your research, collaborative, ensemble and publicity skills.
This course gives you, as a instrumental/vocal performer, the skills and opportunities to develop your individual and ensemble skills to a high level. You’ll undertake four modules over two trimesters and a double module in your third trimester.
You may explore areas of your own interest, which may relate to staff specialisms, such as opera (Garth Bardsley), early music and music of the Georgian period (Dr Matthew Spring), and romantic and early twentieth-century music (Dr Charles Wiffen), piano skills and improvisation (Thomas Whorley).
In Performance 1, you’ll develop your performance skills and technique, and extend your repertoire. Alongside this the Research Methodologies and Context module gives you a thorough grounding in research methodology. Your development as a performer is supported by regular one-to-one lessons with a specialist teacher.
The Performance 2 module develops performance skills and repertoire while furthering your understanding of performance history and practice. You’ll also explore strategies for marketing yourself. You’ll have a choice of modules at this stage and the opportunity to work with peers and across subject boundaries.
You’ll have a choice of modules at this stage: Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Practice, Intercultural Musicology and Opera Studies.
The third trimester involves a Major Project for which you'll prepare a programme for a substantial public performance. The content and structure of this project is to be negotiated with course tutors.
For more information on modules, please go to: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/courses/pg-music-performance/
Modules are normally taught through one-to-one lessons, seminars and practical workshops. These are supported by individual tutorials and online activity within the Virtual Learning Environment.
The Major Project involves student-directed work, with supporting tutorials and instrumental/vocal lessons. We encourage you to make full use of library and IT resources, and time will be scheduled in studios and workstations labs for independent study, as appropriate.
You’ll complete individual assignments for each module. Performance based modules (Performance 1, Opera Studies and Major Project) are assessed through performance on your instrument or voice, reflective commentaries on your process, or a lecture recital in the case of Performance 2. Intercultural Musicology and Research Methodologies and Context modules will be be assessed on written submissions.
For more information on assessment, please view the course handbook via the website: https://www.bathspa.ac.uk/courses/pg-music-performance/
Previous graduate destinations include:
• Doctoral studies at Durham University
• Freelance repetiteur and keyboard/continuo specialist
• Choir Director and Piano/Vocal Tutor
• Marines Conductor
• Opera Studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
• Freelance classical and early music singer
Our graduates work in a wide range of performance-related areas such as:
• Orchestral performance
• Opera
• Conducting
• Choral direction
• Chamber music
• Accompaniment
• Session work
• Music promotion
• Record labels
• Broadcast media
• Instrumental teaching
• Group teaching
• Community music projects
• University lecturing
This course is designed for composers aspiring to work in the media industry and wanting to learn more about techniques for composing and producing music for film and TV. Taught by experienced professional film/TV composers, it provides an opportunity to collaborate with filmmakers and animators, as well as the chance to write for ensembles.
Key features
You will compose music for moving image and work with filmmakers, screen designers and animators. You will analyse film and TV scores, exploring how music is used to create atmosphere, convey mood and depict setting, character and action. In addition, you will explore the relationships between composer and producer, directors and music editors. You will also study and practise the use of main themes, underscoring and the harmonic languages of soundtracks. There will be an opportunity to have your compositions performed by a professional ensemble, conducted to picture in a professional recording environment. You will also learn about the technology used to produce high-quality soundtracks for the music industry, as well as business and copyright issues.
Compositions, soundtracks, essays, presentations, research projects, and dissertation.
Please note that this is an indicative list of modules and is not intended as a definitive list.
Core modules
Optional modules
