Admission Contact
College of Performing Arts
55 West 13th Street
New York, NY 10011
212.229.5150 or 800.292.3040
performingarts@newschool.edu
As the professional music world evolves, a growing number of musicians are seeking careers that bring together cutting-edge technology and performance with creativity, collaboration, and impact.
This concentration enables New School students to earn a BFA in Jazz and Contemporary Music while creating and practicing alongside professional audio producers and technicians in recording studios at the epicenter of New York’s music scene. This concentration emphasizes both self-guided work and collaboration, enabling emerging producers and artists to create while engaging with the music and musicians in all of our programs at The New School.
The course requirements for the Audio Production Concentration in the BFA in Jazz and Contemporary Music program are grouped into the following categories:
Fundamentals Improvisation: In this sequence, you receive ear training and study improvisation techniques in a variety of styles. You also receive ear training tailored to audio engineers.
Fundamentals Composition: In this sequence, you study theory and harmony and receive ear training in preparation for writing your own compositions. This sequence also contains content on acoustics and sound design geared to audio engineers.
Improv Ensembles: These ensembles allow you to choose the type of music you want to make, the musicians you want to play with, and the directors you want as your mentors. The ensembles are reconstituted each semester. Audio Production students will serve as producers and technical directors for at least one ensemble each semester, working with the faculty director on audio production for each ensemble’s performances and recordings.
Lessons: Our artist-as-mentor pedagogy enables you to take private lessons from leading musical artists and producers across the NYC metro area. You can ask to study with anyone in the city and choose a different mentor each semester.
Music Tech Seminar: In this seminar, you learn how to create digital audio workstations and use industry-leading notation software to discover the ways technology is used in composition, recording, and content creation.
Entrepreneurship: Learn about the music business from artists, producers, and technicians active in recording and production studios in New York City. In these courses, you’ll explore topics ranging from contracts to socially conscious business platforms, with a focus on ways to make a living in today’s music industry.
Electives: Join any of our 50 elective ensembles, and choose from a variety of audio production, composition, songwriting, arranging, and technology electives.
Performing Arts Core: All undergraduate performing arts students enroll in the Performing Arts Core program, a series of required and elective interdisciplinary courses. These courses explore themes including Improvisation and Collaboration, The Whole Human Artist, Socially Engaged Artistry, and Technology and Experimentation.
A full description of degree requirements and procedures can be found in the Academic Catalog (PDF).
The New School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.