Entrepreneurship

Most music students who graduate today will be challenged to create a career that mixes different approaches to sharing the music they love. As Mannes Dean Richard Kessler notes, musical success in today’s world is measured in many ways. Mannes offers a curriculum that supports students in developing an entrepreneurial outlook that will serve them and their talents whatever path they choose. They may join a great orchestra, chamber ensemble or opera company, launch their own recording label, found a program to extend music education to an underserved community, undertake all of the above, or chart a course as yet unimagined.

Mannes students learn to see their musical evolution through an entrepreneurial lens, in cutting-edge courses taught by superb musical artists. Just a few examples are The Entrepreneurial Musician - a core undergraduate course taught by Ben Allison, Tanya Kalmanovitch, Justin Kantor and others; Recording and Production for Creative Musicians - an undergrad/grad elective taught by Dave Douglas; and Creating Performance Opportunities with Public Schools, a graduate seminar taught by Simone Dinnerstein.

Undergraduates interested in delving deeper into entrepreneurship can apply during their sophomore year to enter a dual degree program of the College of Performing Arts, augmenting their BM studies with an MA in Arts Management and Entrepreneurship through a five-year course of study.