The Jazz Studies Program offers degrees in performance and composition. Combining foundational music courses and a specialized curriculum of jazz studies with a significant liberal arts education, students are prepared to interact with a broad variety of career opportunities through our program.
Foundation
Developing a strong foundation as a jazz performer and/or composer is central to this course of study. By combining these skills with a world prospective through liberal arts education and access to New York City's most celebrated artists, we offer the opportunity for the creative spirit to flourish. Private instruction with our world-renowned jazz artists, weekly interactive master classes and a wide variety of performance and sessioning opportunities makes NYU Jazz an unparallelled place for jazz study.
Undergraduate Program Requirements
Total credits for degree completion are 130 points with liberal arts requirements totaling 40 points, music core requirements (four semesters each of Music Theory, Aural Comprehension, Keyboard Harmony and Improvisation, and Music History) totaling 26 points and required jazz specialization courses totaling 57 points. Students have additional points for music electives which can be in areas such as music technology and music business.
A new dual degree (B Mus / MA Music Education) is designed for undergraduate performance and composition majors interested in adding a music education component to the four-year degree. Students apply at the end of their sophomore year. Once accepted into the dual degree by the music education faculty, students complete their degree with the added concentration in music education beginning in their junior year. Upon graduation, students may continue to a one-year Masters degree in music education, where they complete their supervised student teaching internship to earn initial and professional teaching certification. Please see your current program director before contacting the Music Education program.
Private Study
Both jazz performance and composition students may design a course of private study that includes two private lessons per semester focusing on their declared area of study as well as a secondary lesson selected from within the music department. Aside from a significant jazz curriculum, jazz studies students may also select from a wide variety of courses in film scoring, music technology and music business.
Prof. Brian Lynch with tips for instrumental practice
Ensembles
With over forty contrasting jazz ensembles open by audition, students have unparalleled opportunities to interact with our world-renowned artist faculty. Faculty ensemble directors frequently perform with students at weekly performances before live New York audiences enabling students to hone their skills on the bandstand alongside professional musicians. Students are encouraged to perform in percussion ensembles as percussionists in such groups as samba marching band and two world percussion ensembles. The NYU Jazz Orchestra, our premier big band, is regularly featured at local venues including the Blue Note and Birdland. Recent recording projects for this ensemble include “The NYU Jazz Orchestra Plays the Music of Teo Macero,” and “The NYU Jazz Orchestra featuring Saturday Night Live Saxophonist Lenny Pickett.”
Often described as the “Jazz Living Room,” our rehearsal spaces are open for use by professional groups to rehearse for gigs or prepare for recording dates. Groups including Joe Lovano’s Nonet, Kenny Werner Trio, the New Brew Band, Dave Liebman’s group, Chris Potter’s Chamber Ensemble, Combo Nuvo the NYU Jazz Faculty in Residence Ensemble, The Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet, and the Vanguard Orchestra are examples of weekly rehearsals that our students observe.
Insofar as our large music department also includes programs in classical performance, composition, technology, business, film scoring, dance and music theater, our students have countless opportunities to collaborate with performers, dancers, actors, and multi-media applications. All of these activities generate an ideal creative atmosphere, within a highly personalized jazz program, which is filled with opportunities for training, development and networking in the world's musical capital.
For more information about NYU Jazz please contact us
By phone: 212 998 5446
By e-mail: jazzstudies@nyu.edu