The Bachelor of Music program in Piano Studies attracts outstanding young artists, offering intensive performance training within the stimulating environment of an internationally acclaimed liberal arts/research university. Our pianists work closely with renowned Artist Faculty in private lessons, participate in our nationally regarded Artist Master Class Series, and perform as solo and collaborative artists at venues throughout New York City.
Course Work
Musical training for B.M. students includes private lessons with Artist Faculty, chamber music coaching with members of top New York ensembles, and three semesters of Piano Literature, in addition to a conservatory-style sequence of courses in music theory, aural comprehension, keyboard harmony and improvisation, and music history. NYU’s rich liberal arts offerings promise a lively artistic and intellectual experience for the developing musician.
Required course work includes private lessons and chamber music coachings, as well as courses in piano literature, keyboard skills, music theory, aural comprehension, and music history. Each Spring, students are evaluated in juried performances, and all pianists present full recitals their junior and senior years. The degree requires a 130 credits (40 in the liberal arts and 90 in music), of which more than twenty are electives chosen from a wide array of offerings, ranging from classes in Music Technology, Music Education, and Music Business to Alexander Technique and secondary lessons in jazz, composition, and conducting.
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.
Preparation
In today’s evolving world of the performing arts, pianists must enter their careers with more skills than ever before. The successful pianists of tomorrow must be distinctive creative artists and musical thinkers well-versed in the ways of the music business. The chance to develop as an artist in the cultural capital of the worls, in the stimulating environment of a major research university, in the historic setting of Greenwich Village - this is the unique experience that Piano Studies at NYU Steinhardt offers.
Through intense private study with world-class artists, chamber music coaching with top performers in the field, master classes with guest artists, and frequent performance opportunities, talented students develop surely into professional musicians. Nurtured by their teachers and encouraged by their peers, the undergraduate pianists of NYU Steinhardt emerge uniquely prepared to face the challenges of a career in music.
Performance
All piano majors have access to performances opportunities on campus and off, at venues around New York City. Additionally, each Spring features NYU Steinhardt pianists in our Artist Master Class Series; weekly classes offer exciting chances for collaboration among student pianists and internationally regarded artists and pedagogues such as Malcolm Bilson, Andre Laplante, Julian Martin, Garrick Ohlsson, Ursula Oppens, and Nelita True.