Undergraduate Courses

In this studio class, students work on specific advanced skills required for the professional music theater conductor. They study works from the music theater repertoire, with a specific emphasis on shows of various periods and genres. Students develop a comprehensive approach to rehearsal planning and structure, including specific strategies that allow time optimization.

In this studio class, students develop foundational conducting skills for the professional conductor. This includes specific techniques associated with choral conducting, instrumental conducting, and conducting synchronized with visual media. Topics include arms/baton technique, rehearsing the ensemble, score study techniques, and conducting with a click track.

In this studio class, students build upon foundational conducting skills to develop specific techniques to conduct instrumental ensembles with a focus on the orchestral repertoire. Students practice seminal pieces of the history of western orchestral music that serve as case studies to develop a sophisticated set of instrumental conducting skills.

This course offers students the opportunity to engage with theories of communication and culture through the context of consumption and contemporary consumer society. Our focus will be on the role of commodities and consumer practices in everyday life and in culture at large. We will give particular attention to consumption's role in the construction of social and cultural identities. Students will consider critical responses to consumer culture, including the resistance and refusal of consumption as well as the attempted mobilization of consumption toward social change.

New art and new definitions of art and artist are discussed. Major attention is paid to the New York scene with guest lectures by artists and visits to galleries, museums, and other major sites in the current art system.

This seminar course will include didactic coursework and site visits during which time students will observe interdisciplinary clinical service provision at sites in the metropolitan London area. Students will observe evaluation and treatment sessions of children and adults receiving clinical services across disciplines such as speech language pathology, audiology, counseling, nursing, art, music, or drama therapy, and physical and occupational therapy. Seminar discussions will focus on the role of the interdisciplinary team in treating individuals with various disorders and provide an introduction to the practice of health fields specific to the United Kingdom and will explore attitudes toward disability and the allocation of health care resources in the UK. Comparisons between the US and UK health care systems will also be emphasized.

This hands-on course will both sharpen a composer’s aesthetic and raise the level of proficiency in their use of an industry-standard complex of the software necessary for composing and producing in film and media production. In tandem with incorporating the ever-increasing quality and availability of digital audio production software, including virtual instruments, media composers will deliver the pristine, professional sounding music now expected for film, TV, video games, songs and even Broadway.

An overview of the artistic and administrative demands of being a professional singer in the 21st century, including music production, collaboration, distribution, publishing, and digital marketing. Students receive guidance in developing short and long term career plans rooted in their unique identities, interests, and creative pursuits.

This course prepares the contemporary vocalist for professional opportunities in live performance. Students collaborate with each other to book, manage, promote, and perform gigs at New York City music venues using the skills learned throughout their degree. Culminates in a showcase concert at an on- or off-campus venue for friends, family, and invited industry guests.

This course provides a detailed exploration of the ways in which the modern classical singer, musical theatre performer, and pop singer must use their talents and intuition on social media to develop and market their brand, personal sensibility, and point of view on the world. Vocals and live performance style techniques for the camera will be addressed in a laboratory environment, as well as techniques to target audiences on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, websites, virtual auditions, and self-submissions.

This course is a laboratory environment where students explore all aspects of live contemporary vocal performance. The course culminates in a final performance at an on-campus venue where the students participate in each of the technical elements of an amplified contemporary concert, including musical arrangement.

A laboratory environment where students prepare for and execute all aspects of recording and releasing an Extended Play (EP) album. Students select songs, create accompaniment tracks and band charts, record vocals in a professional studio, mix, and master final tracks, and release their EP on all major streaming and download platforms.

Description: A laboratory environment where students explore all elements of contemporary songwriting
(structure, harmony, melody, and lyric). Students analyze and perform existing songs as well as compose their own original songs.

This course trains the singer in the methods used to create studio recordings. Students learn the protocols of a recording studio environment (Dolan Recording Studio) and record professional background vocals in small groups.

This course combines the technical abilities a student has learned in the voice studio with the performance and practical skills needed to be a well-rounded performer. Focus on performance skills required for a hybrid singer, including but not limited to truthful communication, stage presence, movement, the ability to use the prosody of language/speech inflections to inform vocalism and psychological gesture, and appropriateness of style and genre.

This course explores the relationship between phonetics and acoustics as they pertain to the text setting of song lyrics. Using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) in conjunction with practical exercises and performance, students learn the technical concept of “vowel modification.” Skills developed in the course will allow singers to transpose covers of existing songs into keys well-suited for their voices and to improvise and embellish melodies with intentionality.

This course introduces students to selected musical sounds and practices from cultural groups around the world. Through exposure to distinct musical cultures, from traditional to transnational, students learn to define and apply musical concepts such as rhythm, timbre, melody, and form. The socio-cultural context and relevance of musical practices are also examined, touching on issues such as race, gender, embodied participation, technologies of production and circulation, and relationship to religion, the state, and other social structures.

Examines the basic tenets and operative principles of the global copyright system. Considers the ways in which media industries, artists, and consumers interact with the copyright system and assesses how well it serves its stated purposes: to encourage art and creativity. Special emphasis on the social, cultural, legal, and political issues that have arisen in recent years as a reult of new communicative technologies.

Examines the basic tenets and operative principles of the global copyright system. Considers the ways in which media industries, artists, and consumers interact with the copyright system and assesses how well it serves its stated purposes: to encourage art and creativity. Special emphasis on the social, cultural, legal, and political issues that have arisen in recent years as a reult of new communicative technologies.