Our musical theatre students pursue training in acting, dance, and voice. You’ll have one-on-one lessons with our renowned faculty, as well as workshops, master classes, and small seminar sessions providing individualized instruction. You'll perform in fully staged productions under the guidance of professional directors, choreographers, conductors, and designers from Broadway and major regional theatre communities, preparing you for a career in music theatre.
Core Course Sequence
Core voice classes provide a strong foundation in technique, crucial in preparing you for a successful and healthy career. You'll take courses in areas such as script analysis and dramaturgical process, music criticism, film music, music therapy, and music theatre history, as well as specialized classes in private voice instruction, vocal coaching, music theatre workshops, and acting. You will work with your advisor and faculty mentors to determine the electives that best fit your goals and needs.
As a music theatre student, you’ll take classes in acting and dance with our renowned faculty. You'll also have the opportunities to cross traditional lines and take classical voice training and participate in opera workshops and fully staged opera productions.
Culminating Experience
As your terminal degree experience, you will perform a graduate recital, demonstrating a technical foundation in vocal production that will allow your voice to evolve in an efficient and healthy manner. Your performance will demonstrate your respect for the value of the text, and the words and the sounds of the music in combination. Degree recitals are held in Steinhardt’s world-class performance venues and recorded to provide an archival document of professional quality.
Placement Exams
- Music Theory and Aural Comprehension
- Music History
Placement exams are given before the start of the first semester. For each exam or part of an exam that you do not pass you will be assigned an undergraduate course. Any undergraduate review courses you are required to take do not count toward the 32 points required for the degree.
Registration for Private Voice Instruction is required for each semester that you are enrolled on a full-time basis (10 credits or more: 3 credits taken per semester for the first two semesters of study, and 2 credits taken during the third and fourth semesters of study).
Voice Jury
At the end of two semesters of private voice study you are required to perform a voice jury. You must prepare a minimum of six (6) songs and must demonstrate that you are making vocal progress and are covering sufficient repertoire to enable you to prepare your Master’s Recital.
Note: Vocal Performance majors must provide their own accompanists for lessons, juries, and recitals. Accompanists can be found through the program and there are often accompanists already associated with particular voice studios.
Minimum Grade Requirement
Students must earn a minimum of a B in any MPAVP-GE course in order for the credits for that course to count toward the degree.
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