The multi-platinum and Grammy Award-winning artist will host events that explore creativity, artistic control, and commerce throughout the academic year.
Grammy-winning musician and producer Miguel will share insight and knowledge gained during more than 20 years in the music industry as the 2025-2026 Scholar-in-Residence at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.
The year-long residency kicks off on October 14 at 6 p.m. ET with a Scholar-in-Residence welcome event for the NYU community in the Kimmel Center, 60 Washington Square South, in Greenwich Village. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. ET and guests can register for the Miguel welcome event here.
Over the next eight months, Miguel will host seminars, masterclasses, and cross-disciplinary collaborations that explore the lessons he learned over the course of his groundbreaking career. Topics for what he is calling his “CAOS Curriculum” include igniting the creative process, identifying collaborators, and marketing in the modern age. He will also cover the economics of the music industry, including negotiating contracts and understanding intellectual property issues.
CAOS, his fifth studio album, will be released on October 23, his 40th birthday.
“The industry is designed to profit off the originators while leaving them the least protected,” Miguel said. “The CAOS Curriculum is about shifting that balance—re-centering power with the artists and the creative enablers themselves. This isn’t just about making your best work; it’s about knowing how to protect it and sustain it.”
The singer, songwriter, producer and actor was born Miguel Jontel Pimentel in California. He recorded his major label debut in 2010 while still a teenager. He worked with Usher and Musiq Soulchild, gaining an international following for his contemporary R&B sound. Two years later, his second recording, Kaleidoscope Dream, catapulted him to stardom, and its lead single, “Adorn,” became an instant classic and earned a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song.
“We are excited to host Miguel as this year’s Scholar-in-Residence,” said Jack H. Knott, Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of NYU Steinhardt. “As a successful artist and music entrepreneur, Miguel has many first-hand lessons and practical strategies to share with our students to help prepare them for their future careers.”
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