Prospective Performance Students
Students accepted as Performance Majors can take private lessons with a member of our faculty or, with permission of the Music Department, with a teacher of their own choice in the New York metropolitan area, pending approval of that instructor’s credentials. We offer the M.A. with a Performance Concentration in Voice, Piano (Solo or Vocal Collaborative), Organ, Harpsichord, and most major orchestral instruments. We also offer an M.A. with a Jazz Performance Concentration in all instruments, as well as voice.
A number of music ensembles are offered by the Hunter College Music Department. Prospective Performance students should check our audition and admission procedures, as well as the policies regarding taking private lessons.
The Music Department offers M.A. performance programs in both Solo Piano and Vocal Collaborative Piano. Both tracks include opportunities and courses in instrumental chamber music as well, including regular coachings. For the Vocal Collaborative Piano track, repertoire will include vocal duo repertoire from all genres. The student’s curriculum, prepared in collaboration with the Graduate Adviser, will include classes focusing on topics in vocal coaching, diction, opera, duo repertoire, conducting, chamber music, and rehearsal techniques.
Degree Requirements for Classical Performance Students
MUS 70000 – Music Bibliography and Research Techniques
Earn at least 3 credits from the following:
MUS 72400 – Advanced Studies In Music Theory 1
MUS 72500 – Advanced Studies in Music Theory II
MUS 74000 – Seminar in Music Theory and Analysis
Earn at least 6 credits from the following:
MUS 75100 – Advanced Studies in Musicology 1
MUS 75200 – Advanced Studies in Musicology 2
MUS 76000 – Seminar in Musicology
Earn at least 3 credits from the following:
MUS 77500 – Seminar In Ethnomusicology 1
MUS 77600 – Seminar in Ethnomusicology 2
MUS 75300 – Transcription and Analysis in Ethnomusicology
Earn at least 3 credits
MUS 71000–MUS 71901 or MUS 72100 (1 cr. each)
MUS 78100 – Private Study in Instrument or Voice 1
MUS 78200 – Private Study in Instrument or Voice 2
MUS 78300 – Private Study in Instrument or Voice 3
MUS 78400 – Private Study in Instrument or Voice
*Note: At least one Performance Ensemble must be taken in each of the first 3 semesters of study, concurrently with MUS 781, MUS 782, and MUS 783
Click here for the graduate catalog’s list of required courses for your MA-Music concentration
Degree Requirements for Jazz Performance Students:
MUS 73800 – Jazz Harmony and Arranging
MUS 73900 – Jazz Improvisation
MUS 74100 – Introduction to Songwriting
MUS 75300 – Transcription and Analysis in Ethnomusicology
Earn at least 3 credits from the following:
MUS 72400 – Advanced Studies In Music Theory 1
MUS 72500 – Advanced Studies in Music Theory II
MUS 74000 – Seminar in Music Theory and Analysis
MUS 75100 – Advanced Studies in Musicology 1
MUS 75200 – Advanced Studies in Musicology 2
MUS 76000 – Seminar in Musicology
MUS 77500 – Seminar In Ethnomusicology 1
OR MUS 77600 – Seminar in Ethnomusicology 2
Earn at least 3 credits
MUS 71000 – MUS 71900 or MUS 72100 (1 cr. each)
MUS 78100 – Private Study in Instrument or Voice 1
MUS 78200 – Private Study in Instrument or Voice 2
MUS 78300 – Private Study in Instrument or Voice 3
MUS 78400 – Private Study in Instrument or Voice
In certain cases, substitutions for these required courses may be made in consultation with the Graduate Adviser and the Director of Studies in Composition. A maximum of 12 credits transferred from other institutions might be accepted toward the M.A. Degree. For credits to transfer, the student must have gotten a B or higher in the class and the class must have occurred within the last four-five years.
Performance students are also required to perform a Graduation Recital in lieu of a written thesis.
For Frequently Asked Questions, see FAQs – Graduate.
