At the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, you’re immersed in the performance scene of New York City, a global center of the arts and culture. Your training starts the moment you set foot on our campus in the heart of Greenwich Village. We surround you with a faculty of legendary professionals who challenge you to expand the boundaries of your art form, experiment with sound, and use your creative voice for change.
One of the main reasons young artists choose our school is our “artist as mentor” approach, which brings students together with NYC’s best musicians. You shape your educational journey by choosing world-class mentors aligned with your creative vision. You can study different instruments and genres with mentors, an opportunity that enables you to explore diverse perspectives and refineyour artistry.
Our project-based teaching engages you in real-world learning that inspires courage, creativity, and entrepreneurship. We teach you to take control of your artistic career. Explore our community, which over the past 100 years has fostered some of the most innovative music and musicians the world has ever known.
your time to take the stage
The BFA in Jazz and Contemporary Music is an intensive and flexible program that includes a wide range of courses in the technical, conceptual, aesthetic, and historical aspects of jazz and contemporary music. Through concentrations in Instrumental and Vocal Performance, your studies are tailored to your chosen instrument or voice. You join ensembles to master improvisation and experiment in a broad array of genres. Through the five-year BA/BFA dual degree, you can combine jazz instruction with a liberal arts education, giving you a broad platform for your creative future.
As a BFA student, you can also apply for the dual-degree MA in Arts Management and Entrepreneurship program. This graduate program, offered by the College of Performing Arts—home to the School of Drama, Mannes School of Music, and the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music—focuses on the business, management, and leadership skills that artists need to broaden their career options. Through our integrated bachelor’s-master’s program, you can complete both the MA (ordinarily a two-year program) and a BFA in a total of five years.
The College of Performing Arts also offers the MM PerformerComposer degree. This master’s program is designed for musicians whose passion lies at the intersection of composition, performance, and improvisation, and is intended for musicians looking to deepen their skills at an advanced level. The MM Performer-Composer program is an excellent option for BFA graduates who want to continue their studies.
Learn more about the values driving our educational programs at newschool.edu/jazz-proficiencies.
DownBeat magazine 2023 Critics Poll awards won by School of Jazz and Contemporary Music faculty members and alums your faculty mentors 150
Our faculty is made up of contemporary legends—awardwinning performers, composers, band leaders, and creative technologists who teach, lead ensembles, and develop innovative courses. They create a supportive and collaborative learning community, guiding you through your studies and the New York City arts scene. And they open up opportunities for your professional and artistic growth on local and global stages.
A few of our faculty are listed below; you can view the whole list at newschool.edu/jazz-faculty.
Julian Lage—Critically acclaimed as one of the most extraordinary guitarists of his generation, Lage is a GRAMMY-nominated master improviser.
Wendy Eisenberg—A songwriter, improviser, and composer, Eisenberg uses their guitar to shatter genres and create new modes of performance.
Arturo O’Farrill—A pianist, composer, and eight-time GRAMMY winner, O’Farrill is a legendary Afro-Latin jazz performer and educator.
Reggie Workman—A double bassist and activist, Workman won renown for his collaborations with John Coltrane and is a 2020 recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship Award.
Jane Ira Bloom—A GRAMMY Award–winning saxophonist and composer, Bloom is a groundbreaker in the integration of movement and electronics in jazz performance.
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School of Jazz and Contemporary Music faculty members
A Community of Creatives
The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music’s position as part of both the College of Performing Arts and its university home, The New School, gives you countless opportunities for collaboration with intellectually and artistically adventurous peers. You can create your own ensemble. You can play alongside classical musicians from Mannes School of Music and work with actors, playwrights, and directors from the School of Drama. And you have opportunities to collaborate with students from across the university.
Many students establish lasting professional relationships at our school, laying the groundwork by performing together extensively during their studies and continuing after graduation.
Follow us on Instagram to see our community in action: @newschoolperformingarts. Or if you’re in the area, attend a performance. View our events calendar at newschool.edu/ jazz-calendar.
Hear Dean Keller Coker describe the College of Performing Arts— home to our Jazz and Contemporary Music programs—and explain what sets it apart.
Facilities and Creative Tools
Here you have the space to practice solo, rehearse in a group, and perform before audiences of varying sizes. The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music maintains 100 practice rooms and eight performance spaces. Our residence halls also feature practice rooms, including one with a piano. To help you share your creativity more broadly, we offer on-campus recording studios, instrument rental and storage facilities, and electronic music and audio production labs, workstations, and gear.
newschool.edu/jazz-facilities
31% international students 80+
Jazz ensembles available to you
BFA JAZZ AND CONTEMPORARY
MUSIC
The Bachelor of Fine Arts program has a flexible curriculum that offers intensive instruction and private lessons. The Performing Arts Core sequence introduces you to artists who guide your studies across a dynamic range of cross-disciplinary courses while electives enable you to tailor your education to your interests. With a selection of more than 80 ensembles recast every semester, you’ll have the opportunity to play the kind of music you want to make under the direction of awardwinning artists.
newschool.edu/jazz/academics
Curriculum Overview
The BFA curriculum combines required courses that immerse you in the fundamentals of improvisation and composition—theory, ear training, improvisational performance techniques—and rigorous music training. Electives enable you to develop your skills in areas like film scoring and studio recording, using our campus facilities. Outlined below are the BFA program’s two main tracks—the Instrumental Concentration and the Vocal Concentration—along with two popular areas of study within them. Also described below is the Performing Arts Core, a course of study that brings together music and liberal arts.
A full account of degree requirements can be found in the academic catalog; visit newschool.edu/provost/academic-catalogs to see requirements for a given year.
students enrolled in our programs (215 undergraduate, 37 graduate)1
Instrumental Concentration
This concentration enables you to chart the course of your training under faculty mentors in the technical, conceptual, aesthetic, and historical dimensions of your instrument of choice (see the list below). Your academic path includes composition, improvisation, ensembles, and lessons, as well as electives offered throughout The New School.
newschool.edu/jazz/bfa-instrumental-concentration
Bass
Drums/percussion
Electronics
Guitar (acoustic, electric, pedal steel, banjo)
Harmonica
Piano/keyboards
Vocal Concentration
Singer-songwriter
Strings (violin, viola, cello)
Trombone
Trumpet
Tuba
Woodwinds (saxophone, clarinet, flute)
This concentration guides your development as a world-class vocalist. Take private lessons from leading contemporary performers who become your mentors. Create your own study path with the help of faculty advisors, selecting the genres you want to explore or blend, the ensembles in which you want to perform, and the people with whom you want to work. Your vocal studies include instruction in composition, improvisation, ensembles, lessons, and numerous performance and collaboration opportunities.
newschool.edu/jazz/bfa-vocal-concentration
“Being able to collaborate with so many kinds of people and level up your artistry is one of the things about The New School that I don’t think you can find anywhere else.”
James Francies , BFA Instrumental Concentration ’17
Singer-Songwriter Area of Study
In this area of study within the Instrumental concentration, you choose a private instructor from more than 50 songwriters—musicians like Machan Taylor, Marlon Saunders, Wendy Eisenberg, and Jean Rohe. Courses like Songwriting Fundamentals, Contemporary Song Production, and Laurel Canyon Ensemble (which explores the mid-1960s and 1970s Los Angeles music scene) help you refine your creative voice and aspirations. As a GRAMMY Museum affiliate, our program offers students access to exclusive museum events, at which they can connect with industry professionals.
Electronics Area of Study
In this area of study, you explore music created and shaped by digital technologies, learning with innovators like Ikue Mori, Levy Lorenzo, Hank Shocklee, and Ross Wightman. Your studies acquaint you with industry software and give you the production knowledge you need to create and manipulate sound. Working with ensembles such as Live Electronica Orchestra, Electric Miles Ensemble, and Futuristic Concepts of Music provides you with firsthand experience in this growing field.
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Performing Arts Core
All College of Performing Arts undergraduates take the Performing Arts Core program—courses and electives designed to immerse you in cross-disciplinary topics crucial for performing arts professionals, nurture you as a holistic and generative artist, and broaden your perspective. Required courses include The Whole Human Artist, Socially Engaged Artistry, Improvisation and Collaboration, and Technology and Experimentation.
Private Lessons
Private lessons allow you to draw on NYC’s finest talent—performers, producers, recording artists—and connect with industry leaders who can take you and your artistry to the next level. They guide you in experimenting, taking risks, failing, and advancing toward mastery and self-expression. At the intermediate and advanced levels, you are free to select instructors from throughout NYC. Our program allows you to choose teachers specializing in any instrument, composition, or arranging. You can even split your lessons between two instructors each semester.
newschool.edu/jazz-lessons
Minors That Let You Tailor Your Studies
Minors allow you to explore subjects that complement your music studies, to acquire specialized skills, and to stand out in professional settings. Available minors include Audio Production, Economics, Fashion Business, Creative Entrepreneurship, and Sociology. Our full list of more than 70 minors can be found at newschool.edu/jazz/minors .
Check out what our community is creating and performing.
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OTHER BFA LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
Beyond our institution’s walls, New York City serves as an extraordinary classroom, offering countless opportunities to surround yourself in with a rich tapestry of performing arts. You will find inspiration at every turn, from attending worldclass productions to participating in gigs and internships that enable you to perform and discover professional opportunities in the music industry.
Ensembles: Where Improvisation and Collaboration Meet
Ensembles play a critical role in your education, familiarizing you with performing and musical styles and helping you build connections with peers and NYC professionals. You are encouraged to form your own ensemble to experiment and blend sounds, styles, and techniques—creating something wholly new and bringing your creative ideas to life. We also offer more than 80 ensembles that reconvene each semester, letting you explore firsthand new approaches in a range of genres. Your options include groups ranging from the Charles Mingus Ensemble and Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers Ensemble to the Electronic Arts Orchestra and Progressive Rock Ensemble to the Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, Gospel Chorus, and Indian Ensemble.
New York City: The Home (of Jazz) Advantage
Our setting in a major jazz capital means that groundbreaking musicians regularly take up residence on campus, giving master classes, creating special learning experiences, and placing you into sustained contact with innovators in their fields. Current resident ensembles include the a capella brass quartet The Westerlies—alum Chloe Rowlands (BFA Jazz and Contemporary Music ’14) plays trumpet for the group—and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. The Stone, John Zorn’s celebrated avant-garde music lab, has a permanent residency on campus, providing unprecedented access to some of the greatest improvisers in experimental jazz and contemporary music, and offering a place on the stage for student nights. Learn more at newschool.edu/jazz/ensembles .
Partnered for Performance
Our partnerships with venues around the city mean that you’re joining jam sessions at some of the greatest clubs in NYC, like Smalls and Zinc Bar. From your classroom you can cross the street to play at the Walker Hotel, perform on the High Line, or find yourself on a celebrated stage like Alice Tully Hall— all because of our school’s connections to cultural organizations throughout the city.
newschool.edu/jazz-partners
Opportunities That Make the World Your Stage
Our international partnerships expose you to new musicians, musical forms, and venues. Play in a quartet at the Bern International Jazz Festival; help produce a jazz workshop in Chioggia, Italy; or represent the school at festivals around the globe. Share your talents and forge new connections in partnerships and performances we arrange each year.
newschool.edu/jazz-partners
Internships
Internships in New York City let you explore all sides of the music world at close range and find professional opportunities. Our students have interned at organizations like the Mingus Foundation, EMI/Blue Note Records, Nonesuch Records, Jazz at Lincoln Center, ASCAP, VH1 Save-the-Music, the Bunker Studio, the Chelsea Music Festival, Le Poisson Rouge, and the Jazz Gallery.
newschool.edu/jazz-internships
Our Gig Office
Our program is designed to help emerging musicians learn firsthand how to succeed as working artists. Our Performing Arts Gig Office facilitates paid performance opportunities around campus and the city, enabling you to develop your professional résumé while you’re a student.
BA/BFA DUAL DEGREE WITH EUGENE LANG COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music and Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts jointly offer a five-year curriculum in which students simultaneously complete two undergraduate degrees: a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Jazz and Contemporary Music and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in a liberal arts discipline. This dual-degree program requires 90 credits of liberal arts education and 90 credits of professional music study. BA/BFA students receive a uniquely broad preparation for direct entry into a music-related field or for graduate study in areas including law, business, and the humanities.
newschool.edu/jazz/ensembles
“I came from Mexico to The New School for the combination of conservatory education and liberal arts.”
Andrés Volkov, BA Anthropology/BFA Instrumental Concentration ’22
Hear how the guitar and New York’s music scene—including the work of professor Nir Felder—led BFA student Tyler to campus.
The Performer-Composer Master of Music program at the College of Performing Arts gives you the artistic, technological, scholarly, and entrepreneurial skills and freedom you need to thrive as a successful performer, composer, and improviser. One of the program’s hallmarks is its embrace of all genres and styles—there is no bias toward particular musical approaches. You’re free to invent your own unique creative practice, with support from faculty innovators. The intensive four-semester curriculum enables you to immerse yourself in your studies and complete the master’s degree in just 17 months.
newschool.edu/jazz-mm
Curriculum Overview
Your studies bring together composition, performance, and improvisation. Faculty mentors challenge you to combine and transcend traditional genres, improvise in your own musical forms, and experiment with new technologies and platforms. The curriculum draws on diverse ideas, histories, and musical styles, including contemporary classical music, jazz, rock, electronic music, avant-garde music, minimalism, and improvised music. You create ensembles and benefit from the freedom to choose private instructors from a list of hundreds of New York–based musicians.
A full account of degree requirements can be found in the academic catalog; visit newschool.edu/provost/academic-catalogs to see requirements for a given year.
Graduate Minors
In keeping with our commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship and collaboration, we offer a number of graduate minors—structured study pathways that immerse you in disciplines outside of your primary field, expose you to new approaches to research and practice, and broaden your skills and career options. Master’s students can complete a graduate minor in a related field, such as Transmedia and Digital Storytelling, or explore other subjects in minors like Creative Community Development and Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies.
newschool.edu/graduate-minors
Listen to our community’s creativity on the College of Performing Arts radio station.
school of jazz and contemporary music
MA ARTS MANAGEMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The Master of Arts in Arts Management and Entrepreneurship program offered by the College of Performing Arts provides real-world skills that prepare you for success in all performing arts fields. In just five years, you can earn both a bachelor’s and a master’s through our integrated dual-degree program.
Students who have completed their undergraduate studies can complete the MA degree in just four semesters. Explore entrepreneurship, management, arts administration, arts education, cultural policy and advocacy, and professional practice with peers and with faculty devoted to helping you manage your creative career in an evolving industry.
newschool.edu/jazz-ma
“ The Westerlies explore jazz, roots, and chamber music influences to create the rarest of hybrids: music that is both folklike and composerly, lovely and intellectually rigorous.”
—NPR Music
concerts by The Stone in spring 2024
The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music’s faculty and staff strive to make your career ambitions a reality. Our faculty and staff are here to help you find courses, collaboration partners, and projects beyond the classroom that develop your skills and allow you to establish a life in the arts. Student Career Services staff are also important partners, helping you plan a path after graduation, find internships, and secure professional opportunities. mapping your new path in music
1,542
Jazz and Contemporary Music program alums
Hear how trumpet player Lessie is living her dream by touring with the greats, becoming a bandleader, and giving back to her community.
Alumni Groundbreakers
Our graduates take their education and community into new creative terrain, reimagining jazz as a genre and launching trailblazing entrepreneurial careers.
A few of our alumni are listed below; learn more at newschool.edu/jazz/ outcomes .
Robert Glasper is a pianist, record producer, songwriter, and arranger who has won five GRAMMY Awards and 11 nominations. His 2012 album Black Radio won the GRAMMY for Best R&B Album, setting the stage for collaborations with Kendrick Lamar, Mac Miller, and other prominent performers.
Brad Mehldau began touring as a New School student. Widely regarded as one of the greatest jazz pianists of his generation, Mehldau has released more than a dozen albums that combine genres including pop, rock, and classical music. He recently published a memoir.
Jazzmeia Horn is one of jazz’s most celebrated young vocalists. While a New School student, she performed at the legendary Apollo Theater; she has since recorded two GRAMMY-nominated albums and performed around the world.
James Francies began playing professionally while still a student, going on to tour with Pat Metheny and Questlove. As a bandleader, he has released two albums on Blue Note Records and was named the Rising Star— Keyboards winner in DownBeat magazine’s 2022 Critics Poll.
Keyon Harrold is a jazz trumpeter, vocalist, songwriter, and producer. He is both a staple performer at New York jazz clubs and a crossover artist who has performed with the likes of Common, Beyoncé, and John Legend.
2024 GRAMMY Awards: 1 faculty win, 7 alum nominations, and 4 faculty nominations
Your studies at the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music unfold in New York City’s legendary downtown neighborhood, Greenwich Village. The Village’s history—which includes social activists who stirred the nation and virtuosos who developed new art forms—inspires you as it did New School alumni and faculty groundbreakers like Bill Evans, Jack Kerouac, Marlon Brando, James Baldwin, Stella Adler, and John Cage. Today the Village is home to dozens of small theaters, jazz clubs, and performance venues, all just steps away from our dorms and classrooms.
Housing
Our residence halls and other university facilities are a short walk from your classrooms, giving you easy access to libraries, computer labs, and our 24-hour University Center, which houses the cafeteria and performing arts library. Our dorms offer a secure, supportive environment, and residence hall staff organize a variety of social, educational, and cultural activities. All first-year full-time undergraduates must live in on-campus housing (offered at newly reduced rates) unless they meet waiver eligibility.
For details, visit newschool.edu/housing.
Financial Aid
The New School’s comprehensive financial aid program provides competitive merit-based scholarships and need-based aid for those who qualify. All applicants, including international students, are automatically considered for merit aid. We also participate in government grant, loan, and work-study programs. For more information on financing your education, visit newschool. edu/jazz/tuition-fees-estimator and newschool.edu/student-financialservices . You can email questions to sfs@newschool.edu.
Learning Resources
The New School’s extensive resources—performance and gallery spaces, libraries, XR studios, making facilities, computer labs, archives, and research centers and institutes—help you get the most out of your time at the university. Public programs bring luminaries and new ideas to campus, drawing on the city’s place at the center of culture, commerce, and innovation. The University Learning Center (ULC) provides academic support to The New School’s diverse student population through one-on-one tutoring sessions and workshops.
newschool.edu/learning-center
Health and Wellness
The Student Health Service (SHS) team helps you thrive in the classroom by offering comprehensive confidential, culturally sensitive medical and counseling support. Resources include immunizations, in-person and telehealth appointments, individual counseling, support groups, and psychiatric care. Dedicated staff on campus provide services and can refer you for specialized and public healthcare resources. SHS also organizes wellness activities such as meditation classes, workshops, and stress relief events during challenging times of the year.
newschool.edu/health-services
Hear Andrés describe his experience blending music and liberal arts in his BA/BFA program.
The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music is part of the College of Performing Arts, along with Mannes School of Music and the School of Drama. The College of Performing Arts is housed in a larger university, The New School. This unique model allows us to offer three tiers of collaboration.
Within each school, students collaborate across disciplines with their classmates—actors with directors, composers with musicians—erasing boundaries between majors. In the three performing arts schools, musicians, composers, playwrights, actors, and directors join forces, taking classes and creating together.
Across The New School, performing arts students can pursue minors and courses in every discipline, including liberal arts, design, technology, media, and management. We embrace collaboration with an entrepreneurial spirit. Discovery, rigorous practice, and versatility aren’t just words to us; they are at the core of the New School curriculum.
“More entities are likely to gravitate toward partnerships with The New School, as this legendary educational institution looks ahead to an exciting future.”
—DownBeat magazine
Admission
Below is information to guide you in applying for admission.
Regular Decision: The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music offers Regular Decision for fall admission.
Fall deadline: January 15
Transfer applicants can apply for either spring or fall entry.
Spring deadline: October 15
In-person auditions are available for fall admission only, with audition events in Portland, Oregon; Tel Aviv, Israel; and New York City. The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music provides an ensemble of current students to accompany auditions in New York City.
Audition recordings are accepted for spring and fall admission and are considered equivalent to in-person auditions for admission.
Virtual interviews are strongly recommended but not required; they are offered throughout the year. Applicants can sign up for an interview before applying.
Email our admission team with any questions at performingarts@newschool. edu. Learn more about admission events at newschool.edu/jazz/ admission-events .
WE ARE THE NEW SCHOOL
Since its founding in 1919, The New School has been a center of independent thought, dialogue, and action. We are a community that applies integrative approaches to global problems and leads the systemic change needed to make the world more equitable, more sustainable, and better designed for all. Today our university is made up of colleges offering courses in art and design, music and performance, the liberal arts and social sciences, management, media, and more.
Get in touch and take the next step
Contact our team, learn about admission requirements, attend an admission event, or make an appointment.
212.229.5150 x2 or 800.292.3040 x2 performingarts@newschool.edu
For important information including accreditation, student rights, campus safety statistics, and tuition and fees, visit newschool.edu/your-right-to-know. Published 2024 by The New School. The New School is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Photo credits: David Barron, Ben Ferrari, Don Hamerman, Hey Wave Media, Matthew Matthews, The New School, Jacob Arthur Pritchard, Revive the Cool, Martin Seck, Michael Kirby Smith, Phillip Van Nostrand, Cole Wilson.
This brochure is printed on FSC-certified paper with UV inks that conserve energy and material and do not release VOCs into the atmosphere—reflecting the university’s embrace of environmental responsibility.
