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The Contemporary Performance Program (CPP) is Manhattan School
of Music’s newest graduate degree program. Students in the
program, which offers a Master’s Degree in Contemporary Performance,
put all their energies into mastering the skills necessary for a
career in new music performance.
Click here to listen to excerpts of recordings made by the CPP program.
All CPP students perform regularly with the School's resident contemporary
ensembles —Tactus
and
The Claremont Ensemble
— playing a large variety of works written in the last 100
years (see repertory
list here). The student-run, late-night series called
Power Concerts, provides plentiful opportunity for extra performance
with a 20-minute concert scheduled each week.
Coursework in the program is also especially tailored to the needs
of the contemporary performer. A rigorous ear-training class, for
instance, focuses on rhythmic and pitch issues that are frequently
encountered in the music of today. A class in practical issues prepares
students for the non-musical challenges they are likely to face
after graduation (i.e. managing their own ensemble, booking concerts,
writing grants, applying for jobs, and so on).
During its inaugural season, CPP students were featured in a performance
by Tactus at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. Performances in
some of New York’s new music clubs are also a regular part
of the schedule. In its first two years of existence, CPP has spawned
two new student-founded ensembles which are commissioning new works
and performing in New York and on tour.
This new and innovative degree program features a small class size,
and the intense level of cohesion among the students provides a
fertile environment for creativity.
Tactus in Review
“Ambitious . . . finely polished . . . spirited . . .”
—Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
“The deepest, grandest noise of the musical season so far
. . .”
—Alex Ross, The New Yorker
“Most school concerts don’t generate the sort of buzz
that this one did.”
—Adam Baer, The New York Sun
Courses
The degree sequence plans for
this program, which will show you what courses and numbers of credits
are required for graduation, are found by clicking the link below:
Admission
General admission information regarding taped
auditions, audition fees, required materials, and applications can
be found by visiting our Audition
Procedures Page.
Specific audition requirements
for this major can be found by clicking the link below:
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