Bachelor of Arts in Contemporary Music
The BA in Contemporary Music features a forward-looking curriculum that prepares performers, composers, technologists, and musical entrepreneurs for creative careers in music. The program includes a rigorous liberal arts core curriculum that cuts across traditional boundaries between academics and the arts. The core curriculum is predicated on a breadth of knowledge that all educated artists should possess.
Skills in performance, technology, composition, and recording arts are grounded in the study of world music, music theory, and music history. Regular and contributing faculty members are practicing professional musicians. Along with guest artists from around the world, they expose students to a broad range of musical styles and genres—from popular and jazz to classical and world music—through performances, workshops, seminars, and master classes. Santa Fe University of Art and Design offers a well-rounded education that extends beyond the conservatory environment, imparting performance skills, technological expertise, and a world view of the musical arts that is ideal for the 21st-century musician.
The program is designed to build practical knowledge and experience in:
- Performance
- Recording arts and technology
- Creating audio for film, multimedia, and Web content
- Music theory and history
- Career development
- Songwriting, composing, and arranging
- Performing arts management and entrepreneurship
Private and small group instruction, along with ensemble participation, figure prominently in the curriculum. Private lessons are offered in all orchestral instruments and many world music instruments, along with lessons in piano, guitar, composition, songwriting, and music technology.
