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    Contemporary Music

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    Admission Contact
    Office of Admission
    Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts
    79 Fifth Avenue, 5th floor
    New York, NY 10003
    Phone: 212.229.5150 or
    800.292.3040
    [email protected]

    Program Contacts

    Prospective students with questions about Contemporary Music: Please email [email protected].

    Contemporary Music Program Director and Departmental Faculty Advisor
    Clara Latham
    Associate Professor, Music
    [email protected]

    Student Success Advisor for Contemporary Music
    Brian Dudley
    Manager, BA/BFA Student Success
    [email protected]

  • Virtual Tour

  • Investigate the cultural significance of music composition, performance, and listening practices in today's world. The Contemporary Music program at Lang emphasizes innovative musical thinking and music making in The New School's tradition of progressive education and experimentation in the arts. Explore the global diversity of contemporary music, examining topics including popular music, music history, theory, and criticism, and the evolving technologies used in composing, producing, performing, and listening.

    • Study Options Major, Minor

    The Contemporary Music curriculum covers a range of traditional approaches to music studies and explores innovative approaches to music-making and listening. This area of study enables you to combine theory with practice by applying concepts and methods to hands-on creative work. Our courses examine:

    • Diverse genres of contemporary popular music, both mainstream and alternative
    • Global perspectives on music, including the musical life of diverse communities in New York City
    • Music technology, including the uses and significance of music in audiovisual media
    • Music theory, history, and criticism of music in its many social and cultural contexts

    As a student in the Contemporary Music program at Lang, you can also enroll in selected courses across the university through the College of Performing Arts and Parsons School of Design.

    Major requirements

    Minor requirements

    University Music Resources

    While it offers the atmosphere and intimacy of a small college, Eugene Lang College is part of The New School, a major progressive university in New York City. The university also contains a College of Performing Arts, which is home to two renowned music schools: Mannes School of Music and the School of Jazz. This allows Contemporary Music students at Lang to benefit from university-wide resources and opportunities:

    • Students who want both a liberal arts education and professional training in jazz and contemporary music can pursue the BA/BFA pathway.

    • Students can access a dedicated music library and an extensive program of public concerts and music-related lectures, seminars, and conferences.

    Connecting to New York City

    Our campus location in the heart of Greenwich Village allows you to use the vibrant music scene of the city as a learning laboratory. You have opportunities to find internships and other work in many fields of avant-garde and traditional music practice throughout the city. Studying in this cultural capital, you have countless chances to experience music of all styles and eras, including concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and experimental venues like the Kitchen and Issue Project Room, as well as The Stone, which is currently based at The New School.

    Career Paths

    Our program is designed to develop well-rounded and engaged citizens who are thoughtful, articulate, and creative. Contemporary Music majors at Lang go on to pursue advanced studies in the fields of musicology, anthropology, history, and media studies and continue on to careers in music production and distribution, arts writing and criticism, administration, and education. Consult our 4-Year Lang Career Pathways Map (PDF) for helpful steps and resources to link your academic journey to your future plans.

    If you are planning to go on to graduate study in a related field, consider majoring in The Arts and applying to the Bachelor's-Master's program, which enables you to earn graduate credits that will apply to both your Lang degree and a graduate degree in liberal studies at The New School.

    Outcomes at Lang

  • Contemporary Music faculty and recent guest artists include award-winning performers and composers and renowned academic scholars.

  • Upcoming Lang Events

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Submit your application

Undergraduates

To apply to any of our undergraduate programs (except the Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs) complete and submit the Common App online.

Undergraduate Adult Learners

To apply to any of our Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and Parsons Associate of Applied Science programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.

Graduates

To apply to any of our Master's, Doctoral, Professional Studies Diploma, and Graduate Certificate programs, complete and submit the New School Online Application.

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