Programs Available
Master of Music Degree in Modern American Music Performance
Graduate Performance Diploma in Modern American Music

Modern American Music Studies at Longy
Modern American Music (MAM) is an advanced program in the performance of twentieth-century African-American and European-American art music. The department was founded in 1996 to provide musicians with the necessary skills to flourish in an increasingly demanding and competitive profession. More than ever before, advanced improvisational skills, high technical proficiency, and an understanding of contemporary and traditional repertoire are required of both jazz and classical musicians.

The program is the first performance degree of its kind in the United States, offering graduate students a major concentration that includes both African- and European-American music. While most conservatories separate the two disciplines, the MAM department seeks to embrace both traditions in all their richness and variety. Nevertheless, incoming students need not have extensive experience in both areas. Rather, they should exhibit considerable expertise in one tradition and express a strong desire to explore the other. During the two-year course of study, students learn about both the jazz and classical traditions in private lessons, performances ensembles, and a variety of relevant courses. Individual instruction focuses on both written and improvised works with one of the two major American traditions emphasized, depending on each student's greatest need. In most cases, one year of private instruction is devoted to jazz improvisation and performance, and one year to modern American classical music. Students also gain ensemble experience in both idioms, with classical musicians participating in straight-ahead or avant-garde jazz ensembles, and jazz musicians performing contemporary classical chamber works.

Core courses examine theoretical, historical, analytical, and aesthetic issues in contemporary American music. A two-year survey of repertory contextualizes European modernism and African-American music in the twentieth century, and reveals through analysis the expanded concepts of tonality and form that underlie works from both traditions. Attention is paid not only to the scores of composers such as Duke Ellington and Gil Evans and to the performances of great artists such as Art Tatum and John Coltrane, but also to the parallel repertories of art music in the European-American tradition, including the music of Ives, Copland, Carter, and Cage.

The MAM jazz faculty comprises some of the finest teachers and performers in the Boston area. Likewise, the classical faculty, drawn from Longy's classical performance departments, boasts an array of active performers in the contemporary music scene.

Modern American Music Performance
Each year, MAM students perform a variety of solo and ensemble works in both traditional and unconventional settings. Instrumentalists perform primarily in the department's small ensembles (chamber groups, traditional jazz ensembles, avant-garde ensembles) and the Modern American Music Repertory Ensemble. Pianists play with small groups and singers, and focus on the full range of recent American music. Students may also participate in Longy's other performance organizations, including the Longy Chamber Orchestra and the new music ensemble Longitude.

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