Welcome to the Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions. Whether you are a current or prospective student, a member of the community, or one of our valued alumni, I am thrilled that you have come to engage with our exceptional cultural and academic programming. The Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions hosts a faculty of unique accomplishment and attracts a student cohort that is talented and ambitious. Our internationally renowned programs – ranging from baccalaureate to doctoral degrees – share a commitment to not only artistic and academic excellence, but also diversity, access, and social justice. We seek to advance the education, health, and well-being of people and communities on the Square and around the world, through disciplined and interdisciplinary endeavors exploring Music Performance and Composition, Music Business and Arts Administration, Music Technology, Music and Drama Therapy, and the Arts in Education (including programs in Educational Theatre, Music, and Dance). Through research, publication, and elite performance, our faculty members establish professional, scholarly, and artistic practices that capture international attention and serve as models for progress. Bridging theory and practice, culture and commerce, and science and art, we foster a community whose vibrant programs expand the possibilities for our graduates and those they serve. Faculty and students in Performance and Composition devote themselves not only to the pursuit of craft and virtuosity, but to reaching new audiences and defining inclusive, newly relevant performance practices. Educational Theatre and Drama Therapy programs develop and perform creative works focused on topics such as disability rights and civic engagement. Combining techniques and methodologies from the arts, humanities, and sciences to understand and model human cognitive abilities, the Music Audio Research Laboratory innovates the analysis and creation of music. The Nordoff-Robbins Center for Music Therapy, a locus for multi-disciplinary collaboration, provides community service, while Arts & Health @ NYU advances artistic practice in line with therapeutic innovation and policy development. Through these activities and more, the Department embraces the arts, entrepreneurship, science, health, and social action.

Thank you for joining us.

Marilyn Nonken, PhD

Chair, Department of Music & Performing Arts Professions