
The Bachelor of Musical Arts degree is an interdisciplinary program with intentional curricular flexibility. It is designed for the student with a strong academic background who wishes to combine the study of music with an emphasis in a second field outside music. Students' programs are individualized according to their interests and culminate in a senior project that melds their work in music with their second discipline. The BMA in Musical Arts will accept Fall 2023 applications until April 1, 2023, and interested students may apply here.
The BMA's curricular flexibility serves students with a tremendous passion for music as well as aptitude and interest in other fields. Senior projects have been very creative: they have included research papers, lecture-recitals, comparative studies, original dramatic works such as one-act operas, and pieces combining narration and music with both text and score written by the student.
The BMA is CCPA's only degree that is affiliated with the Roosevelt University Honors Program. Students admitted to this degree are simultaneously admitted to the Honors Program. As members of the Honors Program, BMA students have access to reserved seminars and special topics courses with Honors students from other degrees and majors across the university.
Students participate in conservatory ensembles based on auditions and as assigned, allowing for significant and intensive performance training alongside academic rigor.
Overview: The Honors Bachelor of Musical Arts (BMA) is a degree with significant flexibility for the student who wants an active role in designing his/her undergraduate experience at CCPA, a music conservatory within a lively university. Students in this degree complete the curriculum provided for in the university catalog as well as the requirements put forward by the University Honors Program. As a starting place for planning how you could approach the BMA, here are five example tracks. A student using one of these tracks still works with his/her advisor to customize an individual plan.
1. Performance Plus: If you seek the experiences of a performance degree—four full years of lessons, ensembles, and active performance throughout—as well as a secondary, non-music area of study, this is a great approach. It is ideal for strong performers who want equally challenging academic work.
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2. Arts Leadership: If you are considering a career in arts administration or other music and business ventures, this approach allows you to combine conservatory training with a range of classes in performing arts management, business, and public policy. Students with these interests embrace the programming and work of CCPA’s Center for Arts Leadership (CAL). These students meet with the CAL staff throughout their degree to discuss programming, research, and initiatives, and can partner with the CAL to plan their thesis project.
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3. Music, Art, and Science: If you wish to compliment your music studies with traditional Arts & Sciences offerings, this track provides maximum flexibility. Including your electives, you take 60% of your classes in music and 40% in Arts & Sciences areas. This is a great path for students seeking to pursue graduate-level studies in a music academic field, such as musicology, ethnomusicology, or music theory.
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4. Music, Mind, and Body: If you want to study in a music conservatory and wish to prepare for graduate-level work in music cognition or music therapy, this approach combines music classes with courses in psychology, biology, and human anatomy and physiology.
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5. Music and Event Mgmt.: Drawing together courses in music and those in hospitality and tourism management, this approach allows you to explore and prepare for work in fields such as music tourism and music event planning.
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6. BMA Music + Theatre: For instrumentalists and vocalists in the classical or jazz/contemporary traditions but with a specific interest in American Musical Theatre, or for composers seeking to have added exposure to theatrical studies, this is a music degree that includes a minimum of 18 credit hours of classes in CCPA’s Theatre Conservatory.
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BMA students participate in a weekly colloquium throughout their four years. This gathering provides students an opportunity to discuss current issues in the arts community as well as visit (in person and via video) with guests who work in or with the arts, but are not in the traditional areas of performance or composition. Recent Colloquium guests have included …
CCPA’s American Music Institute team comprised of faculty with backgrounds in performance, pedagogy, core music studies, and music history – presents an intensive, real-time program that will consider the many intersections of American musical life. Visit roosevelt.edu/colleges/ccpa/summer for more info!
The BMA program at CCPA is perfectly positioned to serve students interested in the profession of music at its broadest levels. The professional activities of the faculty, as well as the thriving and diverse arts environment of Chicago, offers myriad opportunities for rewarding gainful employment in music and music-related fields like arts administration, various entrepreneurial ventures, and public arts advocacy - fields that are well-served by professionals possessing a mixture of liberal arts breadth and conservatory depth.
All Bachelor of Musical Arts applicants must perform an audition adhering to the requirements of performance major auditions.
In addition, all Bachelor of Musical Arts applicants who audition on campus will take part in group discussions. Applicants who audition regionally or via recording will be contacted to set up a time to discuss the program.
When submitting the secondary application on Acceptd, Bachelor of Musical Arts applicants must submit two short essays as follows: