Berklee NYC’s Master of Arts in Creative Media and Technology program offers a forward-looking curriculum designed to teach students the tools and strategies needed to thrive in artistic fields that have seen significant disruption, and will continue to change and evolve at a rapid pace.
The core curriculum of this program provides students with foundational knowledge for their careers, addressing both the business and creative sides of the performing arts.
The writing and design for musical theater specialization equips students with experience in the collaborative art of musical theater.
Our Approach
Future-Facing
Musical theater writers today have more exciting choices than ever before about the spaces in which they can present their work and the aesthetic of the worlds they create. This specialization connects creativity, musicianship, and the fearless application of technology to writing and design for musical theater, offering a long-overdue departure from more traditional pedagogies.
Our Curriculum
Creativity- and Innovation-Focused Design
The writing and design for musical theater curriculum provides students with a comprehensive tool kit to help strengthen their vision throughout the entire creative process. Whether writing a musical with a traditional musical structure or exploring experimental concepts in non-traditional spaces, students are urged to re-imagine the theatrical experience for a changing audience.
APPLYING WHAT YOU LEARN
Experiential and Collaborative Learning
Writers and creators develop ideas through collaboration while workshopping and showcasing their art in progress. These collaborative efforts are at the center of this specialization and includes experiential learning through lab and critique settings, musical arranging and recording sessions, and design technology in the staging of original works with peers, faculty, and visiting professional artists. Record your music in the studios where Broadway cast albums are made, and learn how to take a show from an idea to the stage.
Who We Are Looking For
We seek a varied group of motivated, creative, and focused artists who are passionate about storytelling with words and music while contributing to a cohort diverse in its experience, insight, and skills.
Ideal candidates will want to:
- Develop their creative and artistic voice through the power of words and music
- Integrate collaborative skills to further the art form
- Affect change and lead the craft into the future with diverse and bold creative voices
- Gain an understanding of current practices in the industry with an eye on continuing to improve the paths of development for new work
Ideal candidates should demonstrate:
- Current creative activity, although they do not have to show prior experience in the musical theater art form
- An interest in the musical theater industry and current trends
- Motivation towards advancing their career and promoting their own work
- Focus on their artistic voice in relationship to the expression of the art form
Culminating Experience
Students will ideate, develop, and complete a culminating experience or thesis project that is uniquely theirs.
Graduate Internship
You have the option of spending a fourth semester completing an internship course.
Paying for your Degree
All applicants are eligible for aid and merit-based scholarships. You can also earn money working as a graduate assistant.
