15 Master Programs in Performing Arts in New York, USA for 2024

Develop your skills as a music composer in a conservatory-like setting in this master of a music program, working closely with our faculty of internationally recognized composers. Specialize in traditional composition, electronic composition, or composing for film or music theatre. You will be actively involved in the performance of your work, collaborating with composers, musicians, and other artists, at NYU and throughout New York City.

Columbia University has the distinction of being the first university in the United States to recognize the importance of Film Studies as an academic discipline, back when Victor Freeburg launched the Photoplay Composition class in 1915. Today, we remain committed to a pedagogy that considers the vanguard of change as moving-image media continue to evolve into the present. But we also explore what cinema has been historically as both an American and an international sociocultural phenomenon. Students in our program learn from a world-class faculty while living in one of the leading cities for film research and filmgoing.

The Film MFA programs—in Screenwriting & Directing and in Creative Producing, recently joined by Writing for Film and Television—are among the world's premiere training grounds for emerging filmmakers. Since the Film MFA at Columbia began in 1966, it has been renowned for the global success of its alumni, including top prizes at the Oscar and Emmy Awards as well as yearly accolades at Sundance, Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Telluride, and more.

The MPS Film Directing program at SVA offers emerging filmmakers the opportunity to immerse themselves in the art and craft of directing film. Great directors are great storytellers. Our one-year master’s program in film directing is designed to provide a comprehensive education in visual storytelling.

The Master of Arts program at AMDA offers students the opportunity to develop as original scholars of theatre. Unique at AMDA is the opportunity to study theatre arts at the graduate level amongst an active and diverse community of performing artists. This intensive graduate program is completed in one year, including three semesters of immersive courses and an original thesis project. Student theses are completed under the mentorship of faculty and through collaboration with peers.

Earn a master’s degree in Music Technology and pursue research and advanced skills in areas including sound recording, recorded music, music production, live sound, electronic music, signal processing, immersive audio, XR (AR/VR) systems, music cognition, music informatics, machine learning, and more.

Learn to navigate a fast-paced and compelling industry while studying in New York City, the world's music business capital. Combine cross-disciplinary course work in business, finance, the arts, and more, and gain real-world experience working with industry leaders. Tailor your degree with electives in areas such as concert management, promotions, and strategic marketing.

The Film MFA Program in Creative Producing is a three-year program that takes advantage of Columbia’s unique geography at the center of the independent film world, with the mission of creating the next generation of producers. The program emphasizes the role of the producer as the creative force behind a project, requiring business skills, the ability to form creative collaborations and an understanding of an ever-changing marketplace.

The mission of the Film MFA in Screenwriting/Directing is to rigorously train storytellers in film, television, and digital media. The course of study at our film school includes two years of creative workshops and related courses, followed by one-to-two years of thesis and Research Arts work. Students are immersed in the principles and working methods of a variety of genres and dramatic forms. Through multiple exercises and short film and script projects (both short and feature-length), they are encouraged to explore their understanding of the medium, with the ultimate goal of establishing each student’s personal voice.

The Master’s Program in Film and Media Studies at Columbia takes up the evolution of cinema as an art, an institution, an object of philosophical study, and an international socio-cultural phenomenon. Recently renamed to emphasize both motion picture film and the newest of new media, the program facilitates exploration from the one to the other and back. It is designed to consider current theoretical approaches and to look historiographically at trends such as the transition from motion picture film to digital media.

SVA MFA Social Documentary Film — SocDoc — helps you to create films that bring distant stories close or illuminate the ideas right in our neighborhoods; films that inspire deep reflection or bold action. SocDoc represents the convergence of the art of filmmaking, journalistic research, and social activism. In your first year in SVA's MFA Social Documentary Film program, you will explore the past, present, and future of the art of documentary film, while mastering the tools and techniques needed to tell compelling stories.

The Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting: Writing for Film and Television is a two-year terminal graduate degree designed for students who are passionate about developing the professional-level skills necessary to create narratives from concept to production. Students prepare for their careers as professional writers by learning how to think critically about society and how to approach current issues such as diversity, inclusion, access, and modern theatre theory.

The MA in Applied Theatre degree program, the first program of its kind in the United States, uses theatre as a medium for education, community development, and the pursuit of social justice.

Prepare to work as a theatre artist and educator in arts organizations, private and community colleges, galleries, museums, and a broad range of cultural settings. You’ll develop new strategies focused on teaching and learning through drama while experimenting in the creation and presentation of theatre for diverse audiences.

Columbia University’s MFA Theatre Program is collaborative, international, and interdisciplinary. It defines itself by its location in New York City. It thrives on the extensive network of Columbia alumni and faculty who work in prestigious theatres at every level, who direct and perform in award-winning productions, and who engage with our students far beyond the classroom.