The Contemporary Music curriculum covers a range of traditional approaches to music studies and explores innovative approaches to music-making and listening. This area of study enables you to combine
theory with practice by applying concepts and methods to hands-on creative work. Our courses examine:
- Diverse genres of contemporary popular music, both mainstream and alternative
- Global perspectives on music, including the musical life of diverse communities in New York City
- Music technology, including the uses and significance of music in audiovisual media
- Music theory, history, and criticism of music in its many social and cultural contexts
As a student in the Contemporary Music program at Lang, you can also enroll in selected courses across the university through the College of Performing Arts and Parsons School of Design.
Major requirements
Minor requirements
University Music Resources
While it offers the atmosphere and intimacy of a small college, Eugene Lang College is part of The New School, a major progressive university in New York City. The university also contains a College of Performing Arts, which is home to two renowned music
schools: Mannes School of Music and the School of Jazz. This allows Contemporary Music students at Lang to benefit from university-wide resources and opportunities:
Students who want both a liberal arts education and professional training in jazz and contemporary music can pursue the BA/BFA pathway.
Students can access a dedicated music library and an extensive program of public concerts and music-related lectures, seminars, and conferences.
Connecting to New York City
Our campus location in the heart of Greenwich Village allows you to use the vibrant music scene of the city as a learning laboratory. You have opportunities to find internships and other work in many fields of avant-garde and traditional music practice
throughout the city. Studying in this cultural capital, you have countless chances to experience music of all styles and eras, including concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and experimental venues like the Kitchen
and Issue Project Room, as well as The Stone, which is currently based at The New School.
Career Paths
Our program is designed to develop well-rounded and engaged citizens who are thoughtful, articulate, and creative. Contemporary Music majors at Lang go on to pursue advanced studies in the fields of musicology, anthropology, history, and media studies
and continue on to careers in music production and distribution, arts writing and criticism, administration, and education. Consult our 4-Year Lang Career Pathways Map (PDF) for helpful steps and resources to link your academic journey to your future plans.
If you are planning to go on to graduate study in a related field, consider majoring in The Arts and applying to the Bachelor's-Master's program, which enables you to earn graduate credits that will apply to both your Lang degree and a graduate degree in liberal studies at The New School.
Outcomes at Lang