Performing Arts Administration (MA)

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Program Description

The MA program in Performing Arts Administration educates prospective and practicing administrators for positions with performing arts organizations in this country and abroad. The curriculum offers a combination of courses, specifically designed for arts administrators, in the environment of arts administration; development for the arts; marketing the performing arts; law and the arts; statistics; and business courses in economics, accounting, behavioral science, and marketing, which may be offered through NYU’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business or Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. In addition, the program emphasizes the acquisition of executive skills in the areas of organizational assessment, career planning, and executive presentation through periodic workshops offered only to students enrolled in the master’s degree program. Internships with leading arts managers are a required part of the program of study and enhance coursework. In recent years, interns, who usually receive a small weekly stipend, have trained with managers of organizations as varied as Carnegie Hall, American Ballet Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Manhattan Theatre Club, and National Endowment for the Arts. In addition, guest lecturers and adjunct faculty from the field regularly speak at special forums.

Special Opportunity

Summer Study Abroad in Arts Administration takes degree and visiting students to the Netherlands, Germany, and France to study alternative ways of managing arts organizations through intensive examination of current practices in Europe. Graduate coursework examines the effects of economics, politics, and management on arts policy and practice. Students meet with curators, performing arts managers, and national policymakers and visit theatres, museums, and cultural institutions. The course is designed for graduate students and alumni of visual and performing arts administration programs as well as arts administrators with professional experience in the field.

Admissions

Admission to graduate programs in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development requires the following minimum components:

  • Résumé/CV
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Letters of Recommendation
  • Transcripts
  • Proficiency in English

See NYU Steinhardt's Graduate Admissions website for additional information on school-wide admission. Some programs may require additional components for admissions.

See How to Apply for admission requirements and instructions specific to this program.