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California Institute of the Arts

BFA: VoiceArts

The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts

A young woman with short blonde hair is seen in profile from the shoulders up, standing at a microphone with her eyes closed.

Nelle Anderson, Jazz CD recording session at Evergreen Studio in Burbank, California.

Raise your voice

The distinctive, project-driven curriculum of CalArts’ VoiceArts program facilitates your evolution as an artist, whether as an expressive maker of original art, an interpreter of existing vocal music, or both. As you progress through the program with guidance from your mentor, faculty, and visiting artists, you’ll identify their own voice and sound, and hone the tools, techniques, and creative ideas you’ll use to develop and contextualize your work, regardless of the direction your interests take you. Your faculty provide individualized guidance—and encourage self-initiated projects and collaborative work—to prepare you to excel in a wide variety of creative settings once you enter the professional world.

A person is seated on a blue-lit stage, singing into a microphone they’re holding and one on a stand. Someone plays the flute in the background.

Erin Mihalka Grad Recital in ROD

Interested in this program?

View our step-by-step application guide to learn more.  

Start your application

Explore the possibilities of your voice as your instrument

BFA Voicearts

CalArts’ four-year BFA in VoiceArts is designed for creative artists whose primary means of expression is the voice—and who wish to develop both your vocal mechanism and your unique mode of artistic expression. 

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Come together

Stage setup with drum set, microphones, guitar and bass amplifiers, and guitars in front of soundproof panels.

Our many ensembles bring students and faculty together to explore diverse genres, push creative boundaries, and perform innovative works with renowned artists and peers.

The rigorous BFA curriculum incorporates language, text, and repertoire studies, contextualization of artistic work, performance and interpretation studies, keyboard studies, composition for voice, technology, multidisciplinary performance, and professional development. You’ll also find an array of ensemble and solo performance opportunities, as well as opportunities to work with many guest artists, who bring expertise from multiple fields and backgrounds.

As a VoiceArts student, you’ll train in the fundamentals of vocal technique through intensive voice lessons and a range of foundational requisites. Your focus will be on developing a post-classical vocal technique, which grows out of the Western classical foundations of voice and tone production, and moves beyond it to embrace a more extensive skill and style palette—including extended vocal techniques, improvisation, non-Western vocal styles, sound art, and the use of electronics.

All technical work emphasizes healthy production, vocal control, stylistic adaptability, and vocal experimentation. You’ll be expected to explore new ideas and arenas, to develop critical perspectives that lead to creative performance of new or existing works, and to reflect on contemporary and historical traditions and perspectives from around the globe.

You’ll have numerous opportunities for both solo performance and in ensemble situations, and to lend your voice to self-generated, peer, and interschool projects. Opportunities include chamber and large ensembles, contemporary and experimental vocal ensembles, opera and concert theater productions, jazz, improvisation, and world music ensembles, and others.

All undergraduate programs in The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts offer a broad and rigorous general musical education alongside highly individualized lesson instruction and mentoring. As a BFA student, you’ll engage in intensive shared training in musical techniques and concepts spanning classical, jazz, popular, electronic, and experimental styles, and both Western and non-Western musical cultures. You will graduate with experience in creating original work, ensemble performance, music notation and theory, professional development, and artistic metiers outside of music.

All undergraduate voice artists are required to complete all degree requirements and pass a mid-residence project/recital and a graduation jury and project/recital in order to graduate and earn the degree.

Admission requirements

To be considered for the BFA VoiceArts program, you must complete an application and all program-specific requirements, including a portfolio representative of your work, an artist statement, a brief video introduction, two letters of recommendation, and an audition. Before applying, please familiarize yourself with the detailed application requirements and resources available to assist you in this important process. 

View application requirements

Degree requirements

Each CalArts music student designs their course of study in collaboration with a faculty mentor, with the first two BFA years focused on building a strong foundation in music theory, performance, and diverse musical cultures, and the final two years dedicated to personalized exploration through specialized concentrations, creative projects, and individualized mentorship.

View BFA VoiceArts academic requirements

In addition to work in your specific program, all undergraduate students must complete requirements in general education, which we call Critical Studies. This liberal arts curriculum is designed to enable students to consider aesthetic questions within larger socio-cultural, ethical, and political contexts.  

View Critical Studies requirements

Minors and interdisciplinary opportunities

CalArts offers students the chance to pursue additional interests alongside your chosen discipline, such as a minor in Music Theory, Digital Arts, or Arts Education.

Learn more about minors and interdisciplinary opportunities 

Courses you might take

What courses would you take as a BFA Instrumental Arts student? Browse the courses offered in the School of Music, including opportunities to study jazz, world music, experimental pop, film scoring, improvisation, electronic music, composition, vocal performance, African and Balinese ensembles, and much more.

Explore our course catalog

Meet the faculty

At CalArts, faculty and students are collaborators, teaching, learning, and working together as members of our community of artists. 

Three decades of Jazz at CalArts

Every spring since 1990, CalArts music students head to the legendary Capitol Studios in Hollywood where, working with the best recording engineers in the world, they record live, original compositions by their CalArts peers. The studio time is an invaluable experience, and we get to document some extraordinary and eclectic musical directions. Have a listen.

A grid of the covers of sixteen CalArts Jazz album covers.

International Women’s Day 2024: A VoiceArts Tribute

Gallery

Some of our alumni

More School of Music alumni

Micaela Tobin invokes Filipino mythology in experimental opera

Releasing her album BAKUWANA as she navigated the disruption and isolation of the pandemic, alum Micaela Tobin drew on her skills as an improviser and experimenter to continue evolving her music. “Her voice is so unique that she’s defining for listeners what it means to create the sound of these ideas,” said her producer. “She’s so much on the bleeding edge …. You just trust her, because where else have you ever heard someone attempting to do this?”

A woman with long dark hair grins, she is holding something that looks like a glowing cloud and is covered in water droplets. Her teeth are covered in black marks.

Photo by Katie Stenberg, courtesy of the artist

Want to learn more?

We got you. Our Admissions team is all about providing the information you need to decide if CalArts is right for you. We’re excited to connect with you for a tour of our legendary campus, a virtual info session, or at one of our admissions events across the country or around the world. Take the next step—we’re here to help.