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California Institute of the Arts

MFA: Instrumental Arts

The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts

A person plays a saxophone on a small stage with moody pink and purple light. Musicians playing a standup bass and a drum set are in the background.

Develop your distinctive instrumental voice

With a dynamic, nontraditional curriculum, CalArts’ two-year MFA in Instrumental Arts is ideal for advanced instrumental artists who are passionate about pushing the boundaries of music performance and ready to take their craft to dizzying new heights. The program emphasizes creativity, collaboration, and innovation as it prepares you for an ever-broadening spectrum of professional practices and career pathways. Through an intensive and comprehensive curriculum that culminates in the creation of original works, you’ll hone your musicianship in a rigorous yet nontraditional creative environment, with countless opportunities to develop your distinctive artistic voice with the support of your peers and faculty. 

A person plays a black grand piano alone on a stage, surrounded by various audio equipment and music stands.

Interested in this program?

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

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Unconventional excellence

MFA Instrumental Arts

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Where the wild things play

A lone performer plays a saxophone, standing in the middle of an empty stage in a futuristic bandshell with a lawn in front and trees and sky in the background.

The composer Morton Feldman used the term “Wild Beast” as a metaphor for the ineffable generative force in art—making it the ideal name for CalArts’ iconic variable-use, indoor-outdoor music pavilion.

Explore and expand your artistic practice in exciting new ways as a motivated and innovative musician who is interested in pursuing instrumental performance at the highest skill level—but not by taking a conventional path.

CalArts’ distinctive program best serves students who already have a strong background in performance and musicianship and want to explore the relationship to their instrument in less traditional directions outside of a conservatory setting. Graduate programs in The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts are designed to equip advanced students with the skill sets you’ll need to stake out a place for your unique vision and reach the highest levels of professional practice. The curriculum is stimulating and challenging, and fosters a collaborative learning environment in which music and sound artists—students and faculty alike—work together to refine and perfect their already distinctive voices, while simultaneously exploring new and inspiring creative territories.

As an MFA Instrumental Arts student, you can pursue specialized study in the following instrument families: Brass, Collaborative Keyboard, Guitar, Harp, Percussion, Piano/Keyboard, Strings, and Winds. See specific application and degree requirements for each instrument family below. 
 

Instrument specializations

  • Brass studies at CalArts—including specializations in French horn, trombone, trumpet, and tuba—is unique and innovative, with a curriculum designed to further develop the role of brass instruments in the present and looking toward the future.

  • Collaborative Keyboard studies, offered at the graduate level only, prepares advanced students for careers in a variety of disciplines, with an emphasis on collaborative performance, refining repertoire knowledge, and building language facility.

  • Guitar studies offers a comprehensive curriculum representing the full range of roles that the guitar plays in music today.

  • Harp studies enables harpists to explore a full range of repertoire, ensemble performance opportunities, and supplemental coursework in support of their métier.

  • Percussion studies supports students in gaining a broad and comprehensive understanding of the percussion field, acquiring cultural fluency, and developing high-level technical skills on numerous instruments. 

  • Piano/Keyboard studies encourages students to develop and refine advanced performing skills, explore new techniques, and extend their artistic horizons in order to become versatile and resourceful professional performers.

  • Strings studies surveys Western musical repertoire from the medieval to the modern and continues forward, emphasizing contemporary styles, diverse musical cultures, improvisation, digital media, and interdisciplinary performance.

  • Winds studies surveys Western musical repertoire from the medieval to the now, and emphasizes contemporary styles, diverse musical cultures, improvisation, digital technology, and interdisciplinary media.

Admission requirements

To be considered for the MFA Instrumental Arts 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, 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 admission requirements

Degree requirements

Each CalArts music student designs their course of study in collaboration with a faculty mentor.

Interdisciplinary opportunities

In addition to CalArts’ naturally collaborative atmosphere, the Institute provides several programs of study that can be pursued concurrently with a student’s chosen metier, such as a concentration in Arts Education or Integrated Media.

Learn more about MFA concentrations

Courses you might take

What courses would you take as an MFA 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. 

Ensembles

Student Performance

From world music and contemporary jazz to experimental sound art and interdisciplinary collaborations, a dynamic range of ensembles provides students with unparalleled opportunities to explore diverse genres, push creative boundaries, and perform innovative works with renowned artists and peers.

A group of four musicians stand facing each other in a circle on a red-lit stage, playing a marimba, cymbals, and other percussion instruments

Improv Percussion Ensemble

Gallery

Some of our alumni

More School of Music alumni

CalArts then, BBC NOW

Alumni story

“All I wanted to do was play Haydn and Mozart. Oh, how quickly that changed,” said Rayan Bancroft (BFA 11, MFA 13) of his arrival at CalArts. Now principal conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW) and chief conductor for the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, he was named the winner of the 2021 Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Conductor Award in 2021.

"Promotional image for the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards 2021 with Conductor Winner Ryan Bancroft."

School of Music Events

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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.