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California Institute of the Arts

MFA: VoiceArts

The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts

A person at a piano in a white dress plays and sings expressively into a microphone

Lift your voice

CalArts’ two-year MFA program in VoiceArts enables accomplished voice artists to develop advanced performance techniques and a greater range of stylistic directions. As you build your individual artistic profile, enhance your creative versatility, and prepare for a professional career after graduation, you’ll expand both your vocal mechanism and your unique artistic voice.

A person in a yellow dress sings dramatically holding a microphone

The joy of singing

MFA VoiceArts

Uniquely designed for creative artists whose primary means of expression is the voice, CalArts’ MFA program is based on a unique, project-driven curriculum that facilitates your evolution as an artist, whether you seek to be distinctive and expressive makers of original art, to explore already existing vocal music, or both. 

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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.

As you progress through the curriculum, you’ll take your own voice and sound to the next level, gaining the tools, techniques, and creative ideas with which to develop and contextualize your work, regardless of direction. Faculty provide individualized guidance—and encourage self-initiated projects and collaborative work—to enable you to excel in a wide variety of creative settings once you enter the professional world.

In addition to major lessons, graduate vocal coaching, and advanced classes in music history, literature, theory, and analysis, MFA candidates focus on experimental courses and directions, vocal physiology, and pedagogical topics. If you wish, independent study with the School of Music’s diverse faculty supplements your courses and project-based  work. While most MFA candidates focus on performance projects of their own creation, you may perform in a variety of ensemble and solo situations as well. Studies in performance theory and practicums outside of music enhance student projects, as do movement studies chosen from a wide array of options. All study and projects are designed in close consultation with your mentor and the VoiceArts faculty.

Students in the program focus on developing a “post-classical” vocal technique, which grows out of the Western classical foundations of voice and tone production to include 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 will 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.

Voice artists perform in numerous solo and ensemble situations as well as in 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, among others.

MFA programs in The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts are designed to equip graduate 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 designed to be stimulating and challenging, and to foster 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.
All MFA VoiceArts candidates graduate with a fully developed website and professional portfolio of their work, along with intensive career development assistance. You are required to pass a mid-residence project/recital and a graduation jury, graduation project/recital, and a graduation portfolio in order to earn the degree. 

Interested in this program?

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

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Admission requirements

To be considered for the MFA in VoiceArts, you must complete an application and all program-specific requirements, including a portfolio representative of your work, an artist statement, a brief video introduction, three 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.

View MFA VoiceArts academic requirements

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.

MFA concentrations

Courses you might take

What courses would you take as an MFA VoiceArts 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.

School of Music courses

Meet the faculty

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

Ensembles

Collaborative 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.

Four performers stand in a line on a stage, singing or shouting.

DADA DIN DIN, an original opera inspired by the women artists of the Dada movement.

International Women’s Day: A VoiceArts Tribute at Roy O. Disney Concert Hall, March 8, 2024

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 (MFA 16) 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

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.