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California Institute of the Arts

DMA Performer-Composer: Admission Requirements (Music)

The application process for the DMA Performer-Composer program consists of two sequential stages. Stage one comprises CalArts’ standard application with your online portfolio submission.

Applicants selected to advance to stage two will be notified by January and will be invited to the CalArts campus for an audition in February. Not all applicants will advance to stage two.

Before applying, please make sure to familiarize yourself with The Herb Alpert School of Music, faculty, facilities, curriculum, and student work.

You cannot make any changes to your application after it has been submitted.

Stage I: Portfolio materials

Create an account to begin the application process. This is where you’ll complete each step in the application and receive updates on your application status. Add your personal background and academic history.

Applicants to the DMA program should include: 

  • A curriculum vitae.
  • An artist’s statement describing your artistic practices, how you contextualize your work, and your overall artistic and professional goals. This should be no longer than 700 words and should incorporate a project proposal that describes what you would like to accomplish at CalArts, including topics of exploratory focus and proposed events/projects.
  • Documentation of at least three (but no more than five) works that represent your recent creative concerns and state of artistic development, in whatever media are most appropriate.
  • A sample of your analytical, theoretical, historical, philosophical, or critical writing that possesses a scholarly tone.
  • If possible, you should upload a teaching portfolio incorporating representative instructional materials that you have used and a list of subject areas in which you would feel qualified to teach (including private lessons).
  • Three letters of reference addressing your potential for high artistic achievement as a performer-composer, aptitude for research, and promise as an educator. (Letters of recommendation should be uploaded with your online application, not your online portfolio submission.)

If you experience technical difficulties while uploading your portfolio, please email admissions@calarts.edu.

Stage II: On-campus audition

Applicants who have advanced to this stage of the application process will be invited to visit CalArts’ campus during the month of February. Visiting applicants will participate in the following activities:

  • A performance, including substantial examples of the applicant’s original work as a performer-composer.
  • A 40-minute teaching demonstration aimed at a sophomore (second-year undergraduate) audience and addressing a topic of their choice. 
  • An interview with the DMA Admissions Committee.