Master's Degree - Musical Theatre Conducting

For Musical Theatre Pianists/Music Directors
interested in Orchestral Conducting (i.e. “stick” conducting)

The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) is currently accepting applications for a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting and (fully-funded) Graduate Assistantship in Musical Theatre, to begin studies in the Fall of 2021.

Each year, CCM accepts one person to satisfy the core curriculum of the MM in Orchestral Conducting, while fulfilling practical experience in the Musical Theatre Department. This person will serve as Musical Director, Assistant Musical Director, and/or pianist for CCM’s Mainstage and Studio productions, and will play for vocal coaching classes in the Musical Theatre department.

The core conducting curriculum can be found by clicking here. As an example, this semester's (Fall 2020) conducting repertoire includes works by Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, and Bernstein. In addition to the core studies, students can choose from a wide variety of electives, including jazz theory, choral conducting, and opera history, among others.

The successful candidate will be an excellent pianist and accompanist with extensive experience in musical theatre. The audition and interview will take place online, by appointment. For the audition, you are asked to prepare one piece that displays your strengths as a pianist. This piece can be from any genre and does not need to be performed from memory. You will then be asked to sight-read pieces from several styles in the musical theatre canon.

Alumni of this program have worked on the Broadway productions and National Tours of Wicked, The Lion King, Les Miserables, The Book of Mormon, Hamilton, An American in Paris, In the Heights, The King and I, A Chorus Line, The Addams Family, The Little Mermaid, Bullets Over Broadway, Peter and the Starcatcher, Cinderella, Bandstand, Cats, Jagged Little Pill, and many others!

For more information, or to schedule an audition and interview, please contact CCM’s Resident Music Director and Professor of Musical Theatre, Roger Grodsky, at grodskr@ucmail.uc.edu.