The Sonic Arts MFA program at Brooklyn College (a campus of the City University of New York) is a degree for people composing, producing, and performing music and sound art with technology. Sonic Arts offers students advanced knowledge in the creation of artistic and commercial works of sound.
The Sonic Arts program is a collaboration between the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, the Conservatory of Music at Brooklyn College, and the Brooklyn College Center for Computer Music. And reflecting this collaborative origin, Sonic Arts offers a flexible curriculum, customizable to each student’s artistic and professional goals.
The Sonic Arts program does not privilege any musical style above another. Our students are creating a wide range of work, including experimental music, pop, hip hop, EDM, other electronica, sound design, and sound art. We want students to explore, experiment, and develop their creative voice within whatever style(s) they wish to work.
The Sonic Arts faculty also know that production skills are often central for today’s creators. We see production as a creative act and teach it from that point of view. For us, production tools are creative instruments and deserve focused, imaginative engagement, just like one might study and explore traditional musical instruments.
The primary goal of the Sonic Arts program is to develop historically and theoretically informed, technically skilled composers and artists working in the medium of sound. This program has been designed to provide an academic route to promising composers and artists, primarily those working in digital media, including those who may not necessarily possess a bachelor's degree in music.
To apply for this program, click the “Apply” button at the top right of this page. For more information, please email program Director Professor Doug Geers for more information: dgeers@brooklyn.cuny.edu.