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Designed for secondary music educators, CSU's master's in conducting offers instruction in band, orchestra, and choir to immediately revitalize your classroom.
CSU's Master of Music Education with a conducting specialization enables you to study online during the school year and get hands-on conducting practice during a summer session on campus. Projects are customized for your particular teaching situation, so you are able to immediately apply the techniques you learn to reinvigorate your lesson plans with gained skills and knowledge.
Perfect your podium presence working with local professional choirs, bands, and orchestras, while receiving personal faculty mentorship. The annual summer conducting seminar includes hands-on workshop sessions taught by CSU faculty as well as some of the most prestigious pedagogues from around the country.
Unique to this program, you benefit from ample practice time at the podium, which provides you with immediate feedback from faculty and the musicians you lead. The curriculum focuses on developing your:
Refine your conducting techniques and learn to implement music education research, foundational principles, and analysis to enhance your effectiveness as an educator.
CSU faculty understand that each teaching situation is unique. The projects assigned in this program can be tailored to your personal classroom, allowing you to practice newly learned techniques and gain insightful feedback from instructors. The online Master of Music Education curriculum offers the flexibility to study from wherever you are during the school year and the opportunity to immediately apply what you learn to your classroom.
Graduates report that the improved conducting skills they learn throughout this program increase their teaching effectiveness dramatically. In addition to an improved classroom, many school districts offer substantial raises to teachers who earn a master's degree.
Graduates are also prepared for more competitive, combined teaching positions (ex. band/orchestra or orchestra/choir) because the program offers instruction in all three areas. Upon graduation, you will be qualified for additional employment opportunities as well, such as church choir/orchestra positions or conducting community musical theater productions.
Hear what students are saying about our conducting master's degree program and how online courses and hands-on training helped them become more effective music educators.
Jeremy, Katina, and J.J. share how working with professional musicians, orchestras, bands, choirs, and master conductors has helped them gain skills that are immediately applicable in their classrooms.
Hear from students and faculty to get a sense of what it’s like to study online with CSU, and how a graduate degree can enhance your life.
Director of Choral Activities
Band Conducting
Orchestral Conducting
This graduate degree is delivered primarily online with three required, on-campus seminars in Fort Collins, Colorado (seminars last approximately 2.5 weeks). These on-campus seminars provide important, hands-on training that can't be obtained online.
This program gives you the flexibility to get the degree you want without a strict timeline, but still requires the same amount of work and time as an on-campus program. It is recommended that students allow nine to twelve hours per week for a three-credit course. This will vary depending on your learning and studying style.
Your interaction with the faculty and fellow students depends on the specific course. Online courses provide you with online office hours and email contact. You also collaborate on projects and exchange ideas with fellow classmates through email and discussion board postings.
In addition to the Conducting Seminar comprised of three consecutive summer sessions worth four credits each and an on-campus graduate recital, you complete 17 graduate-level credits which can be done online or on campus. Of the total 30 credits for this degree, a minimum of 24 must be earned at CSU.
During your final semester of coursework, successful completion of oral examinations must occur before the master's degree is awarded. A final public conducting project during the third summer serves as the Master's Recital.
With this graduate degree, you take a variety of courses in advanced conducting, score preparation, rehearsal strategies, the Laban method for expressive conducting, curriculum development, jazz pedagogy, and historical performance and practice.
Note: One music elective course (3 cr.) will also be chosen in consultation with your advisor
The Summer Conducting Seminar curriculum includes topics such as:
Note: The next Summer Conducting Seminar will take place June 27 - July 13, 2024.
For more information about admissions into this program, please contact Adam Torres.
A maximum of six credits can be accepted from NASM-accredited universities.
As a student in CSU’s online conducting master’s program, you receive the same education, learn from the same faculty, and earn the same regionally accredited degree as students on campus. Additionally, you can expect:
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| Summer semester | February 1 |
Start your application online and upload materials directly into the online system. You can save your progress and return any time.
Apply NowNote that meeting the minimum department standards does not ensure admission to the program. Admission to Colorado State University graduate programs is based on a number of factors, including prior academic and professional experience and the personal statement.
Prepare the materials below and upload when you apply online.
Complete the online graduate application form and pay the nonrefundable application processing fee (payable online). As soon as you have completed the required information, please submit your application. Your application will not be reviewed until it is complete and all required materials have been received.
CSU's Graduate School offers several application fee waiver opportunities. Visit their website to determine if you are eligible for a waiver.
Request one official transcript of all collegiate work completed from all institutions attended. Transcripts from Colorado State University are not required. Transcripts must be received directly from the originating institution to be considered official.
Please Note: Students may be unconditionally admitted and registered in their first semester of courses with an unofficial transcript. Official transcripts must be submitted, prior to or during your first semester, before you can register for your second semester of graduate work. Failure to meet this condition will result in your dismissal from the Graduate School.
Electronic (preferred): Digital Transcripts must be submitted by the originating institution using a secure service such as parchment, eScrip-Safe, the National Student Clearinghouse, or e-Quals. Transcripts received via emails are considered unofficial. Use institution code 4075 for Colorado State University or gradadmissions@colostate.edu if the secure service requires an email address.
Mail (if necessary) Graduate Admissions Colorado State University – Office of Admissions 1062 Campus Delivery Fort Collins, CO 80523-1062
View your application status at any time to ensure your application checklist is complete or to check on updates.
Once your complete application, including supporting materials, is received, the department admission committee will review your application and notify you of their decision.
Proof of English language proficiency is required for applicants from countries or United States territories where there are official languages other than (or in addition to) English. This includes the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico.
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