Exciting Changes to 2026-2027 Music Performance Curriculum

Written by Dean Christopher Vaneman, DMA

Converse’s illustrious history with music is far from a secret. The Petrie School of Music dates way back to 1912, and Converse was a founding member of the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) in 1924. But it’s also no secret that the world has changed in the past 102 years, and it sure feels like it’s changing faster today than ever. Can an institution and programs like ours even hope to keep up?

The answer, I’m here to say, is a resounding “Yes.” In recent decades, the Petrie School has added degrees in Music Therapy and Contemporary Music, and the Creativity That Works framework that undergirds Converse’s entire School of the Arts has pushed career readiness to the front of all our degree programs. The newest – and boldest – change comes now, as we trade our Bachelor of Music in Performance degree program for the new Bachelor of Musical Arts in Performance.

Converse’s entire School of the Arts has pushed career readiness to the front of all our degree programs.

For the past century, the BM in Performance curriculum has been the gold standard for preparing young musicians to perform well. But that traditional curriculum doesn’t give students much training in the entrepreneurial skills they need to actually make a living as performers in 21st-century America, when the largest organizations (the Metropolitan Opera, for instance) are struggling, but small, nimble, self-managed performing groups – whose members often wear multiple hats, performing and sharing managerial duties like website management – are thriving.

Converse’s new Bachelor of Musical Arts (BMA) degree will expose Music Performance students to subjects like marketing, accounting, graphic design, and grant writing, while maintaining the high standards in musical performance and the strong core for which the Petrie School is known. 

“With the addition of customized marketing and business experiences to their skill set, our graduates will be positioned to lead and drive innovation in the profession.”

Dr. Susana Lalama

Says Petrie School Director Dr. Susana Lalama, “The new program adds a strong entrepreneurial musician experience for Performance majors. With the addition of customized marketing and business experiences to their skill set, our graduates will be positioned to lead and drive innovation in the profession.”

The BMA degree will enable students to select coursework from a targeted menu of courses in the School of Business and Data Science and the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences. These courses have been chosen to complement students’ musical training and prepare them not just to perform but to market themselves as performers, to compete for and win grants, and to communicate with the audiences of today; to not only teach lessons effectively but to advertise and account for themselves as professional music teachers and performers.

The new BMA curriculum was introduced this fall. Just as Converse led in establishing the degree that prepared students for the musical marketplace of the 20th century, this innovative new program will ensure it remains a leader in preparing musicians for the changing landscape of the 21st.