About Pop/Contemporary
Popular/Contemporary is a broad term which embraces a range of contemporary musical practices, including pop music genres, songwriting, improvisation, and electronic music.
Founded in 2024 in collaboration with Columbia’s Computer Music Center, this program is open to students with a variety of goals and musical backgrounds, including instrumentalists interested in strengthening their technique and musicianship, songwriters developing original material, and performers seeking experience with amplification and electronics.
In addition to studying existing repertoire and musical traditions, students are charged to develop their individual artistic voices through performance, improvisation, and composition. Through private lessons and ensemble performance, they develop the technical, creative, and collaborative skills central to contemporary music-making.