Lessons

AUDITIONS FOR THE FALL 2023 SEMESTER WILL BE HELD SEPTEMBER 5TH-8TH

 

Audition Info  

Columbia/Barnard undergraduates are eligible to take private instrumental lessons for credit. Auditions are required and are only during the first week of classes in the Fall semester and the first week of classes during the Spring semester.

Registration for lessons and ensembles will be available only to students who have been admitted to MPP through a live audition, during the first week of classes.

  • Voice lessons are for-credit through Barnard College.
  • Instrumental lessons are taught by distinguished MPP Associate Faculty members.
  • Students who audition and register for lessons are required to take six hours of lessons per semester. Lessons are taken for one credit, and students receive a pass/fail grade for their participation.

Classical Instruments

We offer private instruction for the following instruments:

AUDITIONS

Jazz Instruments

We offer private instruction for the following instruments:

AUDITIONS

Lesson Policies

  • Only students enrolled in an undergraduate program at Columbia University or Barnard College, or graduate students in Music, may participate in competitive auditions for a limited number of lesson placements for the coming academic year.
  • Starting in Fall 2018, the lesson fee is $300 per semester for all students - the second-lowest rate among our peer institutions. Each student will receive six (6) hours of lessons each semester.
  • Paid trial lessons are available upon request, based on the instructor's availability. You can arrange these directly with the instructor via email (address available on the instructor's profile page). The fee is at individual instructor's discretion.
  • All students who would like to take private lessons at Columbia must (re)audition at the beginning of the fall semester only. For students who did not audition for the program in the fall, we are offering Zoom auditions for the spring semester. 
  • Online audition sign-up sheets will be posted by mid August and again in late December.
  • Signing up for an annual audition is strictly the student's responsibility. Failure to do so will mean loss of eligibility for lessons for the entire academic year.
  • Upon completing a successful audition, a student will be permitted to register for six one-hour lessons for one credit per semester at Columbia. 
  • If, after a successful audition, should a student decide not to take lessons for any reason, s/he must formally drop the course before the end of the Change-of-Program period, as specified in Columbia's Academic Calendar, in order to receive a full refund of the lesson fee. After the deadline, the fee will not be refunded. The amount will not be pro-rated.