The Master of Music: Performance graduate programs at ³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Wanda L. Bass School of Music are designed for talented, motivated musicians seeking to elevate their artistry in a dynamic and supportive environment. Our graduate programs prepare artists for vibrant careers on stage, in the studio, and in the classroom.
With exceptional faculty, state-of-the-art facilities, countless performance opportunities, and individualized instruction, students receive comprehensive training that bridges technical mastery and creative expression.
The Master of Music in Music Theater is focused on training students with a high proficiency in singing for a career in Broadway-style performance. This performance intensive degree is intended for students who hold a Bachelor of Music vocal or music theater degree from a NASM accredited institution and have the performance potential to succeed in the field. The degree is one of the most music intensive in the country and couples advanced music training with equally rigorous courses in dance, acting, diction, performance techniques, and style. The faculty is committed to training musical theater majors as professional musicians as well as highly skilled dancers and actors. Our graduates have experienced great success due, in large part, to the music training we provide.
Students in the musical theater program audition for all six of the Bass School of Music annual productions and may be cast in musicals and operas alike. Our productions integrate the skills of the curriculum: music and text analysis and preparation, character analysis, acting skills, movement, dance, and diction. This intensive training makes our graduates competitive and versatile.
In addition to the rigorous training our musical theater students receive, graduating seniors audition for a New York City Showcase and have the opportunity to work with professionals in the field and audition for agents and casting directors.
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OCU's Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company is the world's oldest campus troupe dedicated to both opera and music theater and has won multiple awards, most recently at the 2017 National Opera Association Production Competition. Dr. David Herendeen, director of opera and music theater since 1997, won awards for three different productions in a single season — the first time one director has done so.
On April 4, 1930, ³Ô¹ÏÍø presented its first musical production: Gilbert and Sullivan's "HMS Pinafore." As OCU's talent pool and audiences grew over the next two decades, the university established the Oklahoma Opera and Music Theater Company. In 1951, it mounted the first of what has become 74 consecutive seasons of fully staged productions.
After hundreds of performances of 170 different operas and musicals, we look back in gratitude at the half-million people who have attended shows on campus or on one of our international tours. We realize that the best way to build on the successes of the past is to confidently embrace the future. Our audiences enjoy the nation's most dynamic young performers, innovative stagings, and a repertoire that combines the comfort of the familiar with the thrill of the unexplored.
– Prescreen Recording: Graduate MMMT applicants will be contacted by the music admissions team upon submitting their prescreen recording to the School of Music's application. The prescreen recording will include singing two songs (one musical theater and one of contrasting style), prepare a monologue, and dance. There is an optional wildcard opportunity as well. Requirements for the prescreen recording can be found here.
– Final Audition: MM Music Theater graduate applicants called back for a final audition are required to sing two songs (one musical theater and one of contrasting style), prepare a monologue, and dance. Review the Graduate Music Theater Audition requirements on our auditions info page for precise details and recommendations.
