Our performance programs are designed with one thing in mind: preparing you to enter a rapidly-evolving job market fully equipped with the skills and knowledge required to have a rewarding career in music and beyond. Graduate students study with master teachers, many of whom are renowned performers in their field, through applied music study in keyboard, guitar, electric bass, and all orchestral instruments and voice. Students perform in a variety of ensembles that rank among the finest in the country by virtue of the quality of concerts, recordings, broadcasts, tours, and repertoire. The School of Music has a common body of knowledge and skills for all graduate degree areas. These fall broadly into the following categories: Professional Competence, Musicianship, Creativity and Scholarship, and Pedagogy and Communication. In addition to the core competencies on the Graduate Degrees page, Masters in Music Performance fullfill the following goals and outcomes: Students must demonstrate achievement of professional, advanced-level competence in the major area, including significant technical mastery, the ability solve professional problems independently, and develop a coherent set of artistic/intellectual goals, for the purpose of long-term success in their chosen field. Students are expected to have the ability to form and defend value judgments about music, and to communicate musical ideas, concepts, and requirements to professionals and laypersons related to the practice of the major field. Students must demonstrate advanced understanding of performance practice and historical and social contexts of the musical works of their field.