Longy Launches Online MM/ME Degree Program

LONGY LAUNCHES ONLINE MASTER OF MUSIC IN MUSIC EDUCATION DEGREE PROGRAM FOR MUSIC TEACHERS WORLDWIDE


Longy School of Music of Bard College announces the Fall 2021 launch of a fully online Master of Music in Music Education degree program (MM/ME) designed especially for educators who seek an advanced degree without taking time off from their careers. This degree program, which can be completed in one or two years, builds on Longy’s near-decade of expertise in preparing musicians to be teachers through its campus-based degree programs, including the one-year MM/ME degree offered in Cambridge, MA.

“We designed this online MM/ME to be accessible to any music educator, anywhere,” Dean Judith Bose said. “Fusing music education with social change and student agency, graduates of this program will be prepared to teach any group of students in a culturally sensitive way. We model a community of equity in this program, so that participants will experience it for themselves, and then re-create it in their own way in their classrooms.”

Longy’s online MM/ME stands out with its unique course offerings, exceptional faculty, and connection to the conservatory. Students in the MM/ME will take courses such as Socially Relevant and Culturally Responsive Teaching, Non-Traditional Ensemble Arranging, and Technology for Music Education. They will learn from a diverse global faculty who themselves are school district leaders, founders of community music programs, prolific performers, and racial equity thought leaders. In addition, each MM/ME student has the option to take online lessons with any of Longy’s conservatory faculty to deepen their own musical artistry. Beyond the degree requirements, MM/ME students may avail themselves of the rich co-curricular offerings at Longy, such as the Coaching @ Longy program, which includes career coaching sessions and The Multifaceted Career speaker series, and Longy’s extensive artistic season.

President Karen Zorn said of the new degree, “Music teachers are powerful. At Longy we know, many of us from personal experience, that music can be a profound influence in a child’s life – to express their own unique voice. Even in our conservatory programs, we center teaching artistry as an essential skillset. In our teacher preparation programs, we show music teachers how to lift up the voice of each and every one of their students.”

Longy has long been at the forefront of culturally responsive teaching and socially-engaged music education. Longy founded the first El Sistema-inspired teacher-education program in the US in 2012: the Master of Arts in Teaching, originally in partnership with the LA Philharmonic. In addition, at its Cambridge campus, Longy trains conservatory students to be mentor-teachers in El Sistema-inspired programs throughout Massachusetts. More recently, Longy became publisher of The Ensemble News, which serves as a global resource to thousands of musicians, educators, and young people engaged in music and social change. Longy continues to shape summer professional development opportunities for teachers, starting in June 2021.

To learn more about the program, or to apply for the August 2021 start date, visit Longy.edu/study/master-of-music-in-music-education-online