leila023

it seemed quite a few people were confused as to iu's curriculum for the mt bfa, so i thought i would clear things up; i was recently accepted into the program (though still am deciding between iu and two other schools) and visited there yesterday, so i've got the low down!

--starting first semester freshman year, private voice lesson are provided. this is actually different than schools like tisch and penn, where private voice doesnt begin until second semester. the voice teacher is classicaly trained, with a masters degree from iu's amazing opera program., but, of course, knows mt.

--dance will be offered through the dance school's elective program, which is for all non-majors, taught by masters students, and was very impressive--ballet is offered four days a week for EACH level, along with jazz and modern. the advanced class included pointe.

--acting courses are the exact same as those taken by the straight acting majors.

--academics are quite a strong foundation (icluding math, science, etc.), though still only take up 20 or so percent of the major; mt classes alone are 134 credits.

i hope this helps!!!

Mary C

I know the gentleman that IU has hired to teach the private voice lessons for their BFA program. He is currently working in NYC and has been the musical director for multiple award-winning cabaret singers. I believe he has also won one or two cabaret awards himself. He can play the piano like no one else and is just a wonderful person. IU is so lucky to get him. He will be working at IU 4 days a week next year and then fly back to NYC to perform on the weekends. He will be able to contribute so much since he is actually still working in "the business."

Along4TheRide

Can any current students/parents speak on their experiences in the mt BFA
program?

PantheMan22

I'm currently studying musical theatre at Indiana University's new BFA program. The training thusfar has been excellent, the program is just very new. They are still working out a few kinks in the system, but we are all having a blast down here.

Ray Fellman, our voice teacher and musical director for Seussical, is fantastic at what he does. The combination of George's award-winning choreography skills and Ray's musicianship have really set a good foundation for the program.

The kids here are also all extremely talented. It's a very intimidating environment, but it's also very encouraging. I love it here.

WSHoos11

we've definitely been having a great time thusfar. The program has kept us all very busy. i think the best part about IU is that there are tons and tons of performance opportunities for freshmen. there are two touring performance groups as well as mainstage shows, non-mainstage shows, community theater, student directed theater, new works, etc. there is also tons of comedy improv on campus. it seems like the program puts a huge emphasis on dance up here. we all have to take ballet at 8am which kinda sucks and isn't really my thing, but i know it's good for me. george pinney also is choreographing a piece for the MTs in the annual faculty dance concert. but dance is george pinney's thing, so it's not really a big surprise. ray fellman is a fantastic voice teacher and i have had some amazing, breakthrough lessons.

CAST MOM

I was wondering how the students in this program balance MT classes and the regular liberal arts classes? What does your typical day/week look like?

Along4TheRide

Thanks Pantheman & wshoos11 for your responses.

PantheMan22

Every morning starts with 8am ballet (which isn't too much fun, but it's giving us all a strong foundation). After that (depending on the day) we all go to our introductory theater classes. We all take 'Intro to Theater' 'Intro to Theatrical Production' as well as 'Acting 1 For Majors'. Once a week we have private voice lessons. Outside of the MT curriculum, we have the option of taking Writing Composition (what most of us are taking) or Math or Foreign Language. Some opted to take Music Theory this semester, and those who didn't will take it this spring. A few of us are in Singing Hoosiers which also meets as a class. According to our four year plan, we have certain slots each semester when we can take our liberal arts courses (most of which occur later on), but it is up to us what we take and when we want to take them. I personally opted to take Writing Comp this semester. It's definitely difficult to write papers every night as well as practice, go to rehearsal, work with my scene partners, etc, but no one ever said taking so many credits would be easy.