Popular Performance at Arts Academy

From dance hits to moody blues, soulful r&b to nostalgic folk, punk rock to alt rap, at Interlochen you'll learn to play and express yourself through various styles while developing your own unique sound. Through intensive practice and performance, you'll gain your command of multiple genres and prepare for a successful professional career.

What You’ll Learn

In the Popular Performance track, you’ll take a combination of private and studio lessons. You'll learn key aspects of performance and develop the necessary skills to play or sing at your highest level, with a foundation in music theory and musicianship.

Your instructors have extensive teaching and industry experience. They’ll help you find your personal style, gain confidence, and cultivate your singular expression. Your faculty will also provide guidance toward your college search or career path.

As a student at our boarding school for popular performance, you will:

• Demonstrate efficient and professional practices in rehearsal and performance
• Analyze various musical styles throughout history
• Perform on your primary instrument, which includes voice
• Collaborate with other Interlochen students, writing songs, arranging instrumentation, and performances
• Communicate personal musical vision to others using common music theory terminology and notation systems including Nashville numbers, charts, and lead sheets
• Understand how to best support an artist’s music and explain another artist’s vision to a musical group or producer
• Create professional quality recordings of songs using the digital audio workstations
• Build a professional portfolio of repertoire including recordings

How to Apply

Core Curriculum

Audition Requirements

For more information on graduation requirements and academic curriculum, please visit Academy Academics.