AMDA College and Conservatory of the Performing Arts is a private, non-profit higher education institution founded in New York City in 1964, devoted to training actors, singers and dancers for careers on stage, in film and in television. For over 60 years, AMDA has remained at the forefront of performing arts higher education, and is widely recognised as one of the premier performing arts institutions in the world. It is one of the only institutions in the United States with full campuses in both New York City and Los Angeles, the two capitals of American entertainment, positioning students at the centre of the industry from their very first day of training.

Founding story and philosophy

AMDA first opened its doors in 1964 as The American Musical and Dramatic Academy, under the founding directorship of Philip Burton, a renowned theatre director, producer, teacher and Shakespeare scholar. Its original campus was at East 23rd Street in New York City. Burton's founding conviction was that the actor, the singer and the dancer would each benefit greatly from an intensive, integrated conservatory training programme in which all three disciplines were taught as a unified curriculum: actors learning to sing and dance; singers learning to act and dance; dancers learning to act and sing.

This was a genuinely original approach. In 1964, no other performing arts school or programme in the United States offered an immersive, multidisciplinary conservatory curriculum of this kind. The concept was developed by a group of distinguished artists and educators working at the forefront of Broadway, Shakespeare, Hollywood film, world-renowned dance, playwriting and academia, who shared the belief that cross-training across all performance disciplines would make any individual artist significantly stronger. Since AMDA's founding, this integrated model of training has been widely adopted as the gold standard of performing arts education by colleges and universities throughout the United States.

David and Jan Martin assumed leadership of the institution in the late 1970s and have led AMDA for over four decades, guiding its growth from a single New York conservatory into a two-campus, degree-granting college and conservatory with a global alumni reach. Their long-standing vision of establishing AMDA in both entertainment capitals was fulfilled in 2003 with the opening of the Los Angeles campus in the heart of Hollywood.

Mission

AMDA provides an unsurpassed performing arts education to a diverse community of creative artists, creating an environment for students to develop the skills, confidence, imagination and power to contribute to their communities as artists, entrepreneurs, visionaries, lifelong learners and conscientious citizens of the world. Above all, AMDA teaches that commitment and passion are the hallmarks of a successful and satisfying career in the performing arts.

AMDA's educational philosophy is grounded in close collegial interaction between instructors and students: in class, in production and through active mentorship. Training is rigorous, performance-based and industry-focused, preparing artists not just to perform but to create, lead and sustain long careers in a constantly evolving industry. Students are on their feet from the first week, working in the studio, in rehearsal and on stage under faculty who have built the very careers their students are working towards.

Campuses

• New York City campus: located at 211 West 61st Street on Manhattan's Upper West Side, near the Lincoln Center performing arts district. The NYC campus offers two-year Professional Conservatory Certificate and Advanced Certificate programmes, as well as unique degree pathways in partnership with AMDA Los Angeles and university partners. Students who complete conservatory programmes at the NYC campus may transfer their credits directly into degree programmes at Los Angeles.
• Los Angeles campus: located in the centre of Hollywood, California, at the epicentre of the American film and television industries. The LA campus offers undergraduate and graduate degrees encompassing professional performing arts training and liberal studies, and features dedicated studios, classrooms, theatres and performance spaces. One of AMDA's exclusive opportunities at this campus is the Artist's Laboratory, which provides students with a faculty-mentored environment to create and perform original content for stage, media and film.

Academic programmes

• Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA): four-year undergraduate degree, Los Angeles campus
• Bachelor of Arts (BA): Los Angeles campus
• Associate of Occupational Studies (AOS): two-year degree, Los Angeles campus
• Master of Fine Arts (MFA): two-year graduate degree, Los Angeles campus
• Master of Arts (MA): one-year graduate degree, Los Angeles campus
• Professional Conservatory Certificate: two-year intensive conservatory programme, available at both New York City and Los Angeles campuses
• Advanced Certificate programmes: New York City campus

Disciplines

• Musical Theatre
• Acting
• Acting for Camera
• Dance Theatre
• Commercial Music
• Content Creation

Accreditation

• WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC): AMDA College of the Performing Arts is regionally accredited by WSCUC, one of the most respected regional accrediting bodies in U.S. higher education, affirming AMDA's academic quality, institutional integrity, student outcomes and commitment to continuous improvement
• National Association of Schools of Theatre (ST): AMDA holds institutional accreditation from ST, the only nationally recognised accrediting body in the United States specifically for performing arts institutions

Broadway impact

AMDA ranked fourth on Playbill's list of most represented colleges on Broadway for the 2024/25 season, with 47 alumni performing in Broadway productions including Hamilton and MJ the Musical. This ranking places AMDA among the small group of institutions whose graduates most consistently populate the stages of Broadway, reflecting the direct line between AMDA's training and professional performance careers at the highest level.

Notable alumni

• Jesse Tyler Ferguson: actor, known for Modern Family
• Jason Derülo: recording artist and performer
• Gretchen Mol: film and television actress
• Caissie Levy: Broadway performer, known for leading roles in Hairspray and Ghost, among others
• Meredith Patterson: Broadway actress
• Tyne Daly: actress and Tony Award winner
• Paul Sorvino: actor

Why AMDA

1. Founded in 1964, AMDA pioneered the integrated, multidisciplinary performing arts conservatory model that has since become the gold standard of performing arts education in the United States
2. Two campuses in the capitals of American entertainment: the Upper West Side of Manhattan and the heart of Hollywood, Los Angeles
3. Dual accreditation by WSCUC (regional) and ST (performing arts specialist), the two most relevant and rigorous quality marks for a U.S. performing arts institution
4. Ranked fourth on Playbill's most represented colleges on Broadway for the 2024/25 season, with 47 alumni in active productions
5. A full range of qualifications from Professional Conservatory Certificate through to MFA, across Musical Theatre, Acting, Acting for Camera, Dance Theatre, Commercial Music and Content Creation
6. The Artist's Laboratory: an exclusive AMDA programme giving students a faculty-mentored environment to create and perform original content for stage, media and film
7. Over 60 years of producing working performing arts professionals, with alumni active on Broadway, in film, television, recording studios and on stages worldwide