Why Lamont? Career Pathways
A career in the arts looks different than it did a generation ago—and that's a strength.
Today's performing artists are entrepreneurs, educators, creators, collaborators, and leaders. Many build portfolio careers, combining multiple artistic and professional pursuits into meaningful, sustainable work.
At Lamont, we prepare students not just to perform—but to build lasting careers doing what they love.
More than Artistic Training
A performing arts degree develops far more than technical skill.
Students graduate with the creativity, discipline, collaboration, communication, adaptability, and emotional intelligence that employers increasingly value in an evolving, AI-driven world. Whether your future is on stage, in the classroom, in a recording studio, leading an arts organization, or in a completely different field, these are the skills that endure.
There Isn't Just One Career Path
Most Lamont graduates find their own unique combination of artistic and professional work.
Some graduates build a career around one full-time position. Others combine several roles into a rewarding portfolio career that evolves throughout their lives.
Performance
From the studio to live performances, we'll prepare you for a career on the stage. Our alumni have gone on to professions in opera, touring, orchestras, theatre companies, military bands, cruise ships, and more.
Education
Lamont alums can be found teaching in various capacities in communities across the nation. Some have private studios, others go on to teach in music and theatre classrooms, and still more give masterclasses and lectures.
Arts Administration
Arts organizations thrive when experts in other areas share their expertise. We need marketers, fund raisers, and leaders who use their skillset to make the arts happen. Lamont alums have gone on to be CEOs of non-profits. They have founded theatre companies, become social media managers and administrators or orchestras.
Creative Industry
The arts economy needs creatives in every corner. Lamont alumni build careers in recording studios, film, gaming, broadcasting, stage and lighting design, audio production, and digital media—using their artistic training to shape the stories and experiences people encounter every day.
How Lamont can Help
Your education extends far beyond the classroom.
Whether you're auditioning for graduate school, launching a freelance career, or seeking your first full-time position, you'll graduate with both experience and a professional network.
Students gain professional experience through:
- Performance/creative opportunities beginning on day one
- Professional internships and production experiences
- Connections throughout Denver's vibrant arts community
- Career-focused mentorship from faculty who remain lifelong advisors
- Networking with accomplished alumni working across the industry
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"Hire a Musician" gig list
Denver has a thriving arts scene, and Lamont connects current students with gig opportunities all year. Musicians can "opt in" to our gig list, and Lamont will forward paid and volunteer performance opportunities directly to our students. This helps our students start to build a professional network on day one.
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Theatre Tech Internship Program
The Theatre Tech Internship program provides Lamont students with paid opportunities to work with professional companies and designers in a supportive setting that prepares them for work in the entertainment industry. During the build process, students are engaged in the construction show with working professionals, and then experience the challenges of moving the show elements to a professional venue, working with the theatre company's team to install and present the show.
Lamont Students Go Places
Lamont students have worked with some of the most prestigious music organizations in the world. Alumni have performed with the Metropolitan Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra, Wolf Trap, Vancouver Symphony, Broadway, the West End, and San Francisco Opera. Lamont composers have premiered works at Carnegie Hall and the Monterey Jazz Festival, and conductors have led orchestras from Brazil to Hungary. Graduates of our Musicology and music theory programs hold posts at prestigious institutions nationwide. Theatre alumni are production stage managers on the national tour of Hamilton and serve on the. technical team for Cirque du Soleil. And our recording and production students have launched careers in Hollywood, editing soundtracks for films like Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
