Published on: 2026-05-12
Source: Moscow Government – Moscow Government –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
An admissions campaign has been launched in the capital for Moscow schools of arts subordinate to the capital’s authoritiesDepartment of Culture. For children, 151 creative educational organizations are open, where one can choose from a variety of directions — from musical and theatrical to choreographic and artistic. Every child, regardless oftraining level.
Acceptance of applications for creative exams at the school of arts, including the choice of date and time of the exam, will take place from April 15 to May 15. At this stage, the future student and their parents will need to decide on the field of study — from piano playing and ballet classes to animation and theatrical arts.
Musical education and instrumental directions
The most in-demand field of study remains piano — more than 14,800 students are engaged in this specialty. Piano educational programs are implemented in more than 120 schools. Training is provided by both young specialists and experienced teachers, including honored cultural workers. A significant portion of graduates from piano departments continue their professional education and connect their careers with music.
For example, the S.I. Taneev Children’s Music School opened its doors to students in 1991 and is a successor to the first Taneev School, which existed in the 1920s. The institution offers programs in various instrumental directions, including piano, violin, cello, harp, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, as well as percussion instruments and guitar. The school also has choral and vocal departments.
Among musical instruments, the most in demand among students are the guitar and the violin. More than 4,300 children are taught to play the guitar, and over four thousand play the violin.
In addition, there is a high interest in other instruments. For example, the cello is chosen by more than 1.1 thousand students, the harp — by over 500 people. Among wind instruments, the most popular remain the flute (more than 2.5 thousand students), clarinet (over 1.1 thousand), saxophone (more than 1.5 thousand), as well as the trumpet (about 900) and trombone (over 300). Percussion instruments are mastered by more than 1.4 thousand children.
Gusli in the metropolis. How they teach playing the folk instrument in a Moscow art school
Vocal, choral singing and ensembles
Educational programs in academic, folk, and pop-jazz vocals, as well as choral singing, are implemented at the children’s music schools. Thus, at the “Vesna” children’s music choral school named after A.S. Ponomarev, the choral direction is specialized. It has been continuing its history since 1964, when a children’s choral circle was created. Later, it was transformed into the “Vesna” choral studio, and then into a music school, which received the official status of a choir school in 1976. In addition to choral singing, children master theoretical disciplines including solfeggio and music literature, and they are also taught to play the piano.Additionally, other musical instruments can be chosen, for example, harp, recorder, guitar, and organ. Students of the school regularly become laureates of all-Russian and international competitions.
Within the framework of musical education, the children perform as part of various creative groups, including symphony, folk, and pop-jazz orchestras, as well as chamber ensembles — duets, trios, and quartets.
Theatrical art and stage training
In the creative school and college, one can master the basics of theatrical art. The children study acting skills, artistic expression, stage movement, dance, rhythm, as well as the history of theatrical and musical art.
In the capital, the Moscow Theater School of Oleg Tabakov operates — the only educational institution in Russia where one can obtain higher education in the specialty “acting” with the qualification “actor of dramatic theater and cinema” upon admission after the ninth and 10th grade.
Choreography: classical, folk and contemporary dance
Educational programs in classical, folk, and modern choreography are implemented at the School of Arts. More than 4,300 children are trained in these areas. Classical dance is a basic discipline that serves as the foundation for mastering various types of choreographic art. The training includes systematic and intensive work aimed at improving technique and the accuracy of movement execution.
Along with this, programs in folk and modern dance are available to students. Folk choreography focuses on the development of expressiveness and mastering the features of national dance traditions. Within the educational process, characteristic movements and musical culture of various peoples are studied. Modern dance, in turn, implies a freer form of self-expression and is aimed at conveying an emotional state through movement.
An example of an institution implementing a comprehensive approach to education is the S.T. Rister Children’s School of Arts. The institution offers musical, choreographic, and visual arts directions. Students regularly become winners and laureates of leading all-Russian and international competitions and festivals, including choreographic ones.
Visual art, design and architecture
In the Moscow School of Arts, training is conducted in such fields as academic drawing and painting, decorative and applied arts, photographic arts, design, and architecture. The most popular field is painting, where more than 11.7 thousand children study. Over 1.4 thousand young talents study architecture, more than 600 Muscovites study design, and over 700 people study decorative and applied arts.
Young architects can undergo training at the children’s art school “STRAT”. The institution’s educational program includes disciplines in the field of architectural design, art history, visual literacy, design, which ensures comprehensive preparation of students in the field of artistic and design activities.
Circus art and special directions
For children who show interest in circus arts, specialized educational programs are open in institutions. In particular, this direction is offered at the M.A. Balakirev Children’s School of Arts. Within the framework of training, children master key disciplines of the circus genre, including juggling, acrobatics, and gymnastics. Special attention is paid to equilibrium — a discipline related to the development of balancing skills. The program includes mastering various apparatuses and techniques, such as the rod, unicycle, slackline, coil, balancing on the head, and hand equilibrium.
New and modern creative directions
Among the new directions, one can note sound and web design, sound directing, computer graphics and animation, film and television production, musical engineering.
So, the children’s music school at the Moscow Secondary Specialized Music School named after the Gnesins is implementing a new direction “Musical Engineering.” It is intended for children aged 11–14 who are interested in music, creativity, and digital technologies. Within the program, the children study the basics of musical literacy and master working in specialized software environments for creating musical software in the future. Students will learn musical literacy, work with electronic sound, and the basics of programming.In addition, the study of basic coding foundations and practical programming of simple musical elements is provided.
The highest level teachers work in the School of Arts. Among them are honored artists of Russia, honored cultural workers of Russia, honorary cultural workers of the city of Moscow, as well as laureates of all-Russian and international competitions and festivals.
Submit an application and pass the selection
You can submit the application online aton the mos.ru portalOr personally at the chosen institution. If the child is already 14 years old, he or she can submit the application independently. In all other cases, this is done by the legal representative. For this, it is necessary to prepare a set of documents — the child’s birth certificate and SNILS, as well as the passport and SNILS of the legal representative. When submitting the application, the date and time of the creative test (listening or viewing) at the admissions committee are selected.
From May 18 to June 15, the School of Arts will conduct a stage of individual selection. The admissions committee will evaluate the child’s creative abilities depending on the chosen field of study.
In music school, the sense of rhythm, musical memory, articulation, and hearing are tested. As a rule, the applicant is asked to perform a children’s song and repeat a given rhythm by clapping. In other directions, similar entrance tests are conducted, aimed at identifying creative abilities.
Based on the selection results, the commission determines the most appropriate type of educational program — pre-professional or general education. Pre-professional programs are aimed at preparing for a future creative profession and involve a more intensive workload, including classes up to 14 hours a week and independent work. General education programs are focused on developing aesthetic taste and are designed for a wider range of students, with a workload of up to six hours a week.The commission may also recommend a specific direction of training taking into account the child’s abilities, but the final decision on the choice of the program remains with the family.
Unified day of publication of the results of the creative entrance exams for admission campaigns in Moscow schools of arts in 2026 — June 16.
Additional information and answers to questions regarding the deadlines for submitting applications, the procedure for submitting applications, and the procedures for conducting entrance tests can be found at the call center from Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 20:00 by phone: +7 800 250-13-09. It operates throughout the entire admission campaign — from April 15 to May 15.
Three ways to one dream. Triumphs of students of Moscow art schools in the ‘Blue Bird’ competition
The program of events at the Moscow School of Arts contributes to the implementation of the goals and objectives of the national project in the capital“Family”. More details about the national project of Russia and the contribution of the capital can be found atspecial page.
Get the main news quickly from the official Moscow city channel in the messenger“Max” и“Telegram”.
Note; This information is raw content obtained directly from the information source. It represents an exact report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.