Course summary
The Performance Pathway prepares students for careers as performers and educators, with an emphasis on advanced technique and stage performance. Performance constitutes perhaps our fastest growing and most exciting venture, with ambitious plans growing out of the £16 million Bramall Music Building, a facility equipped with the acoustically peerless Elgar Concert Hall and Dome Rehearsal Room, designed by Birmingham Symphony Hall acoustician Nick Edwards. Full time staff include Director of Performance Ceri Owen, an award-winning collaborative pianist and scholar, and scholar-performer and early music conductor Andrew Kirkman. They join forces with Simon Halsey, renowned chorus master of the CBSO and Berlin Radio Choir, and orchestral conductor Daniele Rosina, plus instrumental and vocal lessons arranged with the faculty of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. You also receive the opportunity to take advantage of the early performance opportunities afforded by the Centre for Early Music Performance and Research (CEMPR). The MA in Music at Birmingham offers first class, world-recognised staff who are experts in their fields meaning students learn from people who really are the best at what they do. Students study within the excellent facilities available with the Elgar Concert Hall, which is one of the most flexible concert halls of its type in any UK university.
Modules
Please refer to the University of Birmingham webpage for the Music pathway module information.
Entry requirements
We usually ask for a good Honours degree (2:1), or equivalent, in Music or a related subject with a substantial musical component. Degrees in other subjects will be considered where candidates have significant professional musical experience and relevant qualifications. Your application should include a personal statement of approximately 5,000 characters. You should use your personal statement to explain why you are interested in studying this programme. In order to expedite processing, please clearly state the pathway to which you are applying within the first paragraph of your personal statement. All prospective students for pathways in performance must also submit a sample of written work of at least 1,500 words - in English - in addition to the usual supporting documents. This should focus on a musical topic, with academic bibliography and references. For this pathway, you must also present a 20-minute programme during which you play a varied programme focusing on Western classical repertoire. The audition should include a brief spoken introduction - in English - to the programme, discussing the repertoire performed.Students from the United Kingdom are expected to audition in person, where possible. If you are unable to audition in person or are located overseas, you should submit a video-recorded audition. This is preferably submitted as an internet video link, (e.g., YouTube/Vimeo/Youku or Dropbox/WeTransfer/YouSendIt), with the URL pasted into a text document and uploaded to the application portal. The writing sample and audition video (where the audition is not taking place in person) should be submitted at the time of making your application, or uploaded within two weeks of submitting your application. If this is not provided within the stated timeframe your application may be declined.
Fees and funding
Tuition fees
No fee information has been provided for this course
Additional fee information
For more detailed information on available funding and fees for postgraduate courses please visit: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/taught/fees-funding
Provider information
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT