MA Music (with performance): Choral Conducting pathway

Core Modules

You will study four core modules:

Choral Conducting 1

The module introduces you to the techniques and methods of choral conducting, working with consorts, chamber groups, and large symphonic choirs, including singing skills and vocal warm-up techniques. Study of core symphonic choral repertoire, as well as detailed score study and preparation, complement the learning experience.

Choral Conducting 2

The module continues to develop your conducting technique, as well as working with consorts, chamber groups, and large symphonic choirs.

British Music in Performance

This module will provide an introduction to issues specific to the performance of British art music repertory, both vocal and instrumental, from the mid-nineteenth century to the post-1945 period. There will be two primary areas of focus. The first will be the history of institutions and occasions for musical performance: concert and choral societies, pedagogical institutions (especially the conservatories), festivals, broadcasting, the recording industry, commemorative events, and so on. The second will be the history of performance practice itself, as documented by pedagogical texts and written reminiscences, as well as by recordings.

Music Employability

Music Employability offers opportunities to develop applicable skills to foster a music career and identify transferable skills for adjacent career trajectories. You will improve your grant writing skills, cultivate public presentation skills, acquire skills in content creation, and explore new means of self-promotion. Using a combination of seminar discussions, masterclasses, and project-based work, you will draw on the resources of the University of Birmingham Careers Network and connections to the wider city community to pursue topics that may include leadership cultivation, digital literacy, professional development, copyright awareness, public presentation tools, podcast, and video creation, and website development.

Optional Modules

You will also choose four optional modules from a range which typically includes:

• Historically Informed Performance
• Introduction to Global Popular Musics
• Topics in Early Music
• Electronic Music Studies
• Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art
• Sound Studies
• Music as Critical Practice
• Classical and Romantic Keyboard Music
• Gustav Mahler: The Philosophy of Music
• Postsocialist Music and Ethnography

Choral Conducting Major Project

Students apply skills and methods acquired in other MA modules to conduct formal concerts (or equivalent parts of more than one concert) of choral repertoire. The concert(s) offer(s) the student the opportunity to unite practical and theoretical musicianship and to demonstrate an ability to plan and independently prepare (with supervision) performance at an advanced level.

Students are also required attend and to write short summaries of eight seminars presented as part of the Music Research Colloquium series during the academic year.

Your degree will provide excellent preparation for your future career, but this can also be enhanced by a range of employability support services offered by the University and the College of Arts and Law.

The University's Careers Network provides expert guidance and activities, especially for postgraduates, which will help you achieve your career goals. The College of Arts and Law also has a dedicated careers and employability team that offers tailored advice and a program of College-specific career events.

You will be encouraged to make the most of your postgraduate experience and will have the opportunity to:

• Receive one-to-one career advice, including guidance on your job applications, writing your CV, and improving your interview technique, whether you are looking for a career inside or outside of academia
• Meet employers face-to-face at on-campus recruitment fairs and employer presentations
• Attend an annual program of careers fairs, skills workshops, and conferences, including bespoke events for postgraduates in the College of Arts and Law
• Take part in a range of activities to demonstrate your knowledge and skills to potential employers and enhance your CV

What's more, you will be able to access our full range of career support for up to 2 years after graduation.

Postgraduate Employability: Music

Birmingham's Music postgraduates work in a wide range of careers within and beyond the music world. A postgraduate degree in Music develops a broad base of skills including general skills such as communication, problem-solving, and research, and also specific skills developed through practice and performance such as self-management, teamwork, and presentation.

Graduates from the Choral Conducting pathway have moved into positions with organisations such as the Dallas Symphony Chorus; London Symphony Chorus; Berliner Philharmoniker; Genesis Sixteen; Crouch End Festival Chorus; University of Miami; Baltimore Choral Arts; National Youth Choirs of Great Britain; and Gondwana Choirs.

We have three teaching terms per year, the autumn, spring, and summer terms. Term dates can be found on our website.

As a full-time student, you will typically take three modules in each of the first two terms, followed by your dissertation. If you are a part-time student, you will typically take three modules across each year, followed by your dissertation.

Each module represents a total of 200 hours of study time, including preparatory reading, homework, and assignment preparation.