DEVELOP YOUR CAREER IN MUSIC

MA/PGDip/PGCert

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OBERTO (Oxford Brookes: Exploring Research Trends in Opera)www.obertobrookes.com

Music, School of Arts Faculty of Technology, Design and EnvironmentRichard Hamilton BuildingHeadington Campus, Oxford, OX3 0BPwww.brookes.ac.uk/musicwww.brookes.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/music/

Music team: music@brookes.ac.ukProgramme administrator: tde-arts-enquiry@brookes.ac.ukTel: +44 (0)1865 484959

PMRU (Popular Music Research Unit) www.arts.brookes.ac.uk/research/pmru

SARU (Sonic Art Research Unit)www.sonicartresearch.co.uk

WHY STUDY POSTGRADUATE MUSIC ATOXFORDBROOKES

Entry requirements: We would normally expect applicants to have an upper second class degree or above (not necessarily in Music). However, if you do not meet the standard entry requirement, it may be possible to consider your application based on evidence of other relevant personal and professional experience, the support of your referees and examples of written work. Applications should be made through UK Pass and can be submitted online by going to www.ukpass.ac.uk. Decisions are made based on the application form and then, normally, interview. Applicants from overseas may be offered a telephone interview.

WELCOME TO MUSIC ATOXFORD BROOKES

Oxford Brookes University is internationally recognised as a centre of excellence in music teaching and research.

The MA in Music offers a thorough grounding in advanced musical studies, with pathways in musicology or composition. Within the field of musicology, it is possible to specialise in 19th-century music, opera, film music or popular music.

The composition pathway provides a practice-based contemporary composition curriculum that encourages students to push the boundaries of their practice and thinking, to develop an understanding of creative agency, to be ambitious in the creation of new work and to develop a voice as an engaged and creative composer.

A distinctive feature of the programme is the opportunity for students to undertake professional experience alongside their academic studies. This is one of the few MAs in the UK to offer a work placement. The course also prepares students for further study at doctoral level if so desired.

Great location Oxford is the ideal city in which to study Music at postgraduate level, with its thriving research culture and world-class libraries. Oxford also boasts a vibrant and varied music scene, with great venues for classical, jazz, rock and popular music, and concerts by performers ranging from major international acts to student ensembles. There are numerous opportunities to get involved in performance here at Brookes, and yet more in the city of Oxford itself.

Student profileBenjamin Hulett undertook the MA in Music alongside an international career as a professional opera singer and concert soloist. Ben writes:

“I felt that I had a large gap in my knowledge of 19th-century music history and musicological debate, having focussed on early music and performance techniques in my previous studies. I was attracted to the course at Oxford Brookes after reading about the OBERTO opera research unit. By taking MA modules in 19th-century music and opera studies, I have developed a more rounded knowledge with which to colour my performances.

The teaching and learning methods have been very flexible and accommodated my touring commitments: participating in a seminar via Skype from a hotel in Brussels was a particular highlight!”

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Our MA programme offers you:

• An exciting, original and flexible course structure that can be tailored to your interests

• A unique opportunity to enhance your employment prospects in music by undertaking a work placement

• Research-led teaching by subject experts whose work is regularly featured in the media

• Opportunities to join specialist research units in opera, popular music or sonic art, and network with academics and music industry professionals

• Opportunities to participate in listening groups, study days, conferences and a graduate forum

• Access to Oxford’s world-renowned research facilities and to a thriving local music scene

• A supportive and friendly department • The option to study full or part time, and to fit your studies around work

and family commitments. All teaching takes place on Tuesdays for musicologists (Mondays and Tuesdays for composers)

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Research Skills and Applied ResearchAll students take this core module (Semester 1), which provides a grounding in the skills and methodologies required for studying music at postgraduate level and introduces students to recent debates in musical scholarship.

Sessions also provide training in ways of disseminating music research via broadcasting, journalism, programme notes, websites and social media.

Professional ExperienceThe compulsory Professional Experience module (Semester 2) helps students prepare for a future career either through a music industry placement or through focussed independent research in preparation for an academic career. Students may undertake work placements in such fields as concert management, education, journalism, publishing or the recording industry.

Composition pathwayStudents on this pathway take ‘Approaches to Experimental Composition’ in Semester 1 and ‘Sound Arts and Electroacoustic and Live Electronic Composition’ in Semester 2.

Students on this pathway have the opportunity to enhance their understanding of contemporary practices in experimental

COURSE CONTENT

composition and sound arts. They will focus on acoustic composition, electronic composition, field recording, soundscape studies and sound arts, and will explore the importance of site and context.

Students develop a body of research that might include recordings, software patches and installations. They pursue a research topic that explores electroacoustic or live

THE PATHWAYSYOU DECIDE

electronic composition, for instance through the analytical study of the work of a composer or group of composers, or a detailed consideration of a particular conceptual or technical issue. Students also learn how to promote their work, having an opportunity to showcase it at the annual Audiograft festival.

Musicology pathwayStudents on the Musicology pathway can choose modules from a range of options across the two semesters. Possible combinations are: film music and popular music; 19th-century music and opera; film music and opera; or 19th-century music and popular music.

Advanced Musicology 1: 19th-Century Music StudiesTopics explored include: the ideology of genius and the rise of the work concept; music in the salon and the market place; popular music of the 19th century; women as performers, patrons and composers; music and the beginnings of mass media; virtuosity and the cult of celebrity; music and the ‘Gothic’; music and national identity; the rediscovery of early music and historicism.

Advanced Musicology 1: Film Music StudiesThis module focuses on the ways in which film’s interactions with music have changed

through time, and on how scoring conventions and potential interpretations of these are shaped by a wide range of factors, such as a film’s mode of production, cinematic tradition, genre, and target audiences.

Advanced Musicology 2: Popular Music StudiesThis module explores a wide range of popular music repertoires, especially the song-based lineages of American country and British folk music, American blues and gospel music, and the transnational languages of pop, rock, and rap. Musicological approaches are practised through active listening to selected recordings and live performances.

Advanced Musicology 2: Opera StudiesTopics explored include: opera historiography; the social, political and aesthetic contexts that have shaped operas; gender and sexuality on the operatic stage; national identity; operatic institutions and audiences; the staging and interpretation of operas; reception issues; opera on/in film and the role of opera in 21st-century society.

Photo by Stefan A. Schuhbauer von Jena

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Dissertation/Major Composition ProjectAll students take this module, which enables students to deploy skills, knowledge and understanding gained during the course in researching a substantial piece of written work, or practice-based outputs.

Your study We use a diverse range of teaching methods, including seminars, skill-based workshops, tutorials, work-based mentoring, and field trips (such as to see a performance by English National Opera).

Students have access to the Bodleian Library and its satellite libraries in Oxford as well as to the first-rate libraries and research facilities here at Brookes. Some of our students also use the British Library in London and attend research events hosted by the Institute of Musical Research and the Royal Musical Association.

The Department of Music at Oxford Brookes hosts three specialist research units: the Sonic Art Research Unit, the Popular Music Research Unit, and the Opera Research Unit (OBERTO).

The music department houses seven recently refurbished practice rooms,

YOUR STUDY

two dedicated music studios, a music technology room and a drum room. The studios are equipped with high spec iMacs running Sibelius, Pro Tools, Adobe Master Collection, Cycling 74’s Max, Logic X, as well as Kontact Komplete 9high-end Avid

HD Omni Interfaces and excellent Genelec monitoring speakers, with one studio featuring a sound-proof recording booth and the other a 55” LCD screen for visual mixing.

International studentsWe have options available for International and EU students to take our Pre-sessional English Language courses (for students who may need to improve their English language skills). We also offer Pre-masters courses which can help students with their academic study skills and language skills.

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CAREER PROSPECTS

Having an MA can make you stand out from the crowd, whether you join the MA straight after graduating or return to study after a break. Our MA will provide you with the skills and knowledge to embark upon a career in music or to improve your current position. However, an MA in Music can also lead to careers in many other sectors, including teaching, lecturing, publishing, arts administration, journalism, museum work, fundraising and higher education management.

The professional experience module allows you to make industry contacts and gain experience in a field of your choice. The Research Skills and Applied Research module will show you how to promote your research via the media and at conferences.

Many MA students continue into further research and careers in academia: our course provides the necessary research training for doctoral work.

Our staff All staff members in Music are actively engaged in research and our research in popular music, opera and sonic art has been identified as ‘world-leading’.

Teaching staff include: Dr Jan Butler: Popular music, particularly rock; film music; music journalism and criticism.Dr Paul Dibley: Electroacoustic composition.Dr Barbara Eichner: 19th-century music; opera; music and national identities; music in nunneries and monasteries. Author of History in Mighty Sounds (Boydell, 2012)Dr Dai Griffiths: Popular music and popular song; critical musicology. Author of Radiohead: OK Computer (Continuum, 2004) and Elvis Costello (Equinox, 2007).Dr Paul Whitty: Acoustic, site-specific, collaborative and cross-disciplinary composition; sonic art; sonic archaeology; timbral experimentation.Dr Alexandra Wilson: Opera and operatic culture; 19th-century music; reception studies. Author of The Puccini Problem: Opera, Nationalism, and Modernity (Cambridge, 2007) and Opera: A Beginner’s Guide (Oneworld, 2010).

Get in touchTo discuss the MA Music course, please contact Dr Alexandra Wilson, Subject Coordinator for the programme: alexandra.wilson@brookes.ac.uk

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