Orchestral Performance (Strings) - MMus / PgDip
| Program start date | Application deadline |
| 2023-09-01 | - |
Program Overview
Developed in partnership with the
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
(CBSO), our MMus and PgDip courses in Orchestral Performance are for advanced level string players considering professional orchestral auditions and on the brink of a professional career.
In addition to one-to-one specialist tuition, you will spend
a significant amount of rehearsal time in the CBSO alongside one or more dedicated host players who will act as mentors. You may also be offered opportunities to play at the back of the section to gain further experience.
In addition to developing your technical facility, musicianship, interpretative skills and stylistic awareness, you will expand your knowledge of orchestral repertoire, learn how to prepare for rehearsal in the most efficient way, develop strategies which will help you to integrate within your section, and build confidence in preparing for orchestral auditions.
You will also
participate in additional performance activities within the Conservatoire’s String Department and the wider Conservatoire, including performance classes, masterclasses, orchestra and chamber music.
You'll have full access to our superb £57 million facilities, including our Concert Hall, 150-seat Recital Hall, our black box performance space known as The Lab, and more than 70 practice rooms, ensemble rooms and workshops; all acoustically designed to provide a music-making environment that is world class.
Both PgDip and MMus courses also provide excellent opportunities for you to develop other skills relevant to a future career in the music profession.
A separate postgraduate pathway is available for
Instrumental Performers
, which includes both solo and chamber music routes for string players (the latter for existing ensembles).
This course is
open
toInternational
students.What's covered in this course?
Why Choose Us?
The opportunity to learn while playing alongside professional players in one of the UK’s leading orchestras is clearly an extremely valuable one. Furthermore, a
t Royal Birmingham Conservatoire we provide a friendly and supportive environment in which you can pursue your postgraduate studies. This is a time when you need to think particularly carefully and strategically about the direction of your developing career as a musician. We therefore encourage you to be ambitious in pursuing your aspirations, and endeavour to provide you with the flexibility to mould your course to your individual needs, both within your Principal Study area and in complementary modules.
Similar Courses
Instrumental Performance - MMus / PgCert / PgDip
Musicology - MA
Studying with us during the Covid-19 pandemic
The University has put in place
measures in response to Covid-19
to allow us to safely deliver our courses. Should the impact of the pandemic continue in future years, any additional or alternative arrangements put in place by the University will be in accordance with the latest government public health advice, health and safety legislation, and the terms and conditions of thestudent contract
.Program Outline
PG Dip
MMus
PG Dip
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete the following CORE module (totalling 60 credits):
Principal Study 1: Orchestral Performance 60 credits
As a postgraduate string player following our Orchestral Performance pathway at postgraduate level, the Principal Study 1: Orchestral Performance module enables you to advance your training in your specialist area. As the focus of this module is entirely on your own continued development as an orchestral string player, you will spend a significant amount of rehearsal time with the CBSO alongside one or more dedicated host players who will act as mentors, as well as opportunities to play at the back of the section. In addition to developing your technical facility, musicianship, interpretative skills and stylistic awareness, you will expand your knowledge of orchestral repertoire, learn how to prepare for rehearsal in the most efficient way, develop strategies which will help you to integrate within your section, both musically (in terms of blend, intonation and so on) and socially, and build confidence in preparing for orchestral auditions.
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete the following CORE module (totalling 20 credits):
Career Development 20 credits
Members of the music profession require not only high-level specialist skills but also the ability to target those skills strategically to different circumstances. This module focuses on a range of different aspects of a musician’s professional development that directly relate to the music industry and their preparation for it: from self-promotion and self-management, to funding and wellbeing. It is thus central to a programme which aims to prepare you for a career as a musician in the 21st century.
It requires you, near the beginning of your postgraduate studies, to reflect ambitiously yet realistically on your professional aspirations, and to formulate a plan that helps you stand the best chance of achieving your goals. Weekly workshops, delivered by internal staff and external professionals, will focus on the practicalities of a career in music, providing you with a better insight into the industry you will be entering, as well as encouraging you to be self-reflective about your own personal and professional development needs.
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete at least 40 credits from the following indicative list of OPTIONAL modules.
Optional modules 40 credits
Each module listed is worth 20 credits.
Conservatoire based
School of Art based
School of Media based
Core modules are guaranteed to run. Optional modules will vary from year to year and the published list is indicative only.
MMus
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete THREE CORE modules (totalling 140 credits):
Career Development 20 credits
Members of the music profession require not only high-level specialist skills but also the ability to target those skills strategically to different circumstances. This module focuses on a range of different aspects of a musician’s professional development that directly relate to the music industry and their preparation for it: from self-promotion and self-management, to funding and wellbeing. It is thus central to a programme which aims to prepare you for a career as a musician in the 21st century.
It requires you, near the beginning of your postgraduate studies, to reflect ambitiously yet realistically on your professional aspirations, and to formulate a plan that helps you stand the best chance of achieving your goals. Weekly workshops, delivered by internal staff and external professionals, will focus on the practicalities of a career in music, providing you with a better insight into the industry you will be entering, as well as encouraging you to be self-reflective about your own personal and professional development needs.
Principal Study 1: Orchestral Performance 60 credits
As a postgraduate string player following our Orchestral Performance pathway at postgraduate level, the Principal Study 1: Orchestral Performance module enables you to advance your training in your specialist area. As the focus of this module is entirely on your own continued development as an orchestral string player, you will spend a significant amount of rehearsal time with the CBSO alongside one or more dedicated host players who will act as mentors, as well as opportunities to play at the back of the section. In addition to developing your technical facility, musicianship, interpretative skills and stylistic awareness, you will expand your knowledge of orchestral repertoire, learn how to prepare for rehearsal in the most efficient way, develop strategies which will help you to integrate within your section, both musically (in terms of blend, intonation and so on) and socially, and build confidence in preparing for orchestral auditions.
Principal Study 2: Orchestral Performance 60 credits
As a postgraduate string player following our Orchestral Performance pathway at postgraduate level, the Principal Study 2: Orchestral Performance module builds on the performance skills acquired in the Principal Study Project 1 module. The focus of this module is entirely on your own continued development as an orchestral string player, and especially on developing your capacity to develop your own playing within the orchestral context. The module clearly supports you in adopting an ever- increasing degree of professionalism in all aspects. Further experience within the CBSO will lead not only to the enhancement of your individual playing skills but to greater confidence in developing your own playing within the orchestra and a fuller awareness of the professional context. You will continue to advance your technical facility, musicianship and interpretative skills, and to further enhance, through research, your stylistic awareness and knowledge of the repertoire. A sound knowledge of standard orchestral repertoire in particular, familiarity with the typical orchestral audition process and experience of playing within a professional orchestra are all likely to improve your chances of progression into the profession.
In order to complete this course, a student must successfully complete at least 100 credits from the following indicative list of OPTIONAL modules:
THREE Professional Development modules (20 credits each), and
ONE MMus optional module (40 credits)
Optional modules 100 credits
Professional Development modules (20 credits each)
Conservatoire based
School of Art based
School of Media based
MMus optional modules (40 credits each)
Core modules are guaranteed to run. Optional modules will vary from year to year and the published list is indicative only.
Course structure
Whichever course you choose, work in the
Principal Study
area – both individual tuition and Departmental activity – lies at its heart.Both Principal Study modules (PgDip students take one, MMus students take two) comprise two parts: an orchestral audition (there are different requirements for each module), and an assessment of your work in the orchestra. Preparation for these modules is supported by your individual tuition and mentoring sessions, as well as by your time in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and by additional experience you derive from taking part in Conservatoire departmental activities.
The
Career Development
module will require you, near the beginning of your course, to reflect ambitiously yet realistically on your professional aspirations, and to formulate a plan that helps you stand the best chance of achieving your goals. You will also choose, in addition, someProfessional Development Options
from a varied list. The following gives an indication the kind of optional modules which may be offered in a given year, including some offered by Birmingham City University’s Schools of Art and Media (note, not all will run every year
):MMus students will additionally choose a 40-credit option from one of two categories: ‘The Emerging Researcher’ or ‘The Reflective Practitioner’.
Part-time options
While we do not offer the MMus part-time, there is some room for negotiation in how the course unfolds for a part-time PgDip student over two years.