Program Overview

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Conservatoire Research Degrees - PhD

Overview

A PhD at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire will help you create opportunities to develop research skills that support performance, composition or a scholarly career. Whether you are interested in music (including composition, music technology, musicology, performance and jazz) or performing arts (theatre, acting, directing, applied drama, dance and interdisciplinary performance practice), you will be supervised by leading experts in the field.

What's covered in this course?

A PhD enables you to follow a programme of self-directed, independent study, supported by experienced supervisors who are themselves experts in their area.

Whilst you will be developing as an independent researcher, you will be supported both by your supervisors and the wider Conservatoire research community. There are regular opportunities for you to present and share your work with other research students.

Why Choose Us?

• Royal Birmingham Conservatoire has a thriving research community, with particular specialisms in composition, music technology, musicology, performance and performing arts.
• Regardless of your specialism, you will benefit from access to top-level performers and a state-of-the-art, £57 million building with recording facilities, concert venues and practice rooms.
• We have close links with the city’s musical and theatrical organisations such as the CBSO, BCMG, The Rep Theatre, Midlands Arts Centre and The Royal Shakespeare Company.
• Music students are eligible to audition for our ensembles, and in addition both Music and Performing Arts students can take part in a range of practical activities and audit lectures.
• Our programme offers the flexibility to present your research in a range of formats, depending on the nature of your research, whether it be fully text-based (80,000 words) or practical (composition, performance or scholarly edition) with a written element.

Research Interests

PhD Supervisors and Specialisms

Professor Jamie Savan is the Director of Research for Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, whilst Dr Carrie Churnside is Research Degrees Coordinator. They are supported by a team of supervisors (appointed from our Research Staff) who have a wide range of specialisms and expertise including:

• Composition
• Music technology
• Music Performance as Research
• Performing arts
• Musicology

Composition

Our fields of expertise in composition include:

• Experimental and conceptual approaches to existing genres
• Interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary work
• Jazz composition
• Electronic composition
• Composition involving live electronics
• Queerness and queering in performance

Supervisors include:

• Prof. Joe Cutler (Head of Composition)
• Dr Andrew Hamilton
• Howard Skempton
• Prof. Michael Wolters (Deputy Head of Composition)
• Dr Simon Hall
• Prof. Lamberto Coccioli
• Dr Edmund Hunt
• Dr Joe Wright
• Dr Mike Fletcher

Musicology

Our fields of expertise in musicology include:

• French Music (within our French Music Research Hub), notably:
  • 17th- and 18th-century French music from Lully and Charpentier to Rameau and Chevalier de Saint-Georges (Prof. Shirley Thompson, Prof. Graham Sadler, Christopher Dingle)
  • 20th-century French music, notably: Messiaen and his pupils, Dutilleux (Christopher Dingle)
• 17th- and 18th-Century Music (within our Forum for Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Music), notably:
  • Performance Practices of the Early Baroque (Prof. Jamie Savan)
  • 17th- and 18th-century French music from Lully and Charpentier to Rameau (Prof. Shirley Thompson, Prof. Graham Sadler) (intersecting with our French Music Research Hub)
  • Italian Baroque Music (Dr Carrie Churnside)
  • British Music in the Eighteenth Century (Dr Martin Perkins)
  • Late 18th-century Austro-Germanic music, notably Beethoven (Dr Siân Derry, Dr Matthew Pilcher)
• Performance Practices of the Renaissance (Prof. Jamie Savan)
• Early Music Theory and Fifteenth-Century Music (Dr Adam Whittaker)
• Music Critics and Criticism (Christopher Dingle)
• Music Education (Dr Adam Whittaker, Dr Luan Shaw)
• Piano Performance Practice and Pedagogy in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Dr Siân Derry, Dr Matthew Pilcher, Prof. John Thwaites, Dr Daniel Tong)
• 19th-century Vocal Music (Dr Matthew Pilcher)
• Jazz Studies (in collaboration with Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research) (Prof. Tony Whyton, Dr Pedro Cravinho, Dr Mike Fletcher)
• Arts organizations and new music, especially the BBC; 20th-century British music and culture (Dr Chris Marshall)
• Ethnomusicological approaches to urban musical practices since 1900 (Dr Pedro Cravinho)

Music Technology

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire hosts the Integra Lab, the music interaction design research centre led by Prof Lamberto Coccioli, and supports research in:

• Electronic Music Composition and Performance
• Musician-centred Interaction Design
• Music and Audio Software Development
• Accessible Digital Musical Instruments

Supervisors include:

• Prof. Lamberto Coccioli
• Dr Simon Hall
• Dr Joe Wright
• Dr Edmund Hunt

Performing Arts

The Interdisciplinary Performance Research has research interests including Theatre, Digital Media, Dance and Applied practices, and can support PhDs relating to:

• The contemporary actor
• Histories of actor training
• Interdisciplinary and multimedia performance
• Theatre making and devising
• Dance performance making
• Choreographic practices
• Embodiment studies
• Eco-somatics
• Ecology and performance
• Spirituality, spiritual traditions and performance
• Applied theatre and performance
• Contemporary drama
• Theatre and politics
• Spatial dramaturgies

Supervisors include:

• Prof. Aleksandar Dundjerovic
• Dr Polly Hudson
• Dr Paola Botham
• Dr Gareth Somers

Performance as Research

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire welcomes applications from professional-level performers who wish to explore research questions arising from or related to their own performance practice. Proposals in historical performance practice and/or contemporary practice (including jazz) are particularly welcome. The doctoral programme at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire allows for a mixed mode of submission including recordings and live performance alongside a written thesis, the balance and relative weighting of these elements to be determined by the nature of the project.

Collaborative Doctoral Awards

Collaborative Doctoral Awards (CDAs) are projects co-designed, and jointly supervised, between an M4C university and an external partner organisation. CDAs offer diverse and unique research projects that support the work of the partner organisation. Studentships are four years for full-time study.

Fees & How to Apply

UK students

Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament.

Award: PhD

Starting: Sep 2025

• Mode: Full Time
• Duration: 3-4 years
• Fees: £5,006 in 2025/26
• Mode: Part Time
• Duration: 4-7 years
• Fees: £2,503 in 2025/26

Award: PhD

Starting: Feb 2026

• Mode: Full Time
• Duration: 3-4 years
• Fees: £5,006 in 2025/26
• Mode: Part Time
• Duration: 4-7 years
• Fees: £2,503 in 2025/26

International students

Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament.

Award: PhD

Starting: Sep 2025

• Mode: Full Time
• Duration: 3-4 years
• Fees: £15,120 in 2025/26
• Mode: Part Time
• Duration: 4-7 years
• Fees: £7,560 in 2025/26
• Mode: Distance Learning
• Duration: 4-7 years
• Fees: £9,450 in 2025/26

Award: PhD

Starting: Feb 2026

• Mode: Full Time
• Duration: 3-4 years
• Fees: £15,120 in 2025/26
• Mode: Part Time
• Duration: 4-7 years
• Fees: £7,560 in 2025/26
• Mode: Distance Learning
• Duration: 4-7 years
• Fees: £9,450 in 2025/26

Included in your course fees

• Access to computer equipment
• Printing: You will receive £5 print credit in each year of your course, available after enrolment.
• Access to Microsoft Office 365
• Key software: You will be able to download SPSS and Nvivo to your home computer to support with your studies and research.

Not included in your course fees

• Excess printing (optional): Once you have spent your £5 credit, additional printing on campus costs from 5p per sheet.
• Research costs (optional): Due individualised nature of doctoral research, the costs associated with completion of your PhD will vary. You will need to budget for necessary equipment, books, printing and travel for conferences and/or fieldwork.
• Accommodation and living costs (optional): The cost of accommodation and other living costs are not included within your course fees.

Entry Requirements

To apply for our Conservatoire PhD research degree we usually expect you to have, or to be working towards, a Masters in a relevant subject area. Exceptional candidates without a Masters but with a strong undergraduate degree in a relevant subject area may be considered.

We also welcome enquiries from potential PhD researchers without formal academic qualifications but with appropriate levels of professional experience.

English Language Requirements

Please refer to our English Language Requirements.

Research proposal guidance

Your research proposal in the full application should address the following areas:

• The Working Title of Proposal
• Context of the Research
• Research Question(s)
• Methodological approach
• Resources Required
• Potential application and impact of your research
• Bibliography

If your project includes practice (composition or performance) you will be asked to provide a portfolio of recent work and may be required to audition.

Course in Depth

Why study a PhD at the Conservatoire?

The PhD journey

Full-time students are expected to complete within 3-4 years, whilst part-time students may take 4-7 years. In your first year, you will spend some time reviewing the field and refining your research proposal and projected plan. You will be supported in this through attendance at the PGCert in Research Practice, which runs for the first semester of your studies.

At the end of your first year (second year for PT students) you will complete a Progression Assessment Panel, at which you will present your work to the Conservatoire research community and undergo a viva. Throughout the doctorate you will be undertaking in-depth research in your chosen area, writing as you go. Towards the end of your course (year 3 for FT, years 5-6 for PT students) you will bring your research together and present it in a suitable format (whether that be through composition, performance, or entirely written).

Modes of study

Our PhD programmes are offered full-time or part-time. These modes of study ensure that we can create a PhD research plan around your lifestyle needs.

• Full-time PhD Research: three to four years
  • You will be expected to complete your research and submit your work for examination within 36-43 months.
• Part-time PhD Research: four to seven years
  • You would chose part-time PhD research if you opt to study whilst in employment or if full-time study is impractical.
  • You will be expected to complete your research and submit your work for examination within 48-72 months.

Examples of classroom activities

As each doctoral project is unique, so is each student’s day-to-day experience. A typical day might include reading, analysis, composition, performance, or critical editing, or any combination of the above. Whatever the nature of your project, all doctorates require independent study and require you to manage an extended, self-directed research project.

We support a range of thesis submissions, including composition portfolio supported by a short written commentary, or a combination of written and performance elements, as well as a traditional written thesis of 80,000 words.

Student work

Former student Maya Verlaak is a composer who creates new music by developing compositional concepts relating to the properties and context of place, performer or instrument.

“Her hands-on composing attitude encompasses the idea that nothing is taken for granted, every single parameter invites reflection. In addition, by being fully committed, open to learn and using creativity, no project is impossible.” (Dr Michael Wolters, supervisor)

“What I most enjoy about the course is the freedom to do anything, and the possibility of doing projects both in the UK and abroad” (Maya Verlaak)

Employability

The value of a PhD to employability

The Doctor of Philosophy or PhD is recognised worldwide and is often requirement for those wishing to follow an academic or research career in the field. Our Conservatoire PhD research degree has been designed to help you achieve a career in music and performing arts research or academia. Many of our PhD graduates have also gone on to have successful careers as practitioners.

Graduate Jobs

Dr Fang Fang completed her PhD in composition in 2016 with a portfolio of works integrating Chinese folk songs into new music. She now works as a lecturer in composition at Sichuan Conservatory of Music, China, teaching composition, analysis of music and musical form.

The PhD in Music that I gained from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire offered me an amazing opportunity to experience another world of music study and living. My three years of studying in England widened my view of writing music, but also my view of connecting my music with various aspects of life, such as arts, conversations, theatre and so on. Besides the experience of studying and living overseas, the doctorate is also hugely beneficial in achieving a higher position and professional musical life in future. (Dr Fang Fang)

Placements

PhD researchers funded under the Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership have the opportunity to undertake industry placements as part of their research.

For those students not funded by Midlands4Cities, the PhD still allows you the opportunity to work with other institutions and companies as part of your research. You can discuss your options with your potential supervisors, if you feel a placement would benefit your research.

Links to industry

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire has close links to arts organisations both in the city and beyond. PhD students and graduates often benefit from these connections. For example, Dr Seán Clancy was composer-in-residence with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) whilst studying here.

Facilities & Staff

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s £57 million music building opened in September 2017, and is located on Birmingham City University’s City Centre Campus in the Eastside ‘learning quarter’ of the city.

This state-of-the-art music facility includes five public performance venues – a 440-seat Concert Hall, 150-seat Recital Hall, Organ Studio, Eastside Jazz Club and the experimental black box performance venue known as The Lab. As well as these stunning performance venues, we have nearly 100 practice spaces, including 70 small practice rooms and larger ensemble rooms and workshops.

Our home is the first conservatoire built in the digital age, and as such it has been vital to ensure that the technical infrastructure installed is on par with any advanced commercial facility. We have seven recording studios, a mastering suite, a distance learning hub, and all of our performance venues feature high specification audio-visual equipment that enables interconnectivity and advanced functionality throughout the building.

Our staff

Dr Carrie Churnside

Associate Professor in Music & Research Degrees Coordinator

Carrie Churnside is Associate Professor in Music and Research Degrees Coordinator. She is also Director of the Forum for Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Music, and Chair of the Programme Committee for the 19th Biennial International Conference on Baroque Music.

More about Carrie

Professor Jamie Savan

Director of Research, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire

Jamie Savan is a performer and musicologist, whose work focuses on the intersection of these twin disciplines and the ways they can inform one another. This synergy has aided his work as cornettist, performing in ensembles including the Gonzaga Band and His Majesty's Sagbutts & Cornetts, for which he has directed and researched numerous...