Composition

The principal aim of our Master of Music (MMus) course is to provide you with knowledge, skills, and confidence to succeed in your chosen branch(es) of the music profession, giving you a head-start in addressing the challenges involved in becoming a professional musician.

The course is suitable for both recent graduates and suitably qualified mature students, with a range of support to ensure that you leave Royal Birmingham Conservatoire ready to pursue a musical career.

A distinctive feature of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s postgraduate provision is that it will give you the opportunity to make choices within your course directly relevant to your future career aspirations, both within your Principal Study area and in your supporting studies. All MMus and PgDip routes include a core Career Development module designed to get you thinking about your future professional plans, and a broad menu of optional Professional Development modules designed to help you work towards achieving your personal career aspirations. You will also take a core module designed to develop your skills as a researcher or informed practitioner.

You will have the opportunity to study in one of several Principal Study areas, most of which are also offered at PgDip or PgCert level.

We also offer the opportunity to study for an MMus via our 12-month route. To be eligible for this route, applicants must be able to show evidence of an extremely high level of achievement in the Principal Study area and a strong academic record at undergraduate level (or equivalent). If you are interested in the 12-month route, please email an initial enquiry about your potential eligibility to conservatoire.admissions@bcu.ac.uk, as it is not possible to apply for this route via UCAS.

Our composition route actively celebrates the diversity of today's musical genres, and fosters artists who challenge, innovate, and transform notions of artistic practice today. You'll spend most of your time writing music for professional and student ensembles, whether you choose to respond to our set briefs or work on your own projects. You'll be encouraged to express yourself in multiple musical and artistic genres. By studying composition within a thriving conservatoire setting, you'll have excellent opportunities to collaborate with performers and to have your works performed.