Choral Conducting - MMus / PgDip

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.

As a postgraduate choral conductor, the Principal Study 1: Choral Conducting 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 a choral conductor, you will spend considerable time developing not only conducting and gestural techniques in rehearsal and in performance, but also skills in administration, management (including self-management, management of other people individually and in a group, and of rehearsal and performance situations), communication (including interpersonal skills), interpretation and musicianship (aural skills, score reading, sight reading, ability to sing to demonstrate), and ability to mould voices into a cohesive group.

Your work in this module is supported by one-to-one tuition in choral conducting and a variety of related activities in the Principal Study area. These will normally include taking weekly rehearsals of the Conservatoire’s second chamber choir, Camerata; a weekly support class focusing on both developing musicianship skills and enhancing knowledge of the repertoire; masterclasses from visiting experts; seminars on choral conducting issues; and some 1:1 vocal tuition. You should also expect to attend classes/workshops of your peers studying orchestral conducting. You will be encouraged to take part in other vocal/choral activities scheduled within the Conservatoire (and elsewhere), and to engage in language provision provided by the Department of Vocal and Operatic Studies. You are also encouraged to form your own groups, to participate in external groups and to find external choirs to conduct. Chorus master/assistant conductor possibilities may also arise in the context of the Conservatoire operas and Chorus.

As a postgraduate choral conductor, the Principal Study 2: Choral Conducting module builds on the skills acquired in the Principal Study Project 1 module, encouraging independent and appropriate decision-making based on secure musicianship skills and self-reflection, the development of an individual musical personality, and a professional approach to rehearsal and performance, including effective leadership and communication skills.  The module clearly provides professionally-relevant experience, and you will spend considerable time further developing not only conducting and gestural techniques in rehearsal and in performance, but also skills in administration, management (including self-management, management of other people individually and in a group, and of rehearsal and performance situations), communication (including interpersonal skills), interpretation and musicianship (aural skills, score reading, sight reading, ability to sing to demonstrate), and ability to mould voices into a cohesive group.

Your work in this module is supported by one-to-one tuition in choral conducting and a variety of related activities in the Principal Study area. These will normally include: taking weekly rehearsals of the Conservatoire’s second chamber choir, Camerata; a weekly support class focusing on both developing musicianship skills and enhancing knowledge of the repertoire; masterclasses from visiting experts; seminars on choral conducting issues; and some 1:1 vocal tuition. You should also expect to attend classes/workshops of your peers studying orchestral conducting. You will be encouraged to take part in other vocal/choral activities scheduled within the Conservatoire (and elsewhere), and to engage in language provision provided by the Department of Vocal and Operatic Studies. You are also encouraged to form your own groups, to participate in external groups and to find external choirs to conduct. Chorus master/assistant conductor possibilities may also arise in the context of the Conservatoire operas and Chorus.

Professional Development modules (20 credits each)

Conservatoire based

• Concepts in Musicology
• Contemporary Music Concepts and Practice
• Creative Interactive Music Technology Performance
• Critical Editing Techniques
• Documentation
• Experimental Performance in Context(s)
• Historical Instrument Performance
• Historical Performance Practice
• Independent Scholarship in Music
• Music and Ideas
• Music Technology Contexts
• Orchestration
• Performing and Producing in the Studio
• Professional Music Criticism
• Self-Promotion Project
• Teaching Matters: Principles and Practice
• Work Placement
• Writing Music for Media
• Conference Paper
• Preparation for Research
• Music, Community and Wellbeing (BMus module)

School of Art based

• Art and Ecologies
• Contemporary Philosophy and Aesthetics
• Discourses in Art and Design
• Models and Methods of Curatorial Practice
• Queer Strategies in Practice
• Small Arts Business Set Up
• Social Practice in the Visual Arts

School of Media based

• Live Events and Festival Management
• Social Media as Culture and Practice

MMus optional modules (40 credits each)

• Research Project
• Critical Edition
• Lecture-Recital
• The Reflective Practioner
  • There are two pathways through this module: 1. Professional Placement, and 2. Creative Interdisciplinary Artist.