Vocal Performance - MMus / PgCert / PgDip
Currently viewing course to start in 2023/24 Entry.
Advance your skills as a singer with a postgraduate programme in Vocal Performance at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Whether you're a recent graduate or returning to study after a break, our postgraduate programmes in Vocal Performance provide you with advanced-level training in singing....
- Level Postgraduate Taught
- Study mode Full Time/Part Time
- Location Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
- Award MMus / PgCert / PgDip
- Start date September 2023
- Fees View course fees
- School Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
- Faculty Faculty of Arts, Design and Media
This course is:
Overview
Advance your skills as a singer with a postgraduate programme in Vocal Performance at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Whether you're a recent graduate or returning to study after a break, our postgraduate programmes in Vocal Performance provide you with advanced-level training in singing. You're encouraged and enabled to increase your experience as a performer and to broaden your repertoire, though you can also take the opportunity to specialise if you wish.
Alongside your vocal studies, our courses 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 Jazz vocalists.
You'll receive specialist vocal tuition from leading UK and internationally renowned performers and teachers. In addition, you'll enjoy regular opportunities to sing in a variety of contexts, both as a soloist and in ensembles with other performers. Such opportunities include not only classes and masterclasses (these last being led by distinguished guest performers), but also in concerts and on the operatic stage.
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.
What's covered in this course?
- Regular individual specialist vocal tuition from leading UK and internationally renowned performers and teachers.
- Regular vocal classes, including song classes, repertoire classes, and historical performance practice classes.
- Bespoke language, stagecraft and dance classes.
- Access to masterclasses with distinguished visiting guest artists.
- Frequent chances to perform, including solo and ensemble
- The chance to audition for our operas and musicals, which are fully staged productions in a professional venue, and frequently double-cast to allow the maximum number of students to benefit from the experience.
- In PgDip and MMus, a core career development module designed to get you thinking about your future professional plans.
- At PgDip and MMus levels, the flexibility to choose from a broad menu of Professional Development modules designed to help you work towards achieving your personal career aspirations.
- In MMus, a core module designed to develop your skills as a researcher or informed practitioner.
- In PgCert, the ability to focus wholly on the Principal Study area.
- The possibility of transferring between PgDip and/or MMus (as appropriate) once you've begun your studies (but before completion of your original course).
I had a wonderful time on the course – it was intense but also very fulfilling. I felt my singing came on enormously with teachers and coaches who nurtured and challenged me, and performances that really moved me forward. I also enjoyed the variety of academic modules to choose from, which were all well taught and supported and felt relevant to my practice.
Katie Gilbert, Soprano
Open Day
Join us on campus where you'll be able to explore our facilities and accommodation in person, and chat to staff and students from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Next Open Day: Thursday 7 December 2023
Entry Requirements
MMus/PgDip/PgCert
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UK students should normally hold an honours degree, ideally but not necessarily in Music. |
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Non-UK students should hold a Bachelor's degree or a similar degree-equivalent diploma, ideally but not necessarily in Music. |
Audition requirements
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All applicants for this course will be auditioned. |
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Home student auditions will be scheduled live in Birmingham. |
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EU/international students outside the UK at the time of application may submit a recording or may travel to one of our International Audition Centres. |
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Please prepare four classical songs or arias, at least two of which should be in two different languages other than English. You may choose which item you sing first; thereafter the panel will choose as they feel appropriate. You will also be given a piece of sight reading. |
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As part of your audition there will be an informal interview. The panel will be interested to hear you talk about your artistic influences, your inspiration to be a musician and your career objectives. This is also an opportunity for you to ask the panel questions about your Department and what life will be like as a musician in Birmingham. The audition and interview together will last for about 40 minutes. |
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You will be invited to arrive before the audition for a warm-up that will last 35 minutes. An official accompanist will be arranged for your audition and you will be given the opportunity to rehearse with them, but please note that that rehearsal time will be limited to about 15 minutes. If you are bringing your own accompanist, please inform us in advance: you will be able to rehearse during your warm-up period. |
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Full details of audition requirements are available from the Admissions Team. |
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For full details, audition requirements and audition advice, please visit the Music Auditions section of the Conservatoire website. |
English language requirements
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IELTS 6.0 overall with 5.5 minimum in all bands. |
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. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MMus
Starting: Sep 2023
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 2 years
- £11,500 in 2023/24
- Apply via UCAS
- Part Time
- 3 years*
- £1,917 per 20 credit module
- Apply via UCAS
Award: PgCert
Starting: Sep 2023
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Part Time
- 1 year*
- Show fees
- Apply via UCAS
- £1917 per 20 credits
- Year 1 - 60 credits
Fees for Part-time students
This course can be studied on a Part-time study basis. The cost per year of study is based on credit requirements for that year.
Award: PgDip
Starting: Sep 2023
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 year
- £11,500 in 2023/24
- Apply via UCAS
- Part Time
- 2 years*
- Show fees
- Apply via UCAS
- £1917 per 20 credits
- Year 1 - 60 credits
- Year 2 - 60 credits
Fees for Part-time students
This course can be studied on a Part-time study basis. The cost per year of study is based on credit requirements for that year.
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. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MMus
Starting: Sep 2023
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 2 years
- £24,950 in 2023/24
- Apply via UCAS
Award: PgDip
Starting: Sep 2023
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 year
- £24,950 in 2023/24
- Apply via UCAS
*Part-time fees
Your fees are charged per 20 credits, depending on the number of credits studied in each year. The fee table above outlines recommended credit loads in each year; if you choose to study a different credit load, please be aware that your fees will be charged accordingly.
*Professional Placement option
The Professional Placement version of the course is optional and is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course. However, it is not possible to apply for direct entry to the Professional Placement version of the course since the decision to transfer may only be taken after consultation with your course tutors and after successfully completing at least 120 credits.
Completing a 20-week Professional Placement towards the end of your Masters degree enables you to further improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.
You will be responsible for finding and securing your own placement. The University, however, will draw on its extensive network of local, regional and national employers to support you in finding a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will also benefit from support sessions delivered by Careers+ as well as advice and guidance from your School.
Placements will only be confirmed following a competitive, employer-led selection process, therefore the University will not be able to guarantee placements for students who have registered for the ‘with Professional Placement’ course. All students who do not find a suitable placement or do not pass the competitive selection process will be automatically transferred back to the standard, non-placement version of the course.
Please note that tuition fees are payable during your placement period.
Completing your application
Further information on writing your personal statement can be found on the UCAS Conservatoires website.
Course in Depth
PG Cert
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete one of the following CORE modules (totalling 60 credits):
As a postgraduate instrumentalist or singer, the Principal Study 1: Instrumental/Vocal Performance module enables you to advance your training in your specialist area and it is thus at the heart of your conservatoire studies. As the focus of this module is entirely on your own continued development as a performer, you will spend considerable time developing your technical facility, musicianship, interpretative skills and stylistic awareness, expanding your knowledge of the repertoire, refining your platform manner and presentation skills, and, in some cases, advancing your collaborative performance skills.
Your work in this module is supported by one-to-one tuition and a variety of related activities in your Principal Study area, including performance classes, masterclasses and department-specific workshops (e.g. languages and movement for singers, reed-making for wind players, and so on). You will necessarily devote a considerable amount of time to individual practice.
PG Dip
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete the following CORE module (totalling 60 credits):
As a postgraduate instrumentalist or singer, the Principal Study 1: Instrumental/Vocal Performance module enables you to advance your training in your specialist area and it is thus at the heart of your conservatoire studies. As the focus of this module is entirely on your own continued development as a performer, you will spend considerable time developing your technical facility, musicianship, interpretative skills and stylistic awareness, expanding your knowledge of the repertoire, refining your platform manner and presentation skills, and, in some cases, advancing your collaborative performance skills.
Your work in this module is supported by one-to-one tuition and a variety of related activities in your Principal Study area, including performance classes, masterclasses and department-specific workshops (e.g. languages and movement for singers, reed-making for wind players, and so on). You will necessarily devote a considerable amount of time to individual practice.
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete all the following CORE modules (totalling 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.
Each module listed is worth 20 credits.
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
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):
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 instrumentalist or singer, the Principal Study 1: Instrumental/Vocal Performance module enables you to advance your training in your specialist area and it is thus at the heart of your conservatoire studies. As the focus of this module is entirely on your own continued development as a performer, you will spend considerable time developing your technical facility, musicianship, interpretative skills and stylistic awareness, expanding your knowledge of the repertoire, refining your platform manner and presentation skills, and, in some cases, advancing your collaborative performance skills.
Your work in this module is supported by one-to-one tuition and a variety of related activities in your Principal Study area, including performance classes, masterclasses and department-specific workshops (e.g. languages and movement for singers, reed-making for wind players, and so on). You will necessarily devote a considerable amount of time to individual practice.
As a postgraduate instrumentalist or singer, the Principal Study 1: Instrumental/Vocal Performance module enables you to advance your training in your specialist area and it is thus at the heart of your conservatoire studies. As the focus of this module is entirely on your own continued development as a performer, you will spend considerable time developing your technical facility, musicianship, interpretative skills and stylistic awareness, expanding your knowledge of the repertoire, refining your platform manner and presentation skills, and, in some cases, advancing your collaborative performance skills.
Your work in this module is supported by one-to-one tuition and a variety of related activities in your Principal Study area, including performance classes, masterclasses and department-specific workshops (e.g. languages and movement for singers, reed-making for wind players, and so on). You will necessarily devote a considerable amount of time to individual practice.
In order to complete this course, a student must successfully complete at least 100 credits from the following indicative list of OPTIONAL modules:
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THREE Professional Development modules (20 credits each), and
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ONE MMus optional module (40 credits)
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 Practitioner
- There are two pathways through this module: 1. Professional Placement, and 2. Creative Interdisciplinary Artist.
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. Being the exit point for PgCert and PgDip, Principal Study 1 is more prescriptive than Principal Study 2 (MMus only), though both allow scope for you to explore repertoire of your own choice and to develop a specialist area if you wish. The possibilities are too numerous to list here, but usually include the potential to be assessed in an operatic role (if available, and subject to successful audition), as well as in other types of repertoire.
Preparation for the Principal Study Project modules is supported by individual specialist tuition, as well as by departmental activities throughout the course.
If you are a MMus or PgDip student you will take a Career Development module, which 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, some Professional 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
There is some room for negotiation in how the course unfolds for a part-time MMus student over three years, or in the case of part-time PgDip students, over two years.
Employability
Our Graduates
Katy Gilbert
Soprano
Since graduating in 2018, Katie has been developing her recital work, performing in concerts nationally with duo partners on classical guitar and piano she met whilst studying, and developing programmes and repertoire for the future.
She has also sung in the final of the London Song Festival's Schubert Competition, and teaches both privately and at school. Becoming a mum in spring 2019 has given her the space to really focus on new repertoire and adjust to her new voice. In the future she plans to audition for opera companies, and possibly go on to further study, while continuing to perform and teach.
International
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire has a growing community of international students from across the world.
We appreciate the challenges of moving to a new country to live and study and aim to be as supportive as possible.
Aside from being friendly and welcoming, we have various support mechanisms in place to help you settle in as an international student, including:
- An international students' 'orientation week', including a special Conservatoire welcome event
- A dedicated international student admissions administrator
- A full-time staff member employed as International Student Support Programme Director (who speaks Mandarin)
- A mentoring system in which you, as a new postgraduate international student, are mentored by continuing postgraduate international students who will be supporting you both pastorally and academically though weekly workshops
- Additional supporting classes for international students that are particularly designed to help you further develop your English reading, speaking and comprehension skills
- Additional academic skills support provided by expert tutors from the BCU's Centre for Academic Success
Further information for prospective international students is available on the University's international pages.
Our international students
Beibei Wang
Operatic soprano Beibei Wang, from Shenzhen in China, graduated from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, part of Birmingham City University, with an MA in Music in 2012.
Since then, Beibei has set up her own organisation called East-West Arts Initiative, which aims to introduce classical musicians to wider audiences through artist management, promotions and touring opera productions.
As the name suggests, her Initiative also provides a conduit for artists who are wishing to develop their career more widely abroad, especially between China and the UK – echoing Beibei’s own heritage and where she is now based.
As part of East-West Arts Initiative, Beibei is actively discovering new markets for singers, by introducing western singers into China and ensuring Chinese performers are receiving exposure in the UK.
To date, East-West Arts Initiative has led and participated in a range of activities within The O2 – the world’s busiest music area – Trafalgar Square and Cadogan Hall.
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.
These impressive modern facilities guarantee that we are able to excel in our unique dual purpose of providing the highest standard of music education deserved by our students, as well as meeting our role as a concert and performance venue for the people of Birmingham, taking our place in the vibrant cultural landscape of the UK’s second city.
Our staff
Paul Wingfield
Head of Vocal and Operatic studies
British conductor, Paul Wingfield took up the post as Head of Vocal and Operatic Studies in September 2017, having previously worked in the department as a Visiting Lecturer. He has worked as a conductor and assistant conductor at the Royal Opera House, where he was a Jette Parker Young Artist from 2012 to 2014. He has worked for many of the UK’s...
More about PaulJonathan Gunthorpe
Associate Head of Vocal and Operatic Studies
Jonathan Gunthorpe has had an eclectic singing career with extensive performance and recording experience in opera, concert, recital and choral repertoire, in works ranging from baroque to contemporary music.
More about JonathanLouise Crane
Vocal Tutor
Louise Crane studied at the Guildhall, gaining her AGSM Diploma and subsequently won awards from Clonter Opera Trust and the Peter Moores Foundation, as well as a college scholarship, to study at the RNCM. After a season with Glyndebourne Festival Opera Louise won the Peter Stuyvestant Foundation Scholarship to the National Opera Studio where...
More about LouiseDr Luan Shaw
Director of Postgraduate Studies (Music)
Dr Luan Shaw is Associate Professor: Director of Postgraduate Studies (Music) at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire where she has taught since 2011. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and was made an Honorary Member of RBC in 2001. In her former role as RBC’s first Head of Pedagogy (2011-2018), she led the significant...
More about Luan