Tag: Music

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University Admissions

Conservatoire Admissions

If performance is your passion – whether that be music, drama, or arts production – then could a conservatoire be the best place for you?

What Is A Conservatoire?

The word ‘conservatoire’, coming from the French, refers to a ‘music school’ or institution of higher learning which primarily prepares its students for lives as performers. All courses at conservatoires have a strong performance or vocational orientation, meaning that they serve to equip students with the skills to thrive in the performing arts industries.

How Does A Conservatoire Differ From A University?

While studying subjects such as music or drama at university may also lead to careers in the creative arts, conservatoires focus on the practical elements of performance while university courses tend to focus on academic skills. For example, if you are an avid instrumentalist – whether that be a virtuoso violinist, budding opera singer, or otherwise – who is set on pursuing a career as a soloist or orchestral musician, then the practical training you will receive at a conservatoire is second to none. However, if you view yourself as more of an ‘all-rounder musician’ – for example, someone who is interested in composing, performing, and writing about music in equal measure, or someone who is very open to the idea of working in a non-performance field after their degree – then studying music at a university might be the best thing to do. There is no right or wrong answer. Many world-leading soloists studied at university and many students who studied at conservatoires go on to have eclectic non-musical careers. However, the institution and course that you choose will still play a large part in shaping the course of your life. It is therefore worth thinking about very carefully!

How Many Conservatoires Are There?

There are 9 conservatoires in England and Wales:

 

  • LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art)
  • Leeds Conservatoire
  • Royal Academy of Music
  • Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
  • Royal College of Music
  • Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
  • Royal Northern College of Music
  • Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama
  • Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

 

Naturally, conservatoires are not a uniquely British phenomenon. There are a huge number of world-leading conservatoires around the globe, some of which you may have already heard of, such as the Julliard School in New York, the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, and the Paris Conservatoire in France.

What Might An Average Week At A Conservatoire Look Like?

This varies hugely according to specialism, course, institution, etc. However, as an instrumentalist studying for an undergraduate degree, you are likely to receive a 1-1 lesson with a world-leading professor, chamber music coaching, multiple performance opportunities, and academic sessions covering history, theory, and other topics.

 How Do I Apply?

‘UCAS Conservatoires’ (formerly known as CUKAS) is an online portal which streamlines the application process and works in a very similar way to the UCAS University admissions system. If you are unsure whether a conservatoire or a university is the best place to be, there is a beauty in that applicants can apply via UCAS and UCAS Conservatoires simultaneously, receive their respective offers, and then make an even more informed decision further down the line. Most conservatoires, especially for performance-centred courses, will require shortlisted applicants to attend an in-person audition, where the talents and potential of prospective students are measured by a panel of faculty members.

How Can Think Tutors Help?

Applying to a conservatoire entails a minefield of decision making. How do I choose between conservatoires and universities? Do I apply to both? Are my performance skills at the required level? Which conservatoire do I pick? Do I need a consultation lesson? Which professor should I approach? What about grades..?

 

Fortunately, Think Tutors are ideally placed to guide you through this stage of your life. Whatever your dramatic or musical discipline, our elite tutors and mentors, with their first-hand experiences and inside knowledge, are ready to help you make the right decisions. From instrumental teaching to life coaching and career advice, contact Think Tutors today to find the answers that you need.

Categories
University Admissions

Studying Music at Durham University

Located within a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Music Department at the University of Durham provides historic, inspiring, and world-leading training for a life within and beyond music.

PATHWAYS

Studying Music at Durham (on the BA Mus course) is a stimulating and wide-ranging undertaking that leaves no stone unturned. As a student in your first year, there are 6 compulsory modules (Analysis, Composition, Ethnomusicology, History, Performance, and Techniques). These serve to equip you with the foundational tools for creating and understanding music across genres and throughout time, that can then be pursued further in the form of optional modules in years two and three.

ANALYSIS

Key concepts of Baroque and Classical styles underpin the first year and serve as a point of departure as your progress throughout your degree. The specific focus of second- and third-year modules can change from year to year, but in recent years have centred around the music of Beethoven and Stravinsky, the power of the symphony, and new directions in time and rhythm.

COMPOSITION

Composition is the domain which tends to take students by the most surprise when they arrive at Durham! The ‘new’ approaches of composers such as Messiaen and Shostakovich featured in A-Level and IB syllabi are blown apart upon hearing the indeterminism of Cage and Feldman, the spectralism of Grisey and Murail, and the New Complexity of Ferneyhough and Finnissy. Students are challenged to write for instruments that they are unaccustomed, as well as encouraged to push what it possible on the instrument(s) they call their own.

ETHNOMUSICOLOGY

From Australian didgeridoo to Balinese gamelan, Brazilian samba, Central African pygmy, Chinese guqin, Japanese shakuhachi, and Zimbabwean mbira, you can study them all at Durham. The ethnomusicology modules provide a rigorous approach to understanding the variety of musical practices and concepts encountered around the world, introducing you to diverse methods of describing, notating, and recording music that departs from what we might usually hear on a daily basis.

HISTORY

A broad introduction to Western music from the seventeenth to the twentieth century in first year is followed by optional and specific explorations, such as ‘Music and Politics in France’ and ‘Music in Italy 1850-1950’, as you progress through your degree. Many students use the history modules in first- and second-year to shape the dissertations that they will write in their final year. Accordingly, the breadth of musical options available at Durham is balanced by the opportunity to develop your specific interests over the course of the degree.

PERFORMANCE

While it is never compulsory for reticent students to have to perform in front of other students (and can ‘drop’ performance after their first year), eager performers are never short of performance opportunities at Durham – whether these are ‘in class’, for college/departmental recital series, or as part of the immense number of ensembles across the city. Over 30 music societies exist and cater for students interested in A Capella, choral singing, classical, jazz, pop, rock, stage, and world music. There is also financial support for performance tuition throughout the degree.

TECHNIQUES

The ‘bane’ of some students time at Durham(!) but also the secret love of many others, the ‘Musical Techniques’ modules offer rigorous training in Renaissance and Baroque counterpoint, four-part harmony, the composition of Classical forms, orchestration, etc. Unlike some other universities, these modules are mostly optional, and teaching is often provided in small groups and on a 1-to-1 basis, giving students relatively unrivalled opportunities to learn from world experts but at their own pace.

FACILITIES

Colleges aside (which all provide chapels, practice rooms, and performance spaces), the Music Department caters for the full spectrum of acoustic and electronic interests among its students, giving them the opportunity to use these at their leisure. Facilities include, but are not limited to, a Concert Room (two storeys of seating, 5:1 sound system, large Genelec loudspeakers, AV facilities, large projection screen), Lecture Room (high-quality stereo sound system, AV facilities), Music Technology Suite (Mac and Windows OS audio workstations, music technology software, resident technical support), Practice rooms (soundproofed, acoustically treated, Steinway grand pianos, digital pianos, drum kits, bass and guitar amps, PAs), Studios (music production equipment spanning from the early analogue era up to current technologies and computer-based software), Recording Studio (soundproofed, acoustically treated, state-of-the-art equipment), Audio-visual Documentation and Analysis Laboratory (for multi-camera and multi-track audio editing), and Music and Science Lab (portable physiology response kits, electroencephalography system, recording and playback equipment, audience response capture devices, acoustically controlled listening environment).

RANKINGS

In recent years, the Music Department at the University of Durham has been ranked as the best in the country and is consistently ranked as one of the best in the world. In 2024, it placed 6th in the Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide and 6th in the Complete University Guide.

CONTACT THINK TUTORS

Organising tuition or mentoring with one of Think Tutors’ elite tutors or mentors who has studied at Durham is an excellent way to gain an advantage in the application process for university. We enhance performance through careful preparation and confidence building, offering guidance on Durham colleges, crafting personal statements, submitting musical work, and more, leaving no stone unturned. Please contact us to find a tutor to help your child enter the Music Department at the University of Durham.