MA Music Performance | Early Music Renaissance - Romantic instrument/voice
Hochschule für Musik Basel
This degree programme imparts a broad understanding of the stylistic and aesthetic aspects of music, enabling students to engage in-depth with historical sources and theory, as well as a reflective playing and singing techniques: the essential skills needed not only to preserve historically informed performance practice, but also to convey it in a lively and contemporary way. The programme builds on a bachelor’s degree from the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis or a comparable BA and offers an alternative curriculum for university graduates from other music programmes.
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- Specialising in playing techniques and performance practice of early music
- Examining historical sources and theory
- Specialising in stylistic and aesthetic aspects and conveying them creatively in performances
- Performing as a soloist and as part of an ensemble in an artistically convincing manner
Steckbrief
Zukunftsaussichten
Learning outcomes
The aim of this Master’s programme is to to develop the independent artistic personality of instrumentalists and singers with excellent musical and technical ability, both as soloists and ensemble performers. It also imparts specific knowledge of music theory and history pertinent to Early Music, which will equip students to make independent and well-founded decisions about performance practice and aesthetics. This artistic and intellectual autonomy is necessary in order to succeed in a market which is defined less by traditional institutional employers and more by an interest in the creativity and persuasiveness of individual musicians.
Career prospects
Holders of an MA in Music Performance with a specialisation in Early Music are qualified to pursue a career as a soloist and/or as an ensemble musician, delivering performances that are stylistically appropriate, artistically compelling and of the highest calibre.
Graduates share their expertise and experience in workshops and masterclasses, and have the necessary skills and knowledge to contribute to academic research on historical performance practice in their chosen fields.
Target audience
This Master’s programme is aimed at students (instrumental/vocal) who are highly qualified and prepared to dedicate themselves to a course of study in historical performance practice that meets the highest artistic standards.
Prerequisites are: talent, high level of ability (voice/instrument) as well as potential for further artistic development, experience in Early Music and an interest in the historical foundations underpinning its practice.
Aufbau und Inhalte
Consolidation of instrumental/vocal proficiency and fluency
The Master of Arts in Music Performance focuses on the intensive engagement with Early Music playing techniques and performance practices, coupled with an in-depth examination of historical source material. As a result, students advance their understanding of the stylistic and aesthetic aspects of music and the need to creatively convey these qualities in contemporary performances.
This MA builds on the knowledge and skills acquired from the SCB’s Bachelor programme with an instrumental/vocal major. Students who hold a BA in Music from a different music education study programme will follow a special curriculum that comprises key theory-based subjects included in the specialised study programmes offered by the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.
Achieving the highest level of proficiency as an instrumental/vocal soloist is an important goal of this Master’s programme. Given that ensemble playing is integral to Early Music, the study programme also focuses on nurturing excellent ensemble musicianship. A Master’s thesis provides proof of the candidate’s capacity to deal with a subject in a scholarly and reflective manner.
Modules and regulations
The BA and MA degree programs at the Basel Academy of Music are based on modules.
The legally binding structure provides an initial guide to the content and weighting of the subjects on the degree program.
The detailed content and modalities of the individual subjects can be found in the module descriptions.
The study regulations come into force together with the study and examination regulations of the Basel Academy of Music FHNW and form the legal framework.
Vertiefungen
International
Leitung und Dozierende
Voraussetzungen, Zulassung, Eignungsabklärung
Language skills
We expect students to have good German language skills at the beginning of the studies. Students who are not German native speakers must present at least a B1 German language certificate (according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)) at the beginning of the studies.