Overview

Music brings people together and enriches how we experience the world, and studying it seriously means blending practical music-making with critical, analytical thinking. The BA (Hons) Music at the University of York offers a genuinely flexible route through the subject, integrating performance, composition, musicology and music technology, taught by staff with backgrounds at institutions such as Abbey Road Studios, the Royal Opera House and IRCAM. Students benefit from exceptional facilities, including a 350-seat concert hall, six recording studios and access to a huge range of ensembles, from orchestras and choirs to gamelan and modular synths. The course suits musicians who want genuine creative freedom to shape their own degree, whether their focus is performance, composition or scholarly research.

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What You'll Learn

• Core skills for musical study, alongside critical and analytical approaches to music

• Creative and professional practice, developed through performance and composition work

• Specialist option modules such as music psychology, music education or the history of African American music

• Critical thinking and listening skills, building toward independent scholarly work

• One-to-one instrumental or vocal tuition, supported by a dedicated bursary

• Ensemble performance, with every student required to join at least one group

• Advanced composition, orchestration or classical sonata analysis in the final year

• An extended Recital, Composition Folio or Solo Project shaped entirely around your own interests

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Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be able to engage critically and creatively with music from different traditions, drawing on its histories, structures and varied cultural uses. They will be equipped to lead or contribute to high-level musical activity, whether through performing, composing, analysing or using studio production techniques. Through independent and collaborative research, students will develop analytical sophistication and creative flair, preparing them for postgraduate study or professional practice. Graduates will leave able to communicate with clarity and critical insight on music, the arts and culture, well prepared for careers spanning performance, composition, arts administration, broadcasting, education and music publishing.