COURSE CURRICULUM

The Music Performance Studies MA offers students the choice of a piano or non-piano pathway, tailored to develop advanced performance skills and professional musicianship. All students engage in core modules that focus on research and communication skills, alongside advanced ensemble performance, providing a strong foundation in both individual and collaborative musicianship. Piano pathway students study historically-informed piano performance and prepare a piano recital, honing their technical mastery, interpretive skills, and stylistic understanding specific to their instrument. Non-piano pathway students explore historically-informed performance techniques appropriate to their chosen instrument and complete a recital, focusing on repertoire, stage presence, and expressive performance. Both pathways offer a selection of optional modules that enrich practical and theoretical knowledge, including critical musicology, applied music psychology in education, community, and health contexts, principles of music industry leadership, performing South Asian rhythm, critical listening, and strategies for funding music and the arts. These optional modules provide opportunities to expand musical expertise, engage with interdisciplinary perspectives, and develop skills relevant to professional practice in performance, education, and the wider music industry. The program integrates rigorous academic study, practical application, and performance experience, culminating in public recitals that allow students to demonstrate technical proficiency, artistic development, and interpretive insight, preparing them for careers as professional performers, educators, or music practitioners.