On behalf of the course team I look forward to welcoming you to Leeds in September. Having lived together through a time of great change, we look forward to embracing and resolving some of the global challenges faced by musicians; to identifying some of the opportunities that arise in such circumstances, and to building a strong community of musicians who will be well prepared to thrive.
Uniquely, this year’s programme is offered in a Blended Learning format. Blended Learning mixes face-to-face teaching with online and electronic media.
Blended Learning will give students regular access to our building (3 Quarry Hill) and associated facilities for group workshops, and to rehearse, record and deliver recitals. Essentially replicating the established pedagogies in a digital teaching environment, with some exceptions group seminars and individual tutorials will primarily be delivered online.
Industry Steering Group
Each year, prior to enrolment, the Postgraduate Steering Group meets to discuss developments in the Global music industries. Previous contributors include:
- Martin Brammer – Songwriter, producer and artist manager
- Bryde – Singer, Songwriter, touring and recording artist
- Rob Challice – Partner, Coda Agency
- Sean Devine – Artist manager and consultant
- Eamonn Forde – Author and freelance music business journalist
- Joe Frankland – Chief Executive, PRS foundation
- Natalia Franklin Pierce – Executive Director, Nonclassical
- Charlotte Hatherley – Singer, Songwriter and guitarist
- Will Headlam Wells – Senior A&R manager at Believe Digital
- Miriam Kaufmann – Artist manager
- Helienne Lindvall – Songwriter, Chair of BASCA
- Annabella McColdrick – Chief Executive, Music Managers Forum
- Ed McKeon – Contemporary music and interdisciplinary arts consultant
- Oliver Morris – Director of Education and Skills, UK Music
- Laura Snapes – Deputy music editor, The Guardian
- Tina Speed – Grants and programmes manager, PRS foundation
- Ayanna Witter Johnson – Recording and touring artist, singer and musician.
This year’s group will comprise four or five professionals of similar experience.
In keeping with its brief to explore current practices and trends to inform the forthcoming curriculum, this year’s Steering Group will have a particular focus on how musicians and audiences are adapting to the circumstances in which we find ourselves. For musicians in 2020, a critical understanding of the principles that underpin the course is as relevant as it has always been. As musicians, we will benefit more than ever from knowing what makes us distinctive, how we can interact with audiences and the environments in which we work best.
Dates for your Diary
We will send out links to these sessions, which will be held on Zoom, nearer the time. Attendance at these sessions is optional, don’t worry if you can’t make it as this will not affect your offer of a place.
As you will be aware, three online pre-enrolment sessions designed to help you prepare for MA level study are scheduled for the summer. Please be reassured that these are not mandatory, and don’t worry if you miss one or all of them; you can catch up in September.
Monday 24 August
As part of the application process you will have completed an Intended Direction of Study outlining your course aims. As you prepare to embark on MA Music, the Personal Development Plan session seeks to enable you to update, refine and draw into clear focus your aspirations for the first trimester.
Enrolment and registration for this year’s programme will be week commencing 21 September, with teaching starting the following week.
Guests and Visiting Artists
Postgraduate teaching staff are experienced in all forms of teaching and learning delivery, and have developed a curriculum which ensures that the quality of the educational experience does not fall below the established threshold. As always, we will be practising alongside the group, and sharing our own work for discussion and critique.
To enable us to sustain a full and rounded perspective of music practice, we will continue to involve a broad range of professional musicians and music educators. For 2020-21, we are fortunate to welcome the following guests, who will visit online to discuss their creative practice, the global music industries and answer any questions you have for them:
- Simon Aldred – Singer, and Ivor Novello Award winning songwriter
- Kerry Andrew – Composer, performer and author
- Paul Baily – Producer with specialising in mastering and location recording, whose credits include Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Kate Bush, Paul McCartney, and many others
- Sarah Beth Briggs – Leading recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician
- Neil Davidge – Massive Attack producer and composer of scores for Britannia, Hard Sun and Halo 4
- Scott Devine – Online bass guitar tutor
- Craig Lees – Vocal Coach, choral director and Arranger and Director of the British Voice Association (BVA)
- Tom McRae – Singer, songwriter, author, recording, touring artist
- Anna Meredith MBE – Composer, recording and touring artist
- Dom Morley – Grammy award winning producer, mixer and engineer on records by Amy Winehouse, Adele, Sting and many others
- Emily Portman – Folk singer, songwriter performer
- Scanner – Electronic musician and multimedia artist
- Julie Thompson – Professional vocal coach, singer and songwriter
- Errollyn Wallen MBE, CBE – Composer, singer and songwriter
- Steve White – Studio and live drummer with Paul Weller and The Style Council
- Ayanna Witter Johnson – Eclectic soul singer, songwriter, cellist and independent artist
Extra-Curricular Activities for 2020-21
Engagement with extra-curricular activities will be voluntary, and you can dip in and out of them as you wish. They are intended to complement your core studies and hopefully add dimension to your experience on MA Music.
Production Webinars
Global restrictions on live music practice place an even greater emphasis on our ability to work confidently with digital audio. This year, our production staff will present a series of online classes that will enable you to acquire and develop skills in music recording. When you arrive in September, you will have access to your own personal condenser microphone and audio interface unit; for those of you who do not own this equipment, these will enable you to make high quality recordings using a laptop or similar device.
ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) Course
Specifically tailored to overseas students who do not speak English as a first language, these classes held in the autumn trimester and led by specialist Course Leader Karen Banks from University Centre Leeds, will help you to prepare your coursework for the Creative Practice in Context academic modules.
European Conservatoire Seminar Series
In conjunction with partner institutions in Denmark, Finland and The Netherlands, we are currently assembling a programme of online seminars that will be delivered to you by staff from those institutions, who will share their expertise across a range of specialist topics.
Global Music Communities Seminar Series
To acknowledge and celebrate the diversity of our curriculum, for 2020-21 we are working in collaboration with adjacent departments and industry partners to present a series of discussions focussing on issues facing global music communities.
Higher Education Colloquia
In your applications, many of you have expressed an interest in teaching as a career. Using my recently completed book ‘European Higher Music Education: 21 Questions for the 21st Century’ as a framework, in this series of informal discussions we will explore some of the issues currently facing higher education.
I hope this information is helpful; if you have any questions or require any further clarification please email me at a.west@lcm.ac.uk.
Best wishes and regards,
Andy
Professor Andrew West
Head of Postgraduate Studies
Leeds Conservatoire
