Programme

Qualification awarded
Master of Music
Length of the programme
24 months
ECTS credits
120
Level of qualification
Master
Mode
Full-time
Language
English
School
  • Arts, Design & Built Environment
Locations
  • Groningen

Master of Music

Profile of the programme

The PCC’s Master of Music is a master’s programme for talented musicians who are passionate and socially engaged. Global developments call for music professionals who dare to venture off the beaten track in their professional practice. That is why students on this master’s programme develop into musicians who act as creators within society: enterprising music professionals who are curious about the world around them and want to make a difference in it. Students enter the programme with an idea and explore and develop it through their own learning pathway. They acquire knowledge and develop skills – together with others – to shape their personal professional practice.  

The programme trains students to become creative and performing musicians at Master’s level. The focus is on the student’s professional practice, with musical performance – in the broadest possible sense – regarded as the core of the profession. The programme supports the development of a sustainable career path by combining an inquisitive attitude and entrepreneurial qualities with high-level creative and artistic achievements. The programme’s tutors help students to develop their own voice as artists, and to define and shape the roles that are important in their artistic practice. Students develop a personal study plan under the guidance of a team of tutors with international reputations and experience, who provide supervision, coaching and assessment throughout the course.  

Artistic development, research and entrepreneurship are interwoven throughout the programme’s curriculum and inform the development of professional practice. The Music in Context and Art Education research groups at the Knowledge Centre for Art & Society are key partners in conducting research and developing students’ research skills. Entrepreneurship is approached both from the perspective of broad musical practice and from a more general framework, with PCC lecturers – all of whom are active in (international) practice – playing a significant role. Throughout the Master’s programme, there are many projects taking place in various contexts and at different locations, involving collaboration with other disciplines and external partners.   

Students complete the programme with a comprehensive demonstration of the practice they have developed, thereby demonstrating their ability to function as professional musicians at Master’s level.

Learning outcomes

Technical skills
Students have a wide range of professional knowledge and skills and apply them in different musical contexts. 
- 1.1 Students create and produce artistic concepts at a high professional level. 
 
Creative skills
Students shape musical expression based on their own artistic vision and aims. 
- 2.1 Students independently develop musical products at a high professional level based on their own artistic concept and/or put together programmes on the basis of that concept.
- 2.4 Students express a musically artistic personality. 
 
Contextual focus
Students identify developments in the national and international professional world and in society at large, positioning themselves and their work in relation to these. 
- 3.1 Students are aware of developments in their specialist field, the wider professional music world and society at large. Students demonstrate how they integrate that awareness into their professional abilities and use it to enhance their own career and to serve the community.
- 3.2 Students identify opportunities in the community, turning these into concrete actions. They are not afraid to take risks and positions themselves with their products or activities.

Research and development skills
Students constantly evaluate their artistic performance through self-initiated research and reflection on their own identity, actions and work with the aim of improving that performance and simultaneously contributing to innovation in the professional field.
- 4.3 Students reflect on their own working methods, and understand the implications of choices and decisions, which they can explain retrospectively both to colleagues and to individuals working outside the field. 
- 4.6 Students conduct research in a structured manner on issues that are connected to their professional practice.
 
Communicational skills
Students interact effectively in various professional contexts, using appropriate forms and means of communication.
- 5.1 Students present themselves and their work, individually and/or collectively, in a way that is suited to the work presented and the intended audience.

Organisational skills
Students create sustainable work situations and networks, enabling themselves to achieve their goals.
- 6.5 Students respond to changing situations and circumstances and contribute to solving complex context-specific problems and issues.