The course will provide you with an in-depth understanding of the richness of music making in the past and the present. You will hone your performance skills to a high level, and follow a distinctive programme that prepares you for a wide range of careers and for freelance work where you may combine performing with teaching and arts administration. You will develop skills – in music theory, techniques of composition and on the keyboard – which you need to succeed as a creative musician in the twenty-first century.Our approach to performance, history and employability is holistic. You will learn how music is made, how it is consumed, and how it relates to cultural change: studying music from the middle ages to the present day. These historical themes will shape you as a performer who understands audience engagement with music in the past, the present and the future. Our performance and history modules will connect you to the wider city and community, through partnerships with cultural organisations, such as the Newcastle Lit and Phil Library and Newcastle Cathedral.The degree has been designed alongside a Foundation Year in Music, which offers an opportunity to develop the knowledge and skills needed for degree-level work.What makes our degree distinctive is the way in which your real-life work as a musician is prepared through a specially tailored programme in which, in addition to your performing and musicological studies, you will learn how to teach your instrument and how to manage in your career as a musician.

Humanities