Music - Choral Conducting

Overview

The University of Birmingham is home to one of the most vibrant and exciting Music departments in the world. We are an international leader in research and our programme embodies the latest cutting-edge developments in the practice and study of music. 

The Music - Choral Conducting programme from University of Birmingham will allow you to have significant directed podium time with University ensembles and beyond. This includes leading weekly rehearsals with University Camerata, singing in Birmingham University Singers, singing in the CBSO Chorus, and acting as assistant conductor for up to five University choirs (additional podium time will be available at the discretion of the Director of Choral Activities).

Why study this course?

• Fantastic teaching - you will learn under the guidance of Professor Simon Halsey as Director of Choral Activities within the Department of Music at Birmingham. Students will also receive tuition from Visiting Lecturer, Julian Wilkins, as well as other distinguished guest staff across the academic year in masterclasses and workshops.
• Practical opportunities -  you will participate in a wide variety of choral ensembles in Birmingham and have the chance to audition for further conducting experience at the University. Students will also observe world-leading conductors and educators in choral practice on a regular basis, including Bob Chilcott who joined the choral music-making team in September 2019.
• Outstanding facilities - students will be based within our state-of-the-art Bramall Music Building, which also features the 450-seat Elgar Concert Hall, the most adaptable space of its kind in any UK university. Concerts and rehearsals are also held in the unique Barber Institute of Fine Arts, as well as the newly-opened University Music Hub.
• The city - Birmingham has been a significant national and international centre of choral excellence for over two hundred years and is the birthplace of works as important as Mendelssohn's Elijah, Dvorak's Requiem and Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius. The city has also become a hotspot of composition invention and a world leader in community and education work.