Overview
The four-year Bachelor of Music (BMus) programme is designed to prepare you for the professional world and equip you with the skills you will need to work in a broad range of musical genres and disciplines.
This course ensures a strong foundation in compositional techniques which, over four years of study, can be focused to support your individual interests and career ambitions. As a composer in the Academy, you are given unrivalled opportunities to have your music played and recorded in numerous contexts – and to develop your individual compositional style and musical personality within our highly collaborative environment. It is clearly structured while still allowing flexibility for specific areas of interest to flourish.
BMus Entry Requirements
- Performance/Composition: High standard of performing potential or composition, strong musicianship, and good aural skills.
- Music Exams: Formal exams are not required, but successful performers are typically at a Grade 8 Distinction level or higher.
- Music Theory: Grade 6 level knowledge is recommended before starting if you aren't taking school music exams.
- Keyboard Skills: No formal minimum required (unless it's your Principal Study), though Grade 5 piano is desirable to support general musicianship.
See Entry Requirements for full academic and international criteria.
Modules
Undergraduate students take weekly academic classes in addition to their principal study. The classes are designed to complement and add to every student’s creative development.
Core Modules - Years 1 and 2
Principal Study/Specialism
Principal Study/Specialism is the core of your programme. It is taught in individual lessons with your Principal Study Professor and through a range of activities organised by your department.
Analytical Skills
The module provides a grounding in the basic materials of tonal common-practice harmony and counterpoint, and the analysis of smaller-scale musical form.
Aural Skills
Aural Skills develops the skills necessary to receive, form, understand and use musical structures in your inner ear, thus giving your performance authentic power and expressive meaning.
Contexts for Performance
This module in year 1 develops your understanding of the broader social and cultural contexts of the repertoire and performance practices of Western music from ca. 1600 to 1850. You will explore the stylistic and cultural significance of music at different times and in different places; become more familiar with composers, performers and musical institutions that have shaped music throughout history; and gain a broader understanding of the different ways music has participated in ideas, events and changes in society more widely. In the second year, Contexts for Performance develops your understanding of the broader social and cultural contexts of the repertoire and performance practices of Western music from ca. 1850 to the present day.
Repertoire
This module focuses on 20th and 21st century repertoire and explores a number of pathways that might include for example, what is 'modernism', possible mergence of underrepresented voices, the influence of non-classical genres, vocal composition, commercial music theatre, etc.
Elective Modules - Years 3 and 4
- Analysis of Post-Tonal Music
- Attentive Listening
- Aural Skills, Further
- Baroque Performance on Historical Instruments
- Baroque Performance Vocal
- British Music and Culture
- Compositional Techniques of the Germanic Traditions c.1780-c.1880
- Concert Programmes and Programming
- Conducting, Intermediate or Advanced
- Contemporary Music Workshop
- Free Composition for Performers
- Fugue
- A History of Keyboard Music
- Italian Opera from Rossini to Puccini
- Keyboard Skills, Advanced or Creative
- Landscapes of Postwar Music
- Methods in the Analysis of Tonal Music
- Musical Culture and Aesthetics
- Open Academy: An Introduction to Community and Participation
- Open Academy: Leadership Skills
- Musical Culture and Aesthetics
- Orchestration
- Performing Baroque Music
- Performing Experimental Music
- Repertoire Studies
- Research Project
- Responding to the Music of Bach
- Russian Music
- Song Accompaniment
- Silent Film Improvisation
- Transcription and Arrangement
Classes and Activities
In addition to individual lessons, composers participate in the following activities:
Orchestration and Analysis
Developing skills in producing scores and performance parts to build confidence in adapting compositional processes to the
demands of different performance contexts.
Electronic Music and Creative Technology
The Academy has a wide range of Creative Technology facilities. These allow the composition, recording, editing and mixing of a wide range of musical styles to be done using professional-quality hardware and software. We have dedicated staff to teach you how to use it.
Composer Workshops
You will be given regular occasions to rehearse and record your work with talented Academy musicians in both studio and concert hall settings. There are many opportunities for student compositions to be played by orchestral and chamber ensembles both inside and outside the Academy.
Composition Concerts
Composer Platform concerts are given at the end of each term, both within the Academy and in external venues in London.
Commissions
Throughout the year, we offer a number of commissions to our composers to write for a wide variety of events with professional performers both within and outside the Academy. Recently, three of our composers wrote commissions for the annual Spitalfields Festival.
Seminar Series
This series underpins all composition studies and features guest composers such as Brian Eno, Simon Holt, Judith Weir, Beat Furrer, Martijn Padding, Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, and Betsy Jolas.
Auditions and Interviews
We view the audition process as an open artistic dialogue rather than an exam. Our panel of distinguished composers is looking for your original creative voice, your curiosity, and your potential for growth. Relax, be proud of the music you have created, and let us get to know you as an artist.
Your Portfolio Requirements
To apply for the BMus (Hons) in Composition, you must submit a digital portfolio via the Acceptd portal containing:
- Three Original Scores: A portfolio of three of your own compositions. These pieces should demonstrate a variety of styles, instrumentations, or creative approaches.
- Audio Recordings: Audio recordings of all three pieces must be included.
- Note: Live or studio recordings of musicians playing your work are highly preferred. However, if live recordings are not available, high-quality MIDI or computer-generated mock-ups are fully acceptable.
What to Expect at the Live Audition (London)
If your portfolio is shortlisted, you will be invited to an in-person audition in London, which lasts approximately 30 minutes:
- Portfolio Discussion: You will discuss your submitted scores and recordings in depth with the composition panel. Be prepared to talk about your structural choices, notation methods, and creative influences.
- Interview: The panel will talk with you about your musical background, your interest in contemporary music, and your goals for the four-year degree.
Academic Interview & Aural Skills Assessment
In addition to your composition interview, all undergraduate-level applicants will complete a separate interview with a member of our academic staff. This is an informal conversation to evaluate your broader musical interests and aspirations.
During this session, you will discuss a short extract of music and complete an Aural Skills Assessment to evaluate your foundational musicianship:
- Sight-singing a short test melody.
- Singing the middle notes in a played chord.
- Identification of musical intervals.
- Sight-reading of rhythms.
- Simultaneous polyrhythms: Sight-reading two different rhythms at the same time (singing one rhythm while clapping the other simultaneously).
Please note: Specimen tests are not published or distributed in advance.
Guidelines for Remote / Video Applicants
If you are applying from outside the UK and cannot attend the live auditions in London or at an international hub, your portfolio will be evaluated digitally via Acceptd.
- The Spoken Video Introduction: Your digital profile must include a short spoken introduction in English. Use this video to introduce yourself, briefly explain the concepts behind the pieces in your portfolio, and share why you want to study composition at the Academy.
- Online Interview: If your portfolio passes the initial screening, you will be invited to a live online interview with the composition faculty and an academic staff member.
For more information see auditions.