Overview
The Master of Music (MMus) is a two-year programme similar to the Master of Arts (MA) but with the addition of a project. The project can be a concert with commentary, a recording-based project, a dissertation or a mixture of these.
Your Project preparation is supported by a team of specialists and provides an opportunity for you to enhance your creative work through specialised academic study and practice-led research. Postgraduate students are a vital part of the Academy’s musical culture, working in a uniquely collaborative performance environment ideally suited to helping talented musicians from across the globe to achieve their musical ambitions. Students wishing to prepare applications for doctoral study will normally choose the MMus rather than the MA.
A note on assessments: Your ultimate course placement remains flexible. Because the practical audition is identical for both pathways, all MMus candidates are automatically considered for the Master of Arts (MA) track. If the panel feels your performance standard is excellent but your academic profile is better suited to a purely practical pathway, you may be offered an MA place instead.
The programme pathway and choices can be discussed and adjusted with the panel during your assessment.
Classes and Activities
The Academy’s postgraduate conducting course is internationally recognised as one of the foremost programmes for training conductors.
Our students have many opportunities to work with talented players and singers in a variety of settings, from two-piano workshops and intimate chamber ensembles to full symphony orchestra. Academy conductors work in a friendly, collaborative and focused environment which prepares them for professional conducting careers.
In addition to weekly individual lessons, as a conducting student at the Academy you will participate in:
Conducting and Baton Technique
You will learn and practise beating patterns, and the means to communicate your musical intentions through gesture.
Concerts and Collaborations
The Conducting Faculty regularly collaborates with departments across the Academy. You will work with singers from Royal Academy Opera and from the Vocal Faculty. You will work on twentieth-century and twenty-first-century repertoire, and on premieres of new works by Composition students. You will conduct a variety of ensembles in rehearsals, workshops and concerts within the Academy and have opportunities to organise your own projects.
Rehearsal Observation
The Academy regularly invites highly celebrated and famous conductors from all over the world to conduct orchestral and operatic performances with our students. You will have many opportunities to observe their rehearsals and often the Head of Conducting will organise lessons or discussions with visiting artists, which allows you to meet and interact with leading professionals.
Repertoire classes and Masterclasses
These take place throughout the year and students analyse, discuss and practise core repertoire under the guidance and expertise of Academy professors, Visiting Professors, composers and guest artists. You will study a broad range of styles including contemporary music, early music, concerto and mainstream repertoire.
Aural, Keyboard Skills and Score-reading
In these classes, you will be able to hone some practical skills necessary for good rehearsal technique, such as fluency in instrument transposition and baton technique, as well as studying important sources such as original manuscripts or personal scores belonging to conductors such as Sir Georg Solti, Sir Charles Mackerras and Sir Colin Davis. Keyboard skills are not an essential requirement for entry onto the programme but there are opportunities to develop these should you wish to do so.
Seminars
In addition to these regular classes and tutorials, a series of ‘professional development’ seminars are arranged, in which Academy professors and outside experts are invited to work with our conductors for example, in history and performance style, for analysis and for programme building and planning. There are also sessions with Nicholas Chalmers (Fernside Head of Choral Conducting) where you have a chance to gain experience in choral repertoire and conducting.
Entry Requirements
Academic Qualifications
You will usually hold a Bachelor of Music (BMus) degree, a university Bachelor's degree containing music as a core component, or an international equivalent qualification.
Written Requirements
Unlike the Master of Arts (MA) track, the Master of Music (MMus) in Performance requires you to submit an example of academic written work plus a project proposal. This must be uploaded to your Acceptd application profile to demonstrate your readiness for academic research alongside performance.
The academic written work must be on a musical subject and should be between 1,000 and 2,000 words in length. If you already have a longer piece of work, for example a thesis, please choose a representative extract.
In addition to the written work you should provide a Project Proposal in which you describe your plans and aims for a potential research project. There is no maximum or minimum word limit for this. Research projects can be variable in format: common models are a concert with an accompanying written commentary, or a written dissertation.
Your proposal should address the following questions:
- What is the subject area (repertoire, perspective) you wish to explore?
- What sort of structure do you envisage? Would the main project outcome take the form of a concert, or a written piece of work, or something else?
- How does this relate to your performance or composition interests?
- How does your proposed project relate to existing work in the field (including concert and performance practices that interest you, and/or published texts)?
At the application stage, the proposal is primarily a way for us to gauge your readiness to undertake a research project. If accepted, you will be not required to keep to your original plan, and in any case we would expect the plan to change significantly as your project develops.
In both the interview and the written work, we will be looking for evidence of your responsiveness and creativity as well as critical engagement, artistic maturity, and basic research and writing skills.
See Entry Requirements for more information.
Auditions
We want you to view your audition as a practical rehearsal and an active musical collaboration rather than a rigid test. Our panel is looking for your unique musical personality, your physical communicative clarity, your efficient rehearsal technique, and your potential for growth. Try to relax, focus on sharing your interpretive choices with the ensemble, and let us hear who you are as a conductor.
The Audition Framework
Round One: Video Pre-Screening
The initial stage involves a detailed review of your uploaded video materials by the Conducting department entry panel. This digital submission serves as your first-round assessment. Your video must show a **front view of the conductor** (the view from the orchestra's perspective) and should feature:
- Content:Your video audition recordings should be a minimum of 15 minutes overall, showing you conducting an ensemble or orchestra in the last 18 months. The footage should be filmed strictly from the players' view of the conductor and should ideally start from the beginning of pieces with no edits or cuts. Including some rehearsal footage alongside actual performance is highly encouraged. (If you cannot secure an orchestral ensemble, a piano arrangement is acceptable).
- Repertoire: The footage must cover at least **two contrasting pieces or movements** from different musical styles or eras.
Round Two: Live Audition Days (London) - 25 & 26 February 2027
Candidates who are successful in the pre-screening round will be invited to the Academy in London for a intensive, two-day live practical assessment and the invitation will include confirmation of the repertoire to prepare. You must prepare all items, and the panel will choose the specific sections they want to see you conduct in the room. You do not need to perform on piano or other instruments. This round is split across consecutive days:
- Day One - Ensemble Rehearsal & Musicianship: You will conduct a small ensemble during an allocated time slot (typically around 15 minutes), and also will be given aural tests (sorry, we cannot issue specimen tests). There will also be an interview with the panel later in the day, the day's assessments are expected to be complete no later than 7pm. You will be will be contacted by email by around 9pm at the latest to confirm if you have been selected to proceed to the Day Two session.
- Day Two - Two-Piano Session & Interview: You will conduct two pianists performing orchestral works. During this session, the panel will assess your score layout understanding and gesture. This may be followed by a short interview to discuss your career directions and musical background.
Postgraduate Academic & Application Profile
Because the Master of Music (MMus) is a research-led track that includes compulsory written components, critical portfolios, or a dissertation alongside your principal conducting studies, your application profile must satisfy both practical and academic benchmarks.
In addition to your practical video portfolio, your digital application profile on the Acceptd portal must contain:
- Concert Biography: A professional biography formatted precisely as you would provide for a formal concert programme (please note that this is a separate document from your standard CV).
- Repertoire List: A comprehensive, chronological list of all the works you have previously conducted in performance, rehearsed in detail, or studied intensively.
- Curriculum Vitae (CV): A current copy of your CV detailing your formal musical background, degrees, conducting teachers, and past ensemble or masterclass experiences.
- Spoken English Introduction: A separate recorded video introduction between 3 and 5 minutes long. Presented in English, you must state your name, then talk about your musical background, training, professional ambitions, and your specific reasons for choosing to study conducting at the Academy.
- Written Material / Project Proposal (MMus only):MMus candidates must submit an example of written work plus a project proposal to demonstrate that they possess the critical writing and analytical skills required to undertake postgraduate academic research.
For more information see auditions.
