MA/MFA Classical and Contemporary Text is for actors and directors who find themselves looking beyond traditional and contemporary artistic approaches as they seek to broaden and deepen their individual practice.
Individuality is at the core of this postgraduate programme. We work with artists who use their social, moral, and ethical values to animate their practice. This is a course where you will have agency over your own work, and be responsible for driving your learning and creativity forward.
It is this agency which makes the programme different from undergraduate study. With support from the staff team, you will write your own learning outcomes, determining your trajectory and ultimately, we hope, you will flourish as both a learner and a creative practitioner.
It’s an intense programme where actors and directors work together, creating a dynamic community rooted in creative collaboration. Highlights include developing new text in partnership with Playwrights’ Studio Scotland, performing or directing contemporary performance working in proto-professional ensembles and completing a month’s residency at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London.
At the end of this residency, after undertaking classes with the educational team at the Globe, you will perform or direct sharings on the mainstage of Shakespeare’s Globe, a unique and iconic playing space.
If this narrative excites or inspires you, please get in touch with us to discuss how you can begin your artistic journey with us.
The MA Musical Directing pathway is designed to support the development of skills and creative thought for musicians with a passion for theatre. As a Masters student, you will study the musical landscape, engage in practice-based-research and explore your own potential as a contributor to the future of the art form.
The programme is closely linked with the industry and this ensures that you acquire the practical skills to support a sustained and varied career. Through specialised and focused conservatoire-level training, specific attention will be paid to:
- Keyboard skills
- Conducting skills
- Scoring and arranging techniques
- Vocal technique and repertoire coaching, Programming and Sound
These one-to-one classes are designed to build your skill and experience as a musical director in the varying areas relevant to the form. You will have the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects matched to your specific interests and goals. Projects could include:
- Musical Director, arranger and orchestrator of the RCS Christmas Concert
- Musical Director of our BA Musical Theatre Glasgow and London Showcases
- Musical Director on the development of new and commissioned work
- Assistant Musical Director across fully produced BA Musical Theatre and Actor Muso shows
- Musical Director of a Cabaret season, Musical Directing roles on a season of work produced for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
- For students wishing to specialise in stage management for the theatre, live events and film & television production.
- A 24-month programme of taught modules followed by internal and external placement opportunities to suit the individual's career progression. Where approved, external placements may be paid or unpaid.
- Tuition and supervision from a team of established industry practitioners.
- Masterclasses and seminars from leading industry experts.
- Training in the full range of skills required to be a professional stage manager or event manager or film and television professional.
- Core skills module covering job roles, budgets, health and safety, essential technical skills, scheduling and CAD.
- Management in Context module covering planning, problem-solving, management theory, logistics, team working and career planning.
- Up to four six-week placements on productions/events, up to two of these with professional companies.
- The final component involves either writing a dissertation or creating a Professional Practice Portfolio, with support and mentoring from College tutors.
- One-to-one singing lessons and repertoire coaching
- Regular acting skills classes with tutors from RWCMD’s well established acting programmes working with improvisation, character, relationships and text
- Vocal skills classes focussing on physical techniques for performance as well as vocal physiology, dialect and accents
- Classes in dance skills including jazz and tap, and the effective use of movement in theatrical communication
- Practical sessions on audition technique in preparation for professional stage and television auditions
- Showcase presentations in Cardiff and London to an invited audience of agents, casting directors and potential employers
- Roles in public performances including at least one cabaret and one fully staged production
- Advanced principal study tuition from professional musicians – instrumentalists and singers
- Wide range of solo and ensemble performance opportunities
- Tuition available in supporting areas such as Alexander Technique, doubling instrument, end-of-line instrument and period instruments
- Advanced training in chamber music
- Professional coaching and accompaniment provision
- Language, movement and drama classes (singers)
- Specialist, advanced performance classes (instrumentalists)
- International masterclass series
- Fully integrated performance programme by international artists
- Wide range of performance opportunities in world-class facilities
- Outward-looking, flexible programme, allowing students to tailor their pathway
- Option to focus extensively on Principal Study
- Options to develop expertise in key areas of professional practice through Professional Projects, linked to real-world experiences
- Cross-disciplinary opportunities to work with Drama embedded in the programme
- Access to specialist mentors to support Professional Project work and broaden network of contacts
- Inclusive practice built into the programme
- Research and reflection underpinning development of creative artistry
- Drawing on industry and innovation as cornerstones of individual career development
- Opportunity to create and curate own performance projects
- Focus on employability and transferable skills
- Specialist tuition from established team of professional design practitioners
- Input from visiting professionals from around the world
- Design positions in up to two College productions ranging from drama to musical theatre and opera
- Professional work placement opportunities
- Public exhibition of your work for one week in Cardiff and four days in London, including industry nights for an invited audience of potential employers
- Final component a formal Dissertation at the end of Year 2 or the completion of a reflective portfolio based on your professional engagement after three years with support and mentoring from College tutors
Our arts management training equips students with the skills and experience needed for a career in the creative sector. This unique programme develops resilient, work-ready and sought-after graduates that can succeed in a fast-paced and ever-changing industry.
Why study arts management at RWCMD?
- Industry facing: our course reflects current practice as it is delivered by a team of professionals who all still work in the industry, as well as guest specialists who visit throughout the year.
- Employability: we are very proud to have maintained a 100% employment record since 2013, with students continuing to secure related jobs within three months of graduating.
- Focus on industry experience: you’ll have opportunities to gain that all-important work experience as it is a key course focus. We have a comprehensive work placement programme and arrange placements for all arts management students, both in our multi-venue arts centre + within one of our 30+ external partner organisations.
- Conservatoire-based training: you’ll learn within a music and drama conservatoire and world-class arts centre which provides unique opportunities for arts management students to collaborate on projects across the college and work with visiting artists/companies.
- Choice of three specialist pathways: choose from creative producing, orchestral management or general arts management as your area of specialism, depending on your interest and career aspirations.
- Practical studio and rehearsal-based training in professional working conditions
- Small class sizes
- Established teaching team made up of experienced theatre professionals
- Regular opportunities to work with visiting actors and directors
- Core acting skills workshops exploring approaches to working with texts, building a character, improvisation and performing Shakespeare
- Vocal skills classes focusing on effective physical techniques for performance as well as vocal physiology, dialect and accents
- Specialist classes in singing technique, repertoire and musical theatre performance
- Movement skills classes including Alexander Technique and stage combat
- Training in the specialist techniques and requirements of acting for screen
- Roles in public performances selected from a wide and challenging repertoire
- Practical workshops to prepare students for professional auditions for theatre and TV
- Mentoring and support in the initiation, production and performance of an original piece of work
- London Performance Week
- Showcase presentations to an invited audience of agents, casting directors and potential employers in Cardiff, London and New York (for American students)
Realise your potential as a creative practitioner and train to be a professional voice coach at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. You will gain highly specialised knowledge in a range of professional contexts and develop advanced expertise as a voice coach, teacher or performer....
Realise your potential as a creative practitioner and train to be a professional voice coach at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. You will gain highly specialised knowledge in a range of professional contexts and develop advanced expertise as a voice coach, teacher or performer.
Through reading, discussion, reflective writing and practising as a coach or teacher, you will relate theory and practice and learn the ways of thinking and working of a professional voice practitioner. Through full engagement with the opportunities the course provides, you will be prepared for work as a voice practitioner in private practice, in Further or Higher Education, in business, in theatre, performing arts and media.
The MA in Music Education and Performance is designed for any student wishing to pursue an active career as both a professional musician and a teacher or educator. It aims to equip you with the necessary musical skills, insight and experience required by the contemporary profession in its widest sense, with a focus on the artist in educational settings, from instrumental and/or vocal teaching to workshop leading.
This programme can be taken on a full-time intensive basis for four terms (15 months, Sept 2021 – Dec 2022) or on a part-time basis over seven terms (27 months, Sept 2021 – Dec 2023). The programme is auditioned and accepts students in composition and classical or jazz performance. Teacher-artists in other genres will be more suited to the Teaching Musician Programme, which shares some modules with the MA MEP.
