Reasons to study Actor Musicianship
• Conservatoire actor musicianship training for stage, television, radio and screen led by professional staff and established practitioners.
• A practical actor training degree for actors who play musical instruments, actor musicians are in high demand in the industry. Over the years our students have signed with agents Eamonn Bedford Agency, Global Artists, Howard Cooke Associates, Olivia Bell to name a few.
• Learn to integrate and develop your musical skills in performance to create, lead and make music alongside your work as an actor.
• You will be guided by experienced staff, including industry professionals, who will help you to develop the skills of the actor musician though practical classes in movement, voice and approaches to text and character.
• You will be involved in a number of public productions in your final year, including a main house production and an industry showcase.
• Excellent studio and training facilities – purpose-built rehearsal, movement and performance spaces, the fully-equipped Rose Theatre and Barn Theatre, a flexible drama studio and a digital studio with motion capture and green-screen facilities.

Career opportunities
Our graduates can be found in a wide range of work; at leading regional theatres, in the West End, The Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. In television, film, radio, young people’s theatre and in small scale touring theatre companies in the UK and Europe.

You may also be interested in:
Acting, BA (Hons)
American Theate Arts, BA (Hons)
European Theatre Arts, BA (Hons)

“My degree really set me up for the industry.” Rosalie Craig, Actor Musicianship Alumna

Location: Sidcup

The intensive one-year MA programme trains postgraduate (or equivalent) students for a career in musical theatre.
It provides a direct link into the profession by combining regular class work and one-to-one tuition with practical opportunities.

The course has been highly successful in providing a multi-skilled training programme at the highest level in a professional environment. Graduates enjoy outstanding success in major West End shows and international productions.

Tailor your studies to suit your musical interests on our four-year Bachelor of Music (BMus) degree course.

THIS COURSE IS RIGHT FOR YOU IF…
You’re passionate about music and your specialism (or instrument). The BMus provides a solid foundation for a career in music, whether you’d like to be a performer, composer, teacher or to work in another related field.

CORE ELEMENTS OF THE BMUS
1. Principal study

This is the focal point of your musical development and includes individual lessons as well as a combination of masterclasses, performance classes, chamber music, concerts and everything else you do in your specialism. The focus for performers is on gaining experience in public concerts.

2. Artist development

We offer a wide range of activities, events and modules for you to hone your skills in studio recording and editing techniques, self-promotion and marketing, writing CVs, making funding applications, understanding the music business and working in arts management.

You can also get involved in Open Academy, which has an active programme aimed at helping people in the community. If you want to develop your teaching skills, you can study for the Academy’s teaching licence (LRAM), too.

3. Academic study

Academic study is essential to your creative and intellectual development. Core modules in Aural, Analysis and History reinforce your awareness as a listener, develop your interpretative abilities and extend your knowledge and imagination.
ONE YEAR COURSES – THE OPTIONS
The BMus is our main undergraduate course, but it isn’t the only one. We also offer three one-year options, which let you study at the Academy as an enrolled member of the student body without committing to a full degree course with us.

This means you’ll benefit from all the facilities offered to our degree students, including the library, computers and practice rooms, as well as enjoying a variety of performance opportunities.

1. Gap year course

This course is right for you if you love music but know you want to study something else for your main degree in future. It’s the ideal fit if you’re finishing secondary school (high school) and are looking for a gap-year opportunity, enabling you to reach a high level of achievement in music, while also allowing you to pursue another career path.
2. Organ foundation course

This is for gap-year students preparing for an organ scholarship at Oxford or Cambridge, or for those who want to develop organ and choral direction skills before starting formal university or conservatoire training.

3. Exchanges and study abroad schemes

The Academy has exchange and study-abroad agreements with conservatoires across the world. Placements are normally for a full academic year, although shorter times may be possible. This allows non-UK students studying for a music degree elsewhere to benefit from a conservatoire education as part of their degree studies at their ‘home’ institution.

The three-year BA (Hons) degree in Musical Theatre is designed to provide individuals with the skills, knowledge, and creative ability to gain and maintain lasting careers as musical theatre professional performers.

This linked with our extensive industry contacts ensures our graduates are set to thrive in the Musical Theatre world.

At the MGA Academy of Performing Arts, we prepare our students for sustainable successful careers within the Musical Theatre industry through hands on, vocational based training.

Successful completion of a course can open doors to many amazing progression routes with previous graduates finding employment opportunities in areas including

- West End Musicals
- UK Touring Shows
- Cruise Contracts
- Rep Theatre companies
- Writing and Directing
- Film and TV
- International Performance Contracts
- Education
Students have also progressed onto Postgraduate study upon completion of this course

The MGA one-year Foundation course in Musical Theatre offers a pre-vocational year designed to prepare you for the demands of professional, full-time training and provides you with the skills required to audition successfully for the country’s leading Musical Theatre institutions.

It is directed at those students who intend pursuing a vocational training but who either don’t quite yet have the skills required to audition successfully, or who do not have the required academic qualifications to start a Bachelor of Arts qualification.

The course is designed to thoroughly prepare you for the process of auditioning and the rigours of taking up a three-year place at a Drama School, expanding your skill set and enabling you to realise your full potential in your future training.

MGA Foundation students have gone on to study at, among others, the American Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Arts Educational Schools, Bird College, Guildford School of Acting, Laine Theatre Arts, Mountview Academy, Performers College, Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama – and, of course, The MGA Academy of Performing Arts.

The Foundation schedule runs for one whole academic year over three full-time terms of training and an HNC qualification is awarded to those who successfully complete all the required modules.

The course is technique orientated, giving you a solid foundation in the three key disciplines of Acting, Singing and Dance that can then be built upon in future studies.

Specialist classes and training workshops include:

- Singing Skills For Musical Theatre
- Jazz Dance For Musical Theatre
- Ballet Dance For Musical Theatre
- Acting: Developing Skills
- Vocal Techniques for Musical Theatre
- Performance 1: Developing Skills
- Graded Unit: Musical Theatre
- Audition Technique and Performance for Musical Theatre
- Personal Development
- Individual Singing Lesson
- Group/Ensemble Singing
MGA’s unique focus on audition technique and professional development will ensure that students are best placed to gain entry into any of the UK’s distinguished drama schools.

Though MGA has an excellent track record, given the nature and level of competition for Drama School places, we cannot guarantee that foundation students will be accepted at their chosen full-time provider and successful completion of the MGA foundation course does not automatically mean that students will progress onto MGA’s own three-year programmes.

The Level 6 Trinity Diploma courses in Professional Dance and Musical Theatre provide the highest standards of education, training and guidance required for a career in both professional dance and musical theatre performance.

Safe practice and wellbeing are at the heart of each programme whereby students’ capabilities and needs are fully considered.

The One Year Foundation Course at SLP College has been re-designed.

If you are 16+ you can now study for the UAL Level 3 Diploma in Performing & Production Arts.

Students on this exciting and challenging course will gain the skills, knowledge and understanding to progress to Conservatoire Training or Higher Education.

You will receive professional training in Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Commercial, Modern, Acting, and Singing preparing you for further training in musical theatre and dance. Dedicated Tutors and guest teachers from the industry will support you on your technical and creative journey.

The one year Level 3 course which carries a maximum of 84 UCAS points can also be increased to a two year, extended diploma which carries 168 UCAS points – the equivalent of 3 A Levels.

20+ contact hours per week will ensure that you are kept fit, busy and inspired to reach your full potential.

Entry requirements: five GCSEs at Grade 4 or above which must include English and Maths.

Entry by audition.