Master of Music (Taught)

Enhance your musical creativity with the Master of Music at Canterbury Christ Church University. Designed for performers, composers, producers, and scholars eager to refine their craft and advance their careers, you'll study in a UNESCO World Heritage Site with outstanding facilities and internationally active staff.

What you’ll learn

• Refine your musical practice through specialist study in performance, composition, production, or written research.

• Develop advanced creative, analytical, and research skills under the guidance of expert practitioners.

• Collaborate with artists across disciplines to produce innovative and industry-relevant work.

• Undertake an independent project or dissertation to showcase your professional and creative vision.

• Enhance your employability and prepare for careers or PhD study through mentoring and industry engagement.

Whether your focus is performance, composition, production, or critical writing, this Master’s degree will help you develop the technical, conceptual, and critical expertise needed to thrive in today’s music industry or pursue doctoral research.

You’ll be taught and mentored by internationally renowned musicians and researchers whose work spans the world’s leading venues, from Abbey Road Studios to The Sydney Opera House. Our vibrant learning community connects you with creatives across disciplines, from sound design and dance to film and game production, fostering collaboration and innovation within Canterbury’s rich musical heritage.

As part of your studies, you’ll complete an independent project or dissertation tailored to your professional and creative interests, supported by outstanding facilities and one-to-one academic guidance.

This Master of Music will equip you with the advanced skills, confidence, and professional network needed to succeed as a performer, composer, educator, producer, or researcher in the global music landscape.

Specialist facilities
You’ll have access to excellent facilities, including:

• Performance areas on campus include the Anselm Studio theatre space (featuring a fully fitted professional sound and lighting rig) and the Students’ Union bar alongside rehearsal and performance spaces in the Daphne Oram Creative Arts building and St. Gregory’s Centre for Music - a venue which seats 150 and can be used for performances and recordings. In addition, students have opportunities to perform at external venues such as the prestigious Ramsgate Music Hall.

• The university recording studios, in our dedicated creative arts building, are kitted out with in-house instruments and state-of-the-art control rooms centred around Audient in-line desks with additional industry standard hardware and mic collection.

• Mac labs are equipped with software such as Logic, Ableton Live and Adobe Creative Cloud.

The course is assessed through portfolios focused on your specialist musical skills. If you are a performer, most of your assessment will take place through live or recorded performances. If you are a composer, arranger, songwriter, or producer, your assessment will be based primarily on a creative portfolio. If you are a researcher, you may choose to be assessed through critical essays or a dissertation.

Many of our students already work as professional musicians outside the University, and several modules enable you to connect your external professional experience directly to your academic assessment.